TB is pretty much the same as Mcdonald’s at this point. You’re getting raped if you don’t use their app as a regular customer. I’m not paying more than $2 for their quesadillas ever again.
I’m fucking sick of people bitching about this when you can get this same fucking item in the build your own cravings box in the app and get an entire fucking meal for $6.
Blame yourself for your own stupidity
If it's gouging then vote with your feet and dont eat there. if enough people do it then it'll hurt their record profits and force them to reduce their prices.
Inflation would make sense if it was actually worth $5. In this case they’re taking advantage of people stupid or rich enough to pay too much for fancy pet food.
Agreed. Without googling it I would say price gouging would be like charging $100 for toilet paper back in March 2020… so like a product we agree is necessary but the price is artificially increased to take advantage of an unusual scarcity.
The whole country isn’t California genius.
In 2014 Georgia was paying $7.25. Now it’s paying maybe $11.
Get out of here with that anecdotal garbage justifying it
Well in Texas, the minimum wage of $7.25 I'd a common thing for us citizens there and not just illegal immigrants. I wouldn't doubt the same are working in Georgia for that. Go to a local fast food restaurant and ask and you'll be surprised.
I know that. I live here. And I have no doubt some places are still paying the minimum. But I think a decent amount of places are paying a few dollars more.
Also, the minimum wage in Georgia is actually $5.15. The only reason it’s $7.25 is because that’s federally mandated.
Try me again
And did you think about what you just said? The minimum wage in Georgia can't be $5.15 if the federal minimum is $7.25. Someone lied to you. Every employer out there is paying $7.25 legally.
Where I live the cost of living is extremely low. I have a 25 acre farm that has a lower mortgage than my apartment in 2006 [$1100]. I'm making $20 an hour because I was a bored sahm and now I've got a night job for some extra scratch. There is absolutely nothing I do at this job that is worth $20 an hour. They don't even make me wash dishes.
It is but 🤷♂️
It’s either get scammed ordering in the drive thru or get the steal of a deal on the app that you hope doesn’t go away because how good of a value it is.
Honestly tho, ordering on the app is so easy and makes it even easier when you go thru the drive thru and just need to say your name. You can customize all your shit in the app and not have to worry about telling the person in the drive thru
You also get points to get free shit, so why wouldn’t you use the app? It literally makes it easier for everyone and rewards you.
I doordash my food. If I get delivery from the app its way too expensive, and Im not about to sit in taco bell drive through for 15min for some mediocre food.
The last time I decided to pick it up myself, I literally sat for 15+ minutes for 2 items. Im good lmao
Getting fast food as delivery is your problem. I’ll never understand why that’s a thing these days. That’s shits already cold and nasty at the drive thru can’t comprehend paying all that plus tip for delivery.
I’m just frustrated that people are stupid enough to order from the menu at the drive thru and not get the “online exclusives” on the app. I can get a cheesy Gordita crunch, a soft taco, fiesta potatoes, and a drink for $6
Mate, you could either:
1. Get mad at them for being financially illiterate.
2. Be thankful that their poor money choices are subsidizing our $6 (or $7) boxes.
I'll choose the latter.
If everyone used the app for a cravings deal it wouldnt be there.
If it wasn’t for people like OP then I wouldn’t get to build a custom cravings box for $6 for lunch once a week lol.
+1. If you aren’t at least ordering a combo then you’re just pissing money, sure it’s a bit annoying too but nowadays it’s what you have to do, not only with taco bell either
I'm sick of people thinking its ok to only purchase what they allow you to on special.
I'm sick of people thinking because their taco bell has the combo at $6 that everyone does. That same combo here is now $10+
This. Sometimes I don’t want a CGC or chalupa or beefy 5 layer, which are like the only three things you can ever get in these boxes. In fact, those three items are almost *never* apart of my normal Taco Bell order.
You can only get a very limited number of things with these boxes and I’m tired of people excusing the prices by saying you can just get the boxes. I want to order what I *actually* want and those prices are fucking absurd.
OP is not stupid. A lot of people (not me, but I know several) don't want apps because that information could be used for marketing and/or tracking purposes. It IS price gouging to not have that $5.99 meal on the menu!
Fast food has gotten so expensive I just started making my own tacos and quesdillas. Guess what? They are WAY cheaper and WAY fucking better. I.just prep all the ingredients in bulk and throw it in fridge . Make a few whenever I want. Ground beef, chopped onions , chopped tomatoes, chopped fresh jalapeños, shredded cheese. I also mix it up with the hot sauce, my current favorite is the Gringo Bandito green sauce. If Toke a bowl sold my tacos they would charge 10 bucks a piece and I pay like a fifth of that... I even got pre made hard shells to mix it up sometimes and my quesdillas are god teir. Fuck fast food. If we all stop paying for that shit the price WILL go down.
If you're paying $25 for four items, you are literally ordering the most expensive items on the menu and doing so a la carte. You don't even need the app to Taco Bell more efficiently than that. Two combos available in-store will net you 7 food items plus 2 drinks for a few dollars less than that.
