The Unexpected Place You Can Find A Discontinued Fan-Favorite Taco Bell Item
In the storied history of Taco Bell's menu, certain chapters exist only as urban legends. "Was there really such a thing as an Enchirito?" today's young people might ask their elders. "Did the Grilled Stuft Nacho really pack seasoned beef and nacho cheese sauce into a fried flour tortilla shaped like a chip?" "Was the Bell Beefer truly a Tex-Mex take on the Sloppy Joe?" The answer to all of these questions is yes. The cheesy, hybrid Mexican-American dishes are three of many discontinued Taco Bell items that fit the chain's innovation-obsessed bill.
Some slashes to the menu have caused viral stirs. The most recent example is the Dolly Parton-backed campaign that brought back the Mexican Pizza, which was initially discontinued in 2020. Other items have remained at rest in the franchise's fragrant graveyard — or so we thought. According to Grub Street's Daniel Maurer, several noteworthy "ghosts of Taco Bell's past" can be found just beyond the border.
A Santiago Taco Bell still slings 7 Layer Burritos
If you're still sad that the Change.org petition to bring back Taco Bell's 7 Layer Burrito never picked up steam, you might want to book a ticket to Santiago, Chile. When Grub Street's Daniel Maurer popped into the outpost on a whim, he was struck by the "filling and cheap" item's appearance on the digital menu. The beloved vegetarian burrito has been out of commission in the U.S. since the summer of 2020 when Taco Bell made grand sweeps in an effort to streamline its menu in a pandemic-stricken world.
Maurer aptly likens the dish to "the moment when you're eating fajitas, but you've run out of steak strips, so you spoon the remaining guac, sour cream, tomatoes, rice, and beans onto the last tortilla to make a consolation taco." In Taco Bell's Santiago location, you can order it as-is, just like in the olden days. Maurer notes that the item is also available (in slight regional variations) in Kuwait, Brazil, Canada, and the U.K.
How to order the 7 Layer Burrito in the States
Customers in the U.S. miss the 7 Layer Burrito so much that there's even a viral TikTok video that shows stans how to order the secret menu item. The video's creator, @damntastyvegan, hacks the system by ordering a cheesy bean and rice burrito "Fresco Style," which puts the kibosh on mayonnaise and other non-vegan sauces. She then adds potatoes, lettuce, and guacamole. She hands over a cool $2.35 for the order, which is about half the price of the original.
Likewise, Thrillist has a roundup of ordering hacks for other discontinued Taco Bell items, including the aforementioned Enchirito. They suggest ordering a Burrito Supreme with extra beef and cheese, tacking on sides of red sauce, sour cream, and nacho cheese sauce, plus two sides of the three-cheese blend. If you're more into the Fully Loaded Nachos, try ordering a Fiesta Taco Salad with ground beef, Fiesta salsa, guac, and refried beans. But wait, you're not done yet. To stay true to the original, don't forget to request that your nachos be topped with a three-cheese blend, sour cream, crunchy red strips, and nacho cheese sauce.