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Taco bell just opened a single store in the Netherlands. It isn't close to home but I would be able to visit it if I took a detour when visiting relatives.
I really like hot peppers and beans this makes Taco's one of my favorite dishes, but I do not like most of the Dutch-Mexican restaurant taco's.
They are either too bland or cheap out on the filling of their vegetarian taco's. Would taco bell be worth the visit ?

Probably try it once and pray.

It makes the best cat tacos money can buy. Would I go there? Only if I had a strange desire to eat horrific food and have explosive diarrhea. I guess if you want to know what the food in hell tastes like.

I really like their Grilled Stuffed Burrito.

If you like hot peppers, you may be disappointed though, I don't find much of what they offer very spicy at all.

Are you looking for vegetarian options? Aside from the mighty bean and cheese burrito I don't think they offer a lot of vegetarian options unless you customize an order. At least that is the case in the States, perhaps the Dutch location has alternative menu items?

If you get them to make a taco for you with beans instead of meat, ask if they'll add the red sauce included with bean and cheese burrito. That sauce is really the only thing that makes their paste-like beans edible in my opinion. The rule is only true for Taco Bell's pinto beans. Their black beans are actually pretty good, but they stopped carrying those at the locations in my area, so I am not sure if they are still on the menu.

They have multiple temperatures of hot sauce, so if you like it spicy, go for the fire sauce. Taco Bell is not known for their authentic Mexican cuisine by a long shot, but it is typical fast food. Heck, I just about grew up on Taco Bell (as one on the way home from school), but nowadays it is not in my top 5, but might barely break into the top 10 of places in easy driving distance.

My recommendation - don't make a special trip just for TB. Combine it with something else, so the trip won't end up a total disappointment if it is not your fancy.

 CptJake wrote:
I really like their Grilled Stuffed Burrito.

If you like hot peppers, you may be disappointed though, I don't find much of what they offer very spicy at all.

Chain restaurants tend to play things pretty safe. Nandos is quite tame. If you want really hot food, go to a proper curry house and ask for something special from the chef.

It's decent fast food; a lot of people put it pretty low on their fast food list, but I reserve that position for McDonald's. Don't go in there expecting anything mind-blowing, but if you need a quick meal, it's not a terrible choice.

It's far from the best food in the world, but I have no issues with taco bell. I've had worse intestinal experiences with qdoba than taco bell.

But I find their portions are plentiful and are reasonably priced, and I feel fine afterwards.

Though, I also wouldn't make a special trip, but I live 3 minutes away from one. If I lived in a country with limited access to Mexican food, might be worth a trip.

Taco Bell is NOT Mexican food. Please don't insults Mexicans like that.

 oldzoggy wrote:
Taco bell just opened a single store in the Netherlands. It isn't close to home but I would be able to visit it if I took a detour when visiting relatives.
I really like hot peppers and beans this makes Taco's one of my favorite dishes, but I do not like most of the Dutch-Mexican restaurant taco's.
They are either too bland or cheap out on the filling of their vegetarian taco's. Would taco bell be worth the visit ?

No.

Taco bell is for late night inebriated poor life choices by teenagers in US suburbs when nothing else is open. For actual human nutrition, I would avoid.

For real though, it's basically McDonalds...but with tortillas instead of buns. Make of that what you will.

I really enjoyed the deep fried chalupas I had at Taco Bell when I visited San Diego nearly twenty years ago. I was fairly drunk for most of my stay, though.

Try it! You won't know unless you do.

 Frazzled wrote:
Taco Bell is NOT Mexican food. Please don't insults Mexicans like that.

Although I enjoy Taco Bell, this statement is absolutely true. TB is at best a Southwestern TexMex Americana hybrid....drenched in grease.
My very Mexican wife calls their tacos "abominations".

I have a high constitution for this kind of food (likely brought on by years of eating fast food) and TB does not upset my stomach at all.
However it can mess with some peoples' digestion.

Having said this, a TB in the Netherlands is unlikely to be the same as on in the U.S. Due to local tastes and ingredients, often fast food chains that venture to other countries have fairly different menus. McDonalds is completely different in China, for example

I'd try it at least once, but don't have high or low expectations.

Actually the comparasions with McDonald can be right in USA, but even McDonald its very very different in Europe than in the USA. The rations are smaller, the prices higher, as the quality is. Because European regulations about food are more strict.

So maybe TacoBells in Europe are better than in US.

EDIT: Basically what Galef said!

 Galas wrote:
Actually the comparasions with McDonald can be right in USA, but even McDonald its very very different in Europe than in the USA. The rations are smaller, the prices higher, as the quality is. Because European regulations about food are more strict.

So maybe TacoBells in Europe are better than in US.

Highly doubtful. They have a fundamental misunderstanding of what Mexican food is. You will never find Latin Americans in a TB.

I've had Taco Bell, in JFK airport in New York.

It was absolutely the worst eating experience of my life. Really, really gakky from entering the "restaurant" to the point I gave up after eating a couple of bites of it.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I've had Taco Bell, in JFK airport in New York.

It was absolutely the worst eating experience of my life. Really, really gakky from entering the "restaurant" to the point I gave up after eating a couple of bites of it.