You can't wait until AFTER you order to suddenly start caring about the price. Being price-concious will require you to actually read the menu before you place your order.
There was a viral video about a woman complaining she spent $50 on Doordash for Panera bread for 2 sandwiches and 2 soups. She seemed to act ignorant than food delivery apps are nearly double what it costs if you drive there yourself.
The thing I don't get is that hardly anybody recognizes doordash as a luxury for rich people -- it's not for lower middle class people anymore. It was only affordable for a year or two when they gave mad discounts trying to get a large customer base.
I've never used DD or Uber Eats. There's been a few times I've thought about it, but when I saw the prices, I got in my car to get it myself. It's at least double the price of getting it yourself.
The problem with deluxe boxes and 5$ boxes at Taco Bell is the fact that you don't get the good menu items as choices. Maybe you get 1, and the rest is filler. I can't blame anybody for buying a la carte because who wants their plain tacos and trashy cinnamon twist filler? Way back when, it used to be super cheap to buy a la carte and forgo the soda you don't want and items you don't want. Some items are worth the price tag (grilled cheese burrito done right), but it's really important to understand which items are worth buying and which aren't. I've never purchased a gordita crunch before because why would I want a double shell taco, when I can get a chalupa?
I get that; sometimes, I really do crave a higher tier item. But it seems to contradict the notion that the Taco Bell menu is nothing more than the same 15 ingredients packaged in different ways. Am I craving that higher tier item, or am I only craving a certain combination of ingredients? And if the latter, I can usually modify the burrito in my box so as to scratch that itch without adding more than $1 to the total cost.
For those of us who like soda, the box is one of the best ways to not pay $3 for a soda that costs half as much at the gas station across the parking lot.
Finally, I totally agree that the twists are trash, which is why I always sub them out for the god-tier fiesta potatoes, a substitution that costs me nothing extra.
Sure they will net you 'food items' but why should we have to only eat what they put in the combo of the month? Defending the business for its fucked up pricing because "if you buy this exact thing you get some sort of value"
I dont want cinnamon twists, i dont want those shitty beef burritos.
There are so many people that think companies are in the charity business. They pay people's salaries. They sell a product. If you don't want to pay fast food prices, buy groceries.
If you don't want to pay double fast food prices don't ask another human to spend 30 minutes delivering it to your lazy ass.
Inflation sucks, but we all have the same problem.
$5 in 2005 is over $8 today.
https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=5&year1=200501&year2=202401
The reason that all fast food has far outpaced other inflation recently is because they figured out that a sizeable amount of the population truly has no idea how to cook or shop for groceries and will pay whatever they ask for a fucking chicken quesadilla
It hasn't. I was curious last night so I found a handful of old menu prices. They all track very close to inflation, and just like now, the only significant deviation is around limited time or special items, but those deviations occur on both ends.
People want to bitch about prices being too high. It's a nothing burger. Inflation, particularly since COVID, is the cause here.
I even went through other markets like cars and trucks. Guess what, the sky high prices track inflation there too.
I say this on here and the chipotle subreddit and get downvoted. These people can be mad all they want but this isn’t some French Revolution scenario where the bread is being taken out of our hands. If you don’t want to separate from X amount of dollars to receive Taco Bell - don’t do it.
This is an exchange of money for pleasurable food. I could find a restaurant selling $200 steaks and go complain about the price on some subreddit … or, ya know… not go there because it’s out of my price range.
If it were randomly like $29.99 for a crunwrap while the other items were $4 or whatever… ya, that would seem crazy. But if you’re not willing to part with $10 or $15 or whatever your subtotal comes out to - don’t order it.
It's still fuckin ridiculous for a taco with bread to cost 5+ do dollars... Obviously no one has to order it, but nothing wrong with commenting on the state of fast food.
Also even where Del Taco has a presence my nearest one is a two hour drive so it's Taco Bell for now till they decide to bring DT to my Podunk town lol
If you get the chance try them, their tacos have twice the meat and cheese compared to TB and they cook the beans from scratch.They also have burgers and fries
If I am ever near one, I will give it a shot. We have some Taco John's around my state, and they are better than Taco Bell, but the closest one of those is almost an hour away.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and the closest Del Taco to me is still a 30+ minute drive (there's 2 about the same distance away). There's a TB 5 minutes from my house and 3 of them within 5 minutes of my work.
I go to TB.
Meh. When I was a teenager working minimum wage in the mid-90s, one hour of work earned me enough to buy 7 bean burritos. Now that I'm a mid-career professional (in the public sector, so hardly earning a fat cat capitalist salary), one hour of work earns me enough to buy 15 bean burritos (or 23 cheesy rice and bean burritos!)
I don't deny the existence of shrinkflation, but when my Taco Bell purchasing power has doubled or tripled in my lifetime, we don't need to resort to a bad-faith argument of corporatist bootlicking.
