Fast Food Discussion: Mexican Pizza at Taco Bell

[kyphysics]

They are called flautas (Spanish for flutes).

YUP.

I just bought some actually (an hour ago). I asked the employee what they were called and she said that too. Then, I realized they also have chicken egg rolls ($1.25 or $1.50 - can't remember which), which are located in a different area.

Walmart's set-up is a hot foods section by the Meat & Deli area with employees serving you. Then, usually there is a section at the front by the cash registers with heated hot foods with no employee service. You just take what you want under the heat lamps. I saw corn dogs there too. Everything seemed to be $1.25 or $1.50.

If these are not loss leaders for Walmart, then I give them credit for serving me something that tastes of higher quality for such a cheap price. Best of all, there is no 10%, 15%, 20%, etc. tip that is asked of me. I've gotten annoyed with the insane tipping for stuff that never had it before. Food like this is a last refuge in the food service industry that doesn't require a tip. More savin$ for me!

 

[jtbell]

I was reminded yesterday that a few of these actually do exist in this area. While driving home from a day-trip to Columbia SC, I made a detour through Newberry, and noticed this place.

View attachment 315297

I don't know how long it's been closed. A sign on the door says "new owners - will reopen soon".

According to Wikipedia, Zesto started in the late 1940s as a national franchise chain under a company that made frozen custard machines. Now the restaurants are independently owned and operated, and simply license the trademark.

There are two other Zestos in South Carolina, and one in Atlanta. The rest are in the midwest. I've driven past the Zesto in Chapin SC many times, including yesterday, in fact. It's about halfway between Newberry and Columbia. It's an indoor sit-down restaurant with a completely different "look" from the one in Newberry, so I didn't connect the two immediately.

I drove to Columbia again today. I didn't think about the Zestos in Newberry and Chapin until I had gotten to Columbia, so I didn't check them out.

Instead, on my way home I made a detour to the Zesto in West Columbia, which I hadn't seen before.

It was late in the afternoon and I had already told my wife I would be home for dinner, so I just had an ice cream cone. Their chicken apparently has a good reputation, so I'll have to try it for lunch sometime.

The layout here is a bit odd. You place your order at a counter in a small room, like at most fast-food places. Then, if you're getting something more than an ice cream cone, you go outside and re-enter the building via a separate entrance to the sit-down dining area, and receive your order there. At least the walkway is covered so you don't get wet if it's raining.

 

[kyphysics]

McDonald’s is selling 50-cent double cheeseburgers for National Cheeseburger Day, Wendy’s is giving them out for a penny​

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/15/national-cheeseburger-day-mcdonalds-burger-king-wendys.html\

The fast food giant is celebrating Monday’s National Cheeseburger Day by discounting one of its most popular menu items: the Double Cheeseburger.

On Sept. 18 only, customers will be able to buy the sandwich for just 50 cents.

The offer is available only to customers who use the fast food chain’s smartphone app, and is limited to one burger per customer. . .

Wendy's is one-upping McDonald's by offering a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger from Sept. 18 through Sept. 22. The catch? The penny burger can only be added to your order if you purchase another menu item.

Is this per location? Or, can you only do it once (and cannot repeat elsewhere)?

On Chick-Fil-A's annual chicken day, I go on a route of 3 CFA's (total of about 15 min. apart) to get my free sandwiches. No limit on locations.

 

[kyphysics]

I finally tried Costco's famous hot dogs and also their pizza (which gets a bit less fanfare than the hot dogs).

Surprisingly, I found the pizza to be more of an underrated star than the ho hum hot dog. The large pepperoni was $9.99 (I think it was an 18-inch - HUGE size) had a good quality tasting cheese, a chewy crust (which I like), and flavorful sauce and pepperonis. Nothing was high quality, but nothing felt low quality either. It was simply a well-made pizza at a very cheap price value w/ decent quality ingredients.

The hot dog was okay. The bun was what ruined it. It was way too thick and doughy in a way that overpowered the tasty dog.

I'd buy both again, b/c of the value, but I'd prefer the pizza over the dog.

 

[gmax137]

I got a Costco hot dog a couple weeks ago, only to find they didn't have the brown mustard anymore. Not the same without it.

 

[kyphysics]

I got a Costco hot dog a couple weeks ago, only to find they didn't have the brown mustard anymore. Not the same without it.

I only had ketchup and mustard (ran out of relish there). I thought the beef itself was very flavorful. . . .That bun totally ruined it for me. SOoooo thick and doughy. Worst hot dog bun ever. . .it was more meant for a hoagie (and was even thick for that!).

 

[symbolipoint]

This thread shall be a place where we can talk about anything fast-food related.

Does anyone here actually dislike fast food? I know it's not healthy, but it's sure darn good.

...The Mexican pizza is back at Taco Bell. I like certain items at Taco Bell, but this is not one of them. I wonder what people like about it? I'd rather eat a crunchy taco...a real/normal pizza...I don't see the hype behind this concoction.

Maybe Taco Bell is not the best for a pizza. Use Taco Bell for the items that you do like. Also worth to learn about other types of Pizza restaurants who can give or make custom pizzas, such as Pieology, who can give so many many different toppings like jalapenos, other chilis, cilantro, spicy sausages, and sauces other than tomato sauce.