LISTEN TO THIS MAN.

Fun Fact: When I was stationed in Panama the command there put out surveys asking what folks wanted to improve 'quality of life' for troopers and their families. One of the most requested things was to bring a Taco Bell onto one of the posts.

The closest they could do was bring in some Taco Bell branded frozen burritos to the Anthony's Pizza in one of the food courts.

Thats cause you all were a bunch of pinche gringo white boys

Yeah, Taco Bell is terrible. They are notorious for using low grade products. Their "beef" is 12% "other"- and that is a huge step up from the 64% it used to be (which didn't even meet USDA requirements to be called "beef")! The beans come as powder. About the only thing worth eating is the tomatoes and lettuce, which have to be brought in fresh as they are perishable.

Taco Bell is a pale imitation of actual Mexican cuisine. It was started by a white guy in California trying to knock off Mexican tacos and imitate a taqueria. Unfortunately, clueless people throughout the US had never had a fresh, homemade tortilla and didn't know the difference. They have never been able to keep the restaurants open in Mexico.

In 2013 they got popped for using horsemeat in the UK, so maybe they are trying new products for international markets?

Is horse meat a step up or a step down from cat? Rodney the wiener dog says its a definite step up.

It fills its niche real well. Don't go there for a meal, find yourself there after a night at the bars.


And here's a pro-tip:
There's a menu of big items and meals- ignore it. The art to ordering at Taco Bell is getting 3-5 of the super cheap small things- maybe a beefy 5-layer, a couple of spicy potato soft tacos, and a mini quesadilla? $5, pretty inedible if sober, but drunk or stoned? A masterpiece.

I have no experience with Taco Bell, but I guess it can't be much worse than Taco Mundo... It probably is the same though. Just cheap knock-offs of real Mexican food.
I'd either go to a genuinely Mexican restaurant or try to make something yourself.

 DaisyWondercow wrote:
It fills its niche real well. Don't go there for a meal, find yourself there after a night at the bars.


And here's a pro-tip:
There's a menu of big items and meals- ignore it. The art to ordering at Taco Bell is getting 3-5 of the super cheap small things- maybe a beefy 5-layer, a couple of spicy potato soft tacos, and a mini quesadilla? $5, pretty inedible if sober, but drunk or stoned? A masterpiece.

Actually, I disagree. Their $5 boxes are pretty great and pretty decent cost wise

I look at Taco Bell like this...

Most of the world doesn't know what really authentic Mexican food tastes like. Here in America, we're spoiled with the fact that we have a rich, established Mexican-American culture that has gifted us with the beautiful south of our border cuisine. Taco Bell is to Mexican Food, what McRib is to BBQ. It's a slick, quick, bastardized version of the real deal. It will please most palates...look at the sales numbers for proof of this or talk to my teenage son who knows great Mexican food, but still enjoys scarfing down a Gordita Steak Crunchwrap Supreme...so it thrives. Real, and I mean the real deal, Mexican cuisine done authentically can stand up with any world cuisine. Understand that there's a difference, a big difference, but there's room and a place for both.

I just looked at their menu and I do not seem to understand their concept.. It didn't look appetizing at all it all seems to be weirdly colored paste centric and they somehow seem to be proud at selling huge quantities of pepsi the drink that no one really wants to drink. They seem to have no healthy or at least fresh looking options at all.

How are they this popular ?

Here is their dutch menu
http://tacobell.nl/#menu

These are the existing chains that are both significantly closer to my home.

https://www.tacomundo.com/bestel/menu/tacos

https://deliveroo.nl/en/menu/amsterdam/pijp/salsa-shop-de-pijp

It is a guilty pleasure of mine. Yes I know it's not genuine mexican food and the quality of the ingredients are probably shady at best, but when you just want something vaguely cheesy and artery clogging, you go to taco bell. It's the mcdonalds of pseudo-mexican food. I will gorge myself on their beef burritos all day long if the doctors didn't tell me it's gotten to the point of being a health hazard for me.

I always prepare a roll of toilet paper on hand for it.

Having read this thread....

I would like to make it known that the Humble British Kebab, usually consumed late at night (or very early in the morning), whilst in a state of advanced refreshment, and often involved the magic act Abrakebabra* still seems less appealing.


*Abrakebabra is where the performer makes their kebab disappear, only to later reappear, usually on the back of the taxi driver's head

 oldzoggy wrote:
I just looked at their menu and I do not seem to understand their concept.. It didn't look appetizing at all it all seems to be weirdly colored paste centric and they somehow seem to be proud at selling huge quantities of pepsi the drink that no one really wants to drink. They seem to have no healthy or at least fresh looking options at all.

How are they this popular ?

Here is their dutch menu
http://tacobell.nl/#menu

These are the existing chains that are both significantly closer to my home.

https://www.tacomundo.com/bestel/menu/tacos

https://deliveroo.nl/en/menu/amsterdam/pijp/salsa-shop-de-pijp

You can get a Heinie or Sol at your Taco Bell? That just took Dutch Taco Bell up a notch.

 oldzoggy wrote:

How are they this popular ?

They're open late when other stuff is closed, and are cheaper than actual food in many places.