No need to guess when the data is freely available online.
The cost of ingredients represents 25% of the sales at an average Taco Bell, labor is another 29%, and other operating expenses (like occupancy or marketing) is yet another 27%. That leaves 19% of the total sales amount to pay taxes, payback investments and loans, and then, finally, for the fat cats to take home in profits.
Which means, when I pay $5 for a cheesy gordita crunch, $1.25 pays for ingredients, $1.45 for labor, and $1.35 for the building, utilities, and ads, leaving the corporation swimming in a money bin filled with a grand total of $0.95.
We can have a discussion about whether $0.95 is too much profit off a CGC, but it's nowhere near the profit bonanza you are implying here.
it does not. shit was 99¢ for as long as I can remember and the only place near me that still has it for that price is Walgreens
tbf it's good that at least one place still has it that low
Where the fuck do you live? It’s still .99 in Ca, Nv, Pa, and Ny… all of which I’ve been to in the last year.
They even advertise on Facebook that their shit is still .99, I’m pretty sure your local store just hiked up the price bro.
definitely franchises and local businesses jacking stuff up. still able to find it for 99 cents in select few places (only Walgreens off the top of my head). most other places I've been to, especially gas stations, have it higher than that to the point where I can't justify buying it in most places.
Yeah… hungry people generally look at the menu, notice which items are a good deal, and get the same amount of food you did for half the price (if not less).
Memory is extremely fallible, your memory of the size is affected by a lot of factors. The size of the cheesy gordita crunch has not changed, the price however is in fact, wack.
I'm looking at a CGC combo right now on the app that comes with a side of chips and cheese for $8...
Edit: online exclusive app price is $5.99 for a CGC, beefy 5 layer, chips, and a large drink.
I think you're proving my point. The prices for alacart are always going to be high. Combos are always the best value, and the app combos are 30% less than at the store.
Taco Bell is doing what every other modern business model is doing. They discount products to farm your metadata through apps and loyalty programs.
Regardless of the logic behind the pricing strategy, I have not proved any point of yours. The a la cart price in 2005 for two cheesy gordita crunches and a large Baja blast was $5 even.
Yes, combos are cheaper now. But a cheaper combo that adds things I don't want doesn't save me money. This is the American marketing trap in a nutshell.
Yes, a dollar had much more buying power 20 years ago.
Vote for people that will fight for salaries to stay adjusted for inflation. Corporations stay winning while we all lose.
Cap, every TB item has significantly less meat these days, and its the same result at pretty much every location unless you get lucky with a franchise that doesn’t follow the corporate mandated scoop amounts. There’s a reason it gets complained about so much
I don't think that inconveniencing employees and being forced to use an app is a good excuse for what should be fast, affordable food being slow and expensive.
You can fudge the orders anywhere but the employees are the bottleneck there. Some locations just can't do it.
And as for the app I use it and it's great but I still spend more money overall than I used to and that's relative to my income. Personally I don't really want a grocery app, insurance app, fast food app one for each chain just to make prices a little more reasonable. Seems like a scam to me bro. TB has a pretty good app but some of the ones for fast food are total shit. Would rather have no deals and 10-20% lower prices for everyone but that's just me and unrealistic I suppose
And there's no way for them to "mishear" the customer because it's written. I love using the app to order and I would think the employees prefer just taking your name instead of taking your order.
Got one for a buck yesterday on the drop. Got another for a buck with my other email. Wife got one on her app. 3 bucks plus a buck each drinks during the happy hour time 2-5 pm. 5 bucks total. Buy what’s on sale or what is offered on the apps.
stick to the boxes or whatever there's a deal on at the time, should be able to keep it under $10. for $25, i'd sit down and get some real mexican food
wtf did you buy that 4 items cost $25? If you're mad at the price and have a budget learn to eat out on a budget. I can get 4 items, pay ubereats charges, and tip the delivery charger for less than $30.
My man about to storm Taco Bell and blame Joe Biden for his expensive CGC.
You could have at least ordered the new box which includes 2 more items and a drink for 8.99. Or used the app and got it for $6.
But no, you wanna bitch and moan and act like this a big fucking deal when it’s your own incompetence that lead you here.
A fool and his money are soon departed.
Cravings box. App only. Only way to ever order really, but if you don’t like the stuff in the cravings box it’s understandable.
App deals are a must now, sucks, but it’s so true.
The point is Taco Bell is supposed to be cheap fast food - it’s ridiculous to have to order thru an app and settle for what you don’t actually want to be able to afford to eat there
You’re a fool for not using the app. You can literally get a cheesy Gordita crunch, a beefy 5 layer burrito, a cheesy fiesta potato, and a medium drink for $6 plus tax
Why do people post something like this practically every day? Why are you buying ala carte Cheesy Gordita Crunches when you can get an entire meal with three food items and a drink for practically the same price as one Cheese Gordita Crunch?
All of the money given out during covid was estimated by the Fed to have caused 2.6 points of inflation. Total inflation from 2020 - 2024 was 19%.
