ABOUT US —

While most people will be able to tell you their favourite menu item, a lot of folks don’t know we’ve been around for a long, long time. The sixties to be exact. Never heard of them? Ask your folks. Back in ‘62 in Southern California, our courageous Taco Godfather, Glen Bell had a dream.

This dream saw the introduction of food you could hold in your hands, and in your heart. Food that was as much about what’s in it, as who’s around you when you’re enjoying it. And so, Taco Bell became a global sensation, symbolising a movement of agile, trailblazing individuals unafraid to Live Más.

Are you ready to Taco?

Taco Bell originated in California, United States of America. It was founded by Glen Bell, and he opened the first Taco Bell restaurant back in 1962 in Downey, California. Before Taco Bell, he originally owned and operated a hamburger stand called Bell's Hamburgers in California, built in 1948 on the border of San Bernardino and the city of Colton. Glen opened his first taco stand, Taco Tia in 1954, selling tacos for nineteen cents.

Before Glen Bell created Taco Bell, he started Bell's Drive-In and Taco Tia in the Southern California area.

Glen Bell opens his first Taco Bell restaurant in Downey, CA, serving what his customers called "Tay-Kohs".  Glen invented the Crunchy Taco to satisfy the hungry mouths of Southern Californians.

Taco Bell's first franchisee opens a restaurant in Orange County, CA.

Taco Bell's 100th restaurant opens in Anaheim, CA.

Taco Bell goes public with a total of 325 restaurants.

Glen sold 868 Taco Bell restaurants to PepsiCo Inc., and became PepsiCo shareholder.

Taco Bell pioneers the concept of linking fast-food marketing promotions with major movie blockbusters. Its US "Batman" promotion is a huge success, placing Taco Bell in the spotlight.

Taco Bell launches a ground-breaking 59¢-79¢-99¢ value initiative in the US.

Taco Bell sponsors the first ESPN X Games.

As the new parent of Taco Bell, Tricon declares its independence from the PepsiCo conglomerate.

Gorditas burst onto the fast-food scene and become a nationwide sensation.

Taco Bell promises a free taco to everyone in the U.S. if the falling space station MIR hits the floating Taco Bell target.

The Crunchwrap Supreme becomes Taco Bell's most successful product introduction, and soon after becomes a permanent menu item.

Feed the Beat® program launches in the US as an organic effort to help feed up-and-coming artists on tour by giving them Taco Bell® gift cards. The program continues with the same organic roots, but has since expanded with innovative ways to leverage the brand’s relationships with network partners and sponsorships, involve Taco Bell’s strong online presence – a crowd of more than ten million fans, and feature Feed the Beat artists’ music in the brand’s commercials.

“Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion debuts as Taco Bell partners with Major League Baseball (MLB) to give free tacos to everyone in America when a base is stolen during the World Series.

We mourn the loss of our founder, Glen Bell. One of the greatest entrepreneurs and innovators in the US, his legacy lives on in our people and our brand.

Fifty years after introducing the Crunchy Taco to America, Taco Bell partners with Frito-Lay to reinvent its most popular menu item by introducing Doritos® Locos Tacos.

Taco Bell helicopters 10,000 Doritos Locos Tacos to the remote town of Bethel, Alaska. The following year, Taco Bell recognized students in the community who won an academic competition for their proven commitment to graduating high school with a star-studded celebratory event.

The taco emoji is approved as part of Unicode 8.0 and added to Emoji 1.0 . We like to think our Change.org petition from the year before had something to do with it.

To save it from demolition, Taco Bell moved its original restaurant, Numero Uno, from Downey, CA to the Irvine headquarters.

Taco Bell became the first QSR to offer menu items certified by the American Vegetarian Association (AVA), the industry’s recognized standard in vegetarian labelling.

The Taco Bell Foundation launched the Live Más Scholarship, a program aimed at empowering the nation’s next generation of dreamers, innovators and creators.

“Steal a Game, Steal a Taco” promotion debuts as Taco Bell teams up with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to give all of America free tacos when a road team snags (“steals”) a win during the NBA Finals.

Courtesy of Tacobot, Taco Bell became the first brand to let you order food directly through Slack (communications tool).

Wedding Bells are ringing as Taco Bell begins hosting weddings at the Las Vegas Cantina.

Taco Bell released its first-ever retail collaboration, Forever 21 x Taco Bell. The men’s collection completely sold out online within the first day.

Taco Bell Launches in New Zealand at Brickworks, Lyn Mall.

The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort pop-up experience in Palm Springs, California sells out of reservations in two minutes. This flavour-filled getaway, packed with exclusive food innovation, unforgettable entertainment and ‘gram-worthy’ fashion was a one-of-a-kind experience that saw an overwhelming amount of excitement from fans around the world.

Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion customers each year at over 7,000 restaurants worldwide.

When the moon looked like a taco on 4 May, Taco Bell fans around the globe were invited to enjoy a free taco as part of the brand’s first-ever global campaign.

Former Taco Bell team member turned Grammy Award winning recording artist Lil Nas X joins as Chief Impact Officer in pursuit of positive disruption for next generation of team members and fans.

Taco Bell hosts a wedding in its Fairy Springs restaurant in ‘RotoVegas’ in homage to its American big brother in America who has weddings on the wedding in Las Vegas.

Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion customers each year at over 7,000 restaurants worldwide.

Taco Bell brings tacos to the people of Auckland!