Taco Bell Makes Controversial Menu Changes at Handful of Stores – Fans Are Devastated
Taco Bell will stop offering breakfast to its customers at a number of locations, the chain has confirmed.
Popular menu items such as the Breakfast Crunchwrap and Breakfast Burrito will no longer be sold at a “small minority” of fast food restaurants starting in October of this year.
Taco Bell fans took to social media this week to criticize the decision, calling it “criminal” and a “nail in the coffin” for the company.
A Taco Bell spokesperson told DailyMail.com that it has given its franchisees the option to stop offering breakfast in order to “streamline” their menus.
It is not yet clear which of the 8,500 restaurants will be affected, but the company’s 500 own locations will certainly be allowed to continue offering the service.
Several Taco Bell restaurants in the US are cutting breakfast items in October to ‘streamline’ their menus
“Taco Bell is continually adapting our menu to better serve our franchisees, team members and fans,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“That said, breakfast will still be served at most Taco Bell restaurants, as only a small minority have opted not to serve breakfast.”
The decision to eliminate breakfast came as a surprise, as sales of the menu item had “improved” in the second quarter of 2024, a recent earnings report showed.
“Our Breakfast Crunchwraps and Breakfast Burritos are simple, yet delicious,” says Taco Bell.
“That’s why we continue to serve breakfast in most of our restaurants, including all company-owned restaurants.”
The company’s announcement to no longer serve breakfast also came just two weeks after Yum Brands confirmed that Taco Bell’s U.S. same-store sales rose 5 percent in the second quarter of 2024, according to its Aug. 6 report. report.
However, Yum CEO David Gibbs gave the credit to the recent menu changes and the Cravings Value Menu items, rather than breakfast, during a conversation with Restaurant Dive.
Taco Bell serves 19 breakfast items on its menu, including one specialty salsa, and six burritos.
The restaurant chain also has Cinnabon Delights treats in packs of two and 12, for Taco Bell customers who want to start their day with a cinnamon treat.
The Breakfast Salsa is free, while the other breakfast items cost between $1.69 and $7.19 depending on the store location.
Taco Bell does not serve breakfast all day. Most locations serve items from this menu between 7:00 and 11:00.
Taco Bell currently has three breakfast quesadillas starting at $3.99. It also has a Breakfast Quesadilla Combo order starting at $6.49
Social media users were not happy to hear that Taco Bell would be removing its breakfast items from certain locations, with one person calling the company’s controversial change “criminal”
In addition to burritos and Cinnabon treats, Taco Bell offers customers specialty breakfast crunch wraps, quesadillas and a hash brown.
With breakfast items disappearing from some Taco Bell locations, the company is looking to focus on new menu items, such as the new Cantina Chicken Menu.
The restaurant chain also plans to expand its coffee program and test other breakfast items at the company’s stores in response to the “breakfast reset” moment.
Several X users were unhappy to hear of Taco Bell’s decision to eliminate breakfast, after Taco Bell’s products had been praised by many over the past two weeks.
“The @tacobell employee just told me that all Taco Bells will stop selling breakfast in September. Please don’t do that because it’s ruining my Saturday morning tradition,” wrote one X user.
Reddit users described the decision as “criminal.”
“The Breakfast Crunchwraps are S-tier fast food breakfast items, and they’re pretty much the only breakfast item I order there. I’d be sad to see it go, a Reddit user wrote.
Another wrote: ‘Their breakfast Crunchwrap is just better than a regular Crunchwrap. This would be horrible.’
Others claimed that breakfast was the only reason they still went to the restaurant chain, and at least four commenters refused to eat at Taco Bell if the company removed the menu.
“This is really the nail in my coffin. Between getting rid of all my favorites and jacking up the prices on everything, the occasional breakfast Crunchwrap is the only reason I go there anymore,” one Reddit user wrote.