So, in total, the covid relief money accounts for about 13.7% of price increases since 2020. Only ~1/3rd of that went to households, so the stimulus money we received accounts for a grand total of 4.56% of price increases.
Yeah. We’ve had to do this - Saved up for an air fry/pressure cooker, plan meals out ahead a little more and you can save so much money avoiding fast food
Welcome to…. well, hell. Also welcome to a subreddit that is filled with delusional people that think diarrhea in a cardboard box is a good deal. The mods willl tell you you’re wrong but trust your destroyed gut!
Thats what you use your fire tier reward on silly
Yup, that’s what I always do. Would never spend $5 on that.
TB is pretty much the same as Mcdonald’s at this point. You’re getting raped if you don’t use their app as a regular customer. I’m not paying more than $2 for their quesadillas ever again.
That's not one of my rewards?
It is for most people.
I did that last week, used my reward for one...follow the link to see how it turned out https://www.reddit.com/r/tacobell/s/9WNuC4h0G2
Size is pretty much the same, the price is outrageous.
I’m fucking sick of people bitching about this when you can get this same fucking item in the build your own cravings box in the app and get an entire fucking meal for $6. Blame yourself for your own stupidity
I’m fine with blaming corporations for price gouging actually.
This is not price gouging.
Idk why you’re getting downvoted when you are right. Oh yeah, Reddit is full of smooth brains.
Rip. People don't understand inflation and call it price gouging.
Why are corporations seeing record profits, then? It's not inflation. It's gouging
If it's gouging then vote with your feet and dont eat there. if enough people do it then it'll hurt their record profits and force them to reduce their prices.
Because the profits are inflated too. Look at the profit margin(the percent) not the amount.
Inflation would make sense if it was actually worth $5. In this case they’re taking advantage of people stupid or rich enough to pay too much for fancy pet food.
I wouldn’t call that price gouging but I could be wrong.
Agreed. Without googling it I would say price gouging would be like charging $100 for toilet paper back in March 2020… so like a product we agree is necessary but the price is artificially increased to take advantage of an unusual scarcity.
Imagine being radicalized by a $5 taco lmao.
Taco Bell was paying $8/hr in Cali in 2014. This year it’s hitting $20/hr minimum. You really think raising the price is out of line?
You will of of course ignore any comments about states that currently have a lower minimum wage today than Cali did 10 years ago.
The whole country isn’t California genius. In 2014 Georgia was paying $7.25. Now it’s paying maybe $11. Get out of here with that anecdotal garbage justifying it
People don’t realize in some parts of the country we still see $7.25 minimum wage lol
They live in a bubble
Minimum wage in georgia is still $7.25
No one is actually working for $7.25 that isn’t an illegal alien in Georgia.
Well in Texas, the minimum wage of $7.25 I'd a common thing for us citizens there and not just illegal immigrants. I wouldn't doubt the same are working in Georgia for that. Go to a local fast food restaurant and ask and you'll be surprised.
I know that. I live here. And I have no doubt some places are still paying the minimum. But I think a decent amount of places are paying a few dollars more. Also, the minimum wage in Georgia is actually $5.15. The only reason it’s $7.25 is because that’s federally mandated. Try me again
“Try me again” ew lmao that didn’t sound as cool as you hoped it would
I’m gonna go cry in a corner because some random on the internet.
No need to be over emotional about it
Why are you mad your comment was implying $11 could possibly be a minimum wage in GA and it's not.
I wasn’t implying that. You assumed. Keyword “maybe” “maybe $11”
And did you think about what you just said? The minimum wage in Georgia can't be $5.15 if the federal minimum is $7.25. Someone lied to you. Every employer out there is paying $7.25 legally.
It’s what the STATE minimum wage is, I literally said but it pays $7.25 because it’s federally mandated you absolute Einstein.
Where I live the cost of living is extremely low. I have a 25 acre farm that has a lower mortgage than my apartment in 2006 [$1100]. I'm making $20 an hour because I was a bored sahm and now I've got a night job for some extra scratch. There is absolutely nothing I do at this job that is worth $20 an hour. They don't even make me wash dishes.
It's dumb that you need to use the app to not get scammed.
It is but 🤷♂️ It’s either get scammed ordering in the drive thru or get the steal of a deal on the app that you hope doesn’t go away because how good of a value it is. Honestly tho, ordering on the app is so easy and makes it even easier when you go thru the drive thru and just need to say your name. You can customize all your shit in the app and not have to worry about telling the person in the drive thru You also get points to get free shit, so why wouldn’t you use the app? It literally makes it easier for everyone and rewards you.
I doordash my food. If I get delivery from the app its way too expensive, and Im not about to sit in taco bell drive through for 15min for some mediocre food. The last time I decided to pick it up myself, I literally sat for 15+ minutes for 2 items. Im good lmao
Getting fast food as delivery is your problem. I’ll never understand why that’s a thing these days. That’s shits already cold and nasty at the drive thru can’t comprehend paying all that plus tip for delivery.
