Are there any older-style Taco Bells left in the US?
Posted: 30 Apr 2018 13:51
The Taco Bell chain has been on a remodeling and rebuilding tear for the last decade and a half, and I’m really starting to wonder if there are any traces of their pre-1990s existence left in the United States.
The mission-style restaurants of the 1960s to mid-1980s seem practically extinct now except as repurposings and abandonments. In 2010, I checked and found that there were only three or four of these left in operation in Wisconsin, where I lived at the time. I frantically photographed whatever I could, and I’m glad that I did because all of them have been closed or demolished by now.
Also near extinction is the brown signage from the 1980s and early 1990s. A large number of buildings from this era survive, but every one that I’ve seen in the last four years had been updated to newer signage...again, at least in the US. Are there any survivors?
The one mission-style Taco Bell I know of that’s left in operation (and one of two that I know of with brown signage) isn’t in the United States at all: It’s in London, Ontario. Taco Bell’s Canadian operations are somewhat different from those in the States, with more of a focus on combination meals and unique menu items like French fries. I can only guess that they’re also less focused than their stateside counterpart on making all restaurants look alike, and I’m grateful for that!
The mission-style restaurants of the 1960s to mid-1980s seem practically extinct now except as repurposings and abandonments. In 2010, I checked and found that there were only three or four of these left in operation in Wisconsin, where I lived at the time. I frantically photographed whatever I could, and I’m glad that I did because all of them have been closed or demolished by now.
Also near extinction is the brown signage from the 1980s and early 1990s. A large number of buildings from this era survive, but every one that I’ve seen in the last four years had been updated to newer signage...again, at least in the US. Are there any survivors?
The one mission-style Taco Bell I know of that’s left in operation (and one of two that I know of with brown signage) isn’t in the United States at all: It’s in London, Ontario. Taco Bell’s Canadian operations are somewhat different from those in the States, with more of a focus on combination meals and unique menu items like French fries. I can only guess that they’re also less focused than their stateside counterpart on making all restaurants look alike, and I’m grateful for that!