Taco Bell was adding breakfast to its repretoire of chalupas and MexiMelts®; but apparently the Irvine-based company isn't settling with just eggs and cheese in an attempt to revitalize their brand.
If things go according to plan, 2012 might see the most significant menu overhaul in the 50-year-old chain's history. Starting this week, and in the hopes to pep up lagging sales, Taco Bell is testing Chipotle-style food it's dubbing its “Cantina Bell” line in Bakersfield, California and Louisville, Kentucky. The company is after the Chipotle dollar.
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Looking at the hard numbers reveals why. Same-store sales at Chipotle grew a reported 11.3% in its latest quarter while Taco Bell saw its numbers taking a dive. Sales at Taco Bell's restaurants went flat in the first quarter of last year, declined 5% in the second and then decreased 2% in the third quarter.
According to Reuters and a number of other sources, the new menu, which was principally conceived by Lorena Garcia, a Miami-based chef who coincidentally appeared with Chipotle founder Steve Ells on America's Next Great Restaurant, should look familiar to those familiar to Chipotle, consisting of grilled corn salsa, black beans, and cilantro rice. Though it's priced a few bucks less than its competitor ($5 compared to the about $8 at Chipotle) the offerings will include the usual staples of burritos, tacos and bowls.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.
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