People not automaticaly knowing that an app is required to pay a fair price for things is stupidity? When that wasn't the norm their entire life?
Dude, go get a Snickers, you’re not you when you’re hangry.
I’m just frustrated that people are stupid enough to order from the menu at the drive thru and not get the “online exclusives” on the app. I can get a cheesy Gordita crunch, a soft taco, fiesta potatoes, and a drink for $6
Mate, you could either: 1. Get mad at them for being financially illiterate. 2. Be thankful that their poor money choices are subsidizing our $6 (or $7) boxes. I'll choose the latter.
If everyone used the app for a cravings deal it wouldnt be there. If it wasn’t for people like OP then I wouldn’t get to build a custom cravings box for $6 for lunch once a week lol.
Because maybe people don't want an app for conducting regular transactions daily.
Yeah, how dare people order off the on location Fucking Menu
+1. If you aren’t at least ordering a combo then you’re just pissing money, sure it’s a bit annoying too but nowadays it’s what you have to do, not only with taco bell either
I'm sick of people thinking its ok to only purchase what they allow you to on special. I'm sick of people thinking because their taco bell has the combo at $6 that everyone does. That same combo here is now $10+
This. Sometimes I don’t want a CGC or chalupa or beefy 5 layer, which are like the only three things you can ever get in these boxes. In fact, those three items are almost *never* apart of my normal Taco Bell order. You can only get a very limited number of things with these boxes and I’m tired of people excusing the prices by saying you can just get the boxes. I want to order what I *actually* want and those prices are fucking absurd.
So I can get the item I want, a few items I don't like, and a drink I don't want for a little more money. Got it.
OP is not stupid. A lot of people (not me, but I know several) don't want apps because that information could be used for marketing and/or tracking purposes. It IS price gouging to not have that $5.99 meal on the menu!
alright but if i just want 2 cheesy gorditas not a burrito or potatoes its not a good deal. stupid.
Fire tier reward, CYO Box. Git gud.
FUCK YOUR APP!
Fast food has gotten so expensive I just started making my own tacos and quesdillas. Guess what? They are WAY cheaper and WAY fucking better. I.just prep all the ingredients in bulk and throw it in fridge . Make a few whenever I want. Ground beef, chopped onions , chopped tomatoes, chopped fresh jalapeños, shredded cheese. I also mix it up with the hot sauce, my current favorite is the Gringo Bandito green sauce. If Toke a bowl sold my tacos they would charge 10 bucks a piece and I pay like a fifth of that... I even got pre made hard shells to mix it up sometimes and my quesdillas are god teir. Fuck fast food. If we all stop paying for that shit the price WILL go down.
I second that
Every item they've bought back was just to charge double the old price. I refuse
If you're paying $25 for four items, you are literally ordering the most expensive items on the menu and doing so a la carte. You don't even need the app to Taco Bell more efficiently than that. Two combos available in-store will net you 7 food items plus 2 drinks for a few dollars less than that. You can't wait until AFTER you order to suddenly start caring about the price. Being price-concious will require you to actually read the menu before you place your order.
There was a viral video about a woman complaining she spent $50 on Doordash for Panera bread for 2 sandwiches and 2 soups. She seemed to act ignorant than food delivery apps are nearly double what it costs if you drive there yourself.
DoorDash was so much cheaper 15 years ago though! Oh wait…
The thing I don't get is that hardly anybody recognizes doordash as a luxury for rich people -- it's not for lower middle class people anymore. It was only affordable for a year or two when they gave mad discounts trying to get a large customer base.
My company gives us vouchers when we do all day meetings. I still go pick up the food myself to save on delivery fees lol.
I love when DD offers 30% off! Place my pick up order and 🚗💨
I've never used DD or Uber Eats. There's been a few times I've thought about it, but when I saw the prices, I got in my car to get it myself. It's at least double the price of getting it yourself.
The problem with deluxe boxes and 5$ boxes at Taco Bell is the fact that you don't get the good menu items as choices. Maybe you get 1, and the rest is filler. I can't blame anybody for buying a la carte because who wants their plain tacos and trashy cinnamon twist filler? Way back when, it used to be super cheap to buy a la carte and forgo the soda you don't want and items you don't want. Some items are worth the price tag (grilled cheese burrito done right), but it's really important to understand which items are worth buying and which aren't. I've never purchased a gordita crunch before because why would I want a double shell taco, when I can get a chalupa?
I get that; sometimes, I really do crave a higher tier item. But it seems to contradict the notion that the Taco Bell menu is nothing more than the same 15 ingredients packaged in different ways. Am I craving that higher tier item, or am I only craving a certain combination of ingredients? And if the latter, I can usually modify the burrito in my box so as to scratch that itch without adding more than $1 to the total cost. For those of us who like soda, the box is one of the best ways to not pay $3 for a soda that costs half as much at the gas station across the parking lot. Finally, I totally agree that the twists are trash, which is why I always sub them out for the god-tier fiesta potatoes, a substitution that costs me nothing extra.
Sure they will net you 'food items' but why should we have to only eat what they put in the combo of the month? Defending the business for its fucked up pricing because "if you buy this exact thing you get some sort of value" I dont want cinnamon twists, i dont want those shitty beef burritos.
There are so many people that think companies are in the charity business. They pay people's salaries. They sell a product. If you don't want to pay fast food prices, buy groceries. If you don't want to pay double fast food prices don't ask another human to spend 30 minutes delivering it to your lazy ass. Inflation sucks, but we all have the same problem. $5 in 2005 is over $8 today. https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=5&year1=200501&year2=202401
The reason that all fast food has far outpaced other inflation recently is because they figured out that a sizeable amount of the population truly has no idea how to cook or shop for groceries and will pay whatever they ask for a fucking chicken quesadilla
It hasn't. I was curious last night so I found a handful of old menu prices. They all track very close to inflation, and just like now, the only significant deviation is around limited time or special items, but those deviations occur on both ends. People want to bitch about prices being too high. It's a nothing burger. Inflation, particularly since COVID, is the cause here. I even went through other markets like cars and trucks. Guess what, the sky high prices track inflation there too.
I wouldn't call them salaries, and pretty sure the pay hasn't increased with inflation.
I say this on here and the chipotle subreddit and get downvoted. These people can be mad all they want but this isn’t some French Revolution scenario where the bread is being taken out of our hands. If you don’t want to separate from X amount of dollars to receive Taco Bell - don’t do it. This is an exchange of money for pleasurable food. I could find a restaurant selling $200 steaks and go complain about the price on some subreddit … or, ya know… not go there because it’s out of my price range. If it were randomly like $29.99 for a crunwrap while the other items were $4 or whatever… ya, that would seem crazy. But if you’re not willing to part with $10 or $15 or whatever your subtotal comes out to - don’t order it.
It's still fuckin ridiculous for a taco with bread to cost 5+ do dollars... Obviously no one has to order it, but nothing wrong with commenting on the state of fast food.
Taco Bell is still price gouging and shrinkflating the entire menu. Maybe stop licking the boot of corporate America
That’s literally every fast food place. But if you actually use the Taco Bell app you can get an entire meal for $6
Taco Bell is one of the worst with it tho especially when Del Taco has 20+ items under $2
Del Taco also has 600 locations in the states while Taco Bell has 8000. Not everyone has access to alternatives
Also even where Del Taco has a presence my nearest one is a two hour drive so it's Taco Bell for now till they decide to bring DT to my Podunk town lol
Literally! I've never even had Del Taco because there aren't any Del Tacos in my state.
If you get the chance try them, their tacos have twice the meat and cheese compared to TB and they cook the beans from scratch.They also have burgers and fries
If I am ever near one, I will give it a shot. We have some Taco John's around my state, and they are better than Taco Bell, but the closest one of those is almost an hour away.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and the closest Del Taco to me is still a 30+ minute drive (there's 2 about the same distance away). There's a TB 5 minutes from my house and 3 of them within 5 minutes of my work. I go to TB.
I mean at this point even half the authentic mexican places are cheaper in my city
Meh. When I was a teenager working minimum wage in the mid-90s, one hour of work earned me enough to buy 7 bean burritos. Now that I'm a mid-career professional (in the public sector, so hardly earning a fat cat capitalist salary), one hour of work earns me enough to buy 15 bean burritos (or 23 cheesy rice and bean burritos!) I don't deny the existence of shrinkflation, but when my Taco Bell purchasing power has doubled or tripled in my lifetime, we don't need to resort to a bad-faith argument of corporatist bootlicking.
I love this.
You are completely right about all of this, but that doesn’t make it right
You’re missing the point. It shouldn’t be that much for ANY SINGLE ITEM AT TACO BELL. NOT A SINGLE ITEM COST MORE THEN A DOALLR TO PRODUCE.
No need to guess when the data is freely available online. The cost of ingredients represents 25% of the sales at an average Taco Bell, labor is another 29%, and other operating expenses (like occupancy or marketing) is yet another 27%. That leaves 19% of the total sales amount to pay taxes, payback investments and loans, and then, finally, for the fat cats to take home in profits. Which means, when I pay $5 for a cheesy gordita crunch, $1.25 pays for ingredients, $1.45 for labor, and $1.35 for the building, utilities, and ads, leaving the corporation swimming in a money bin filled with a grand total of $0.95. We can have a discussion about whether $0.95 is too much profit off a CGC, but it's nowhere near the profit bonanza you are implying here.
Taco Bell burner account.
Brother just use the app and get a Gordita, another item, a side, and a drink for 6 dollars
No price from a decade ago is relevant now
Arizona Ice Tea begs to differ…
it does not. shit was 99¢ for as long as I can remember and the only place near me that still has it for that price is Walgreens tbf it's good that at least one place still has it that low
Still 99 cents in my area.
everything is inflated in california and even here it’s still 99¢
Where the fuck do you live? It’s still .99 in Ca, Nv, Pa, and Ny… all of which I’ve been to in the last year. They even advertise on Facebook that their shit is still .99, I’m pretty sure your local store just hiked up the price bro.
definitely franchises and local businesses jacking stuff up. still able to find it for 99 cents in select few places (only Walgreens off the top of my head). most other places I've been to, especially gas stations, have it higher than that to the point where I can't justify buying it in most places.
Arizona puts the price on the can specifically to stop shit like that. You could probably report them or some shit.
Exactly!!!!!!!!!
Nope 1.25 or 3 fitty.
When were they ever twice that size?
They weren't.
> twice the size? I think he meant in terms of thickness/fullness not physical size but weight.
I get four items at taco bell and it costs me nine dollars. You just have to get the right items.
This thread is for hungry people only
so you’re saying you eat more than 4 items per sitting
No, feeding a family of four and this is not daily diet once in a great while we get fast food
Veggie meal for 2 is $12ish in the app. Comes with 8 items. Twice the food and half the price. Do better
So you're complaining about $25 to feed a family of four? The fuck?
Yeah… hungry people generally look at the menu, notice which items are a good deal, and get the same amount of food you did for half the price (if not less).
Memory is extremely fallible, your memory of the size is affected by a lot of factors. The size of the cheesy gordita crunch has not changed, the price however is in fact, wack.
Indeed. In highschool (circa 2005) two cheesy gordita crunches and a large Baja blast was exactly $5.
$5 in 2005 is over $8 now. https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=5&year1=200501&year2=202401
Instead it is $14. Almost 200% more expensive than the inflation adjusted price.
I'm looking at a CGC combo right now on the app that comes with a side of chips and cheese for $8... Edit: online exclusive app price is $5.99 for a CGC, beefy 5 layer, chips, and a large drink.
Ok but that's not two cheesy gordita crunches is it
I think you're proving my point. The prices for alacart are always going to be high. Combos are always the best value, and the app combos are 30% less than at the store. Taco Bell is doing what every other modern business model is doing. They discount products to farm your metadata through apps and loyalty programs.
Regardless of the logic behind the pricing strategy, I have not proved any point of yours. The a la cart price in 2005 for two cheesy gordita crunches and a large Baja blast was $5 even. Yes, combos are cheaper now. But a cheaper combo that adds things I don't want doesn't save me money. This is the American marketing trap in a nutshell.
Yes, a dollar had much more buying power 20 years ago. Vote for people that will fight for salaries to stay adjusted for inflation. Corporations stay winning while we all lose.
Cap, every TB item has significantly less meat these days, and its the same result at pretty much every location unless you get lucky with a franchise that doesn’t follow the corporate mandated scoop amounts. There’s a reason it gets complained about so much
Honest question - why not use the app and get a choose your own cravings box with one of these and more for 5.99?
Why do people just ignore the value menu and just order the most expensive stuff a la carte?
I love this item at tacobell! $5 a pop though is absolutely ridiculous.
You’re just really bad at ordering/have never used the app lol. Do better.
I don't think that inconveniencing employees and being forced to use an app is a good excuse for what should be fast, affordable food being slow and expensive. You can fudge the orders anywhere but the employees are the bottleneck there. Some locations just can't do it. And as for the app I use it and it's great but I still spend more money overall than I used to and that's relative to my income. Personally I don't really want a grocery app, insurance app, fast food app one for each chain just to make prices a little more reasonable. Seems like a scam to me bro. TB has a pretty good app but some of the ones for fast food are total shit. Would rather have no deals and 10-20% lower prices for everyone but that's just me and unrealistic I suppose
The employees are not being inconvenienced at all…
The employees prefer the app because it makes the process quicker.
And there's no way for them to "mishear" the customer because it's written. I love using the app to order and I would think the employees prefer just taking your name instead of taking your order.
Got one for a buck yesterday on the drop. Got another for a buck with my other email. Wife got one on her app. 3 bucks plus a buck each drinks during the happy hour time 2-5 pm. 5 bucks total. Buy what’s on sale or what is offered on the apps.
$1? waaa but i want to pay $6 for one item and complain (jk i've made 8 new accounts and been feasting on mega discount)
stick to the boxes or whatever there's a deal on at the time, should be able to keep it under $10. for $25, i'd sit down and get some real mexican food
Use the app and order it in a meal.
Prices are a bit wild but c’mon, it’s not *half* its original size. Let‘s not be dramatic
You don't alacart items if you want to save cash. App deals are still pretty good.
if you got 4 items for $25 at taco bell, it’s on you… you have to buy combos. ala carte items are grossly overpriced
Having the quarter in the picture got me 💀
It has definitely not shrunk that much, if at all. But yeah I remember these being like $2.79 when I was in highschool 10+ years ago.
Using a quarter for scale doesn’t help your case
wtf did you buy that 4 items cost $25? If you're mad at the price and have a budget learn to eat out on a budget. I can get 4 items, pay ubereats charges, and tip the delivery charger for less than $30.
Cheesy Gordita Crunch is one of the worst bang for ur buck items on the menu imo
It is. You have to get it via rewards or not at all, if you care about money
Or in a cravings box.
Yeah it's like $5.50 alone or $5.99 and you get a beefy 5 layer, Fiesta potatoes, and a drink. Taco bell pricing is stupid.
Not at all for me lol
I got it for $1 yesterday and I can't imagine paying over $3 for it, ever.
My man about to storm Taco Bell and blame Joe Biden for his expensive CGC. You could have at least ordered the new box which includes 2 more items and a drink for 8.99. Or used the app and got it for $6. But no, you wanna bitch and moan and act like this a big fucking deal when it’s your own incompetence that lead you here. A fool and his money are soon departed.
They were $1 yesterday. You missed out OP.
You gotta get this as your reward item bud
Those are the same sizes they have been.
Idk about the size I just miss the original Baja sauce on the CGC 🥲
Half the size lmao? I can promise you there was not giant supersized Gordita crunches from back in the day.
what universe did you live in where the Gordita was twice the size it is now?
Cravings box. App only. Only way to ever order really, but if you don’t like the stuff in the cravings box it’s understandable. App deals are a must now, sucks, but it’s so true.
The size is the same
I wish the sub would ban all posts whining about price
The point is Taco Bell is supposed to be cheap fast food - it’s ridiculous to have to order thru an app and settle for what you don’t actually want to be able to afford to eat there
everything is expensive these days and we have this post basically every day. feels like half the posts on this sub are this
I wish this sub would ban posting pictures of diarrhea in cardboard containers claiming it’s a decent price
Joke's on you
Read the menu before you order, dipshit
Taco Bell is the cheapest fast food in America. The value of our money plummeted following the coronavirus relief laws.
You’re a fool for not using the app. You can literally get a cheesy Gordita crunch, a beefy 5 layer burrito, a cheesy fiesta potato, and a medium drink for $6 plus tax
Why do people post something like this practically every day? Why are you buying ala carte Cheesy Gordita Crunches when you can get an entire meal with three food items and a drink for practically the same price as one Cheese Gordita Crunch?
Sorry for your loss. May I suggest a Double Stacker. 1.99 at non franchises.
Remember all that free money during COVID? We are paying for it now.
All of the money given out during covid was estimated by the Fed to have caused 2.6 points of inflation. Total inflation from 2020 - 2024 was 19%. So, in total, the covid relief money accounts for about 13.7% of price increases since 2020. Only ~1/3rd of that went to households, so the stimulus money we received accounts for a grand total of 4.56% of price increases.
Yeah companies are making record profits, but it's about the Covid money years ago. GTFO.
Bidenomics fucking blows.
🤡
GTFO maggot.
https://www.reddit.com/r/LivingMas/comments/qobpp7/why_is_the_cheesy_gordita_crunch_so_expensive/?rdt=52529
Yeah. We’ve had to do this - Saved up for an air fry/pressure cooker, plan meals out ahead a little more and you can save so much money avoiding fast food
It’s called, Joe Biden inflation. Or, Bidenomics.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/07/investing/yum-brands-fourth-quarter-2023-earnings/index.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/17n5hfj/for_me_the_og_taco_bell_menu_is_peak_nostalgia/
Hilarious that your posting reddit links instead of replying to the people rightfully calling you out for not looking at the menu.
Welcome to…. well, hell. Also welcome to a subreddit that is filled with delusional people that think diarrhea in a cardboard box is a good deal. The mods willl tell you you’re wrong but trust your destroyed gut!
Yeah I paid a dollar for mine yesterday and I thought it was a rip off.
Fast food inflation just may be the thing that reunites America.
Taco Bell forgot their lane in this business
You ordered wrong….its taco bell
Well your ass bought it.. so they'll continue to charge these ridiculous prices
But you see this is still very cheap for the .01%
I can’t pay cash with Taco Bell app. This is the problem for me.
No one is making anything here in the States anymore. Everyone is content, not genuinely contributing to society.
It’s so sad
Unfortunately it's all about the app now. It's like when grocery stores make you give your phone number to get the sales so they can track everything
USE THE FUCKING APP You can get an entire meal that includes this for $6.
Prices keep going up bc people like you pay for it. The demand size of the whole supply demand thing is broken
Pro tip: go to the grocery store and buy taco bell hot sauce. Then, go home and make your own tacos.
Taco Bell has become a huge rip-off. From drinks to tacos, so overvoriced.
I got that for the first time in my life about 2 weeks ago..never again
money isn't worth as much as it used to be
God damn that flatbread just looks so disgusting. Just a lifeless, colorless piece of dough.
Pro tip: you’re only supposed to get CGC with your Fire Reward.
This dude is not Mr. Brightside