 

[gmax137]

Taco Bell's mexican pizza is really more like a tostada.

 

[kyphysics]

Taco Bell's mexican pizza is really more like a tostada.

How do you guys feel about their "taco salad"? It'd rather have a taco salad than a Mexican pizza. Both share the same fried flour "crust." I bet they're the same ingredients overall too, but just arranged differently. More lettuce on taco salad too.

I haven't been back to Taco Bell since seeing a giant rat in the drive-thru lane.

 

[gmax137]

I haven't been back to Taco Bell since seeing a giant rat in the drive-thru lane.

What was he driving?

 

[symbolipoint]

From @kyphysics:

I haven't been back to Taco Bell since seeing a giant rat in the drive-thru lane.

Response from @gmax137:

What was he driving?

Check to see if it was a Catillack!

 

[kyphysics]

What was he driving?

She casually walked across the drive-thru lane unafraid of my car. That's when I knew this was a different breed of rat. It was huge, unafraid, and seemed like it could be a tough fight. Home Depot is across the street from this Taco Bell and they've told me these rats are not afraid of cats that come by the garden. The cats don't even try to attack the giant rats.

 

[collinsmark]

[...] Also worth to learn about other types of Pizza restaurants who can give or make custom pizzas, such as Pieology, who can give so many many different toppings like jalapenos, other chilis, cilantro, spicy sausages, and sauces other than tomato sauce.

I have a few negatives with Pieology Pizzeria. I'll list them below in no particular order.

• Pieology's main selling/marketing push is the "Craft Your Own Pizza" menu item. With this, you put as many toppings as you like on your pizza all for one flat price. The problem is that if you order n toppings, they'll only put on a quantity of \frac{1}{n} for each topping, compared a single topping order. So in the end, no matter how many toppings you want, the result is consistently dissapointing.
• It's California style pizza, meaning a thin crust, not much cheese or sauce, and cooked quickly under a flame who's temperature is in the same ballpark as the surface of the sun. The end result is a relatively unsubstantial pizza where the toppings are singed on the outside, and barely cooked on the inside. I even live in California -- I have for decades now -- and I still haven't figured out why anybody would opt for this.
• In all their marketing and store decor, website decore, etc., there's not one mention of \pi. 'Talk about a missed opportunity.

 

[symbolipoint]

I have a few negatives with Pieology Pizzeria. I'll list them below in no particular order.

• Pieology's main selling/marketing push is the "Craft Your Own Pizza" menu item. With this, you put as many toppings as you like on your pizza all for one flat price. The problem is that if you order n toppings, they'll only put on a quantity of \frac{1}{n} for each topping, compared a single topping order. So in the end, no matter how many toppings you want, the result is consistently dissapointing.
• It's California style pizza, meaning a thin crust, not much cheese or sauce, and cooked quickly under a flame who's temperature is in the same ballpark as the surface of the sun. The end result is a relatively unsubstantial pizza where the toppings are singed on the outside, and barely cooked on the inside. I even live in California -- I have for decades now -- and I still haven't figured out why anybody would opt for this.
• In all their marketing and store decor, website decore, etc., there's not one mention of \pi. 'Talk about a missed opportunity.

Still one of my favorites. Some people do not like Mozzarella cheese and do not like tomato pizza sauce. So many of the other available toppings then present improvements for people like me. The complaint of the preparers giving small amounts of most toppings can be managed, but requires the repeated request of asking for more of...

 

[kyphysics]

• It's California style pizza, meaning a thin crust, not much cheese or sauce, and cooked quickly under a flame who's temperature is in the same ballpark as the surface of the sun. The end result is a relatively unsubstantial pizza where the toppings are singed on the outside, and barely cooked on the inside. I even live in California -- I have for decades now -- and I still haven't figured out why anybody would opt for this.

A fresh tasting tangy sauce is so important to me on pizzas, as is enough cheese (should get decent "cheese pull"). I haven't been to this business, but don't think I'd like it from the description above.

I am in love with Jet's Pizza (Detroit deep dish franchise known for the crust, but also super fresh ingredients - from the sauce to the fresh dough). You can taste the quality ingredients. A bit pricey (usually about $5 more per pizza vs. other franchise national brands like Pizza Hut, Domino's, etc.), but worth it for the quality to me.

I find when eating low quality food, I'm still hungry afterwards and blow my money buying more food. Why not just buy higher quality and filling food from the start? . . .It's why I'm willing to pay up for a Five Guys burger finally.

The exception that I find is the value Costco pizza. That 16-inch $9.99 pizza is just pretty darn good (ingredient quality is solidly decent).

Who here has tried Jet's Pizza and/or Costco pizza and doesn't like it?

 

[kyphysics]

The complaint of the preparers giving small amounts of most toppings can be managed, but requires the repeated request of asking for more of...

Sounds like Subway with their super thin sliced toppings that you have to fight tooth and nail to get a little extra of. It was one of the top reasons I stopped going there years ago (I eat Jimmy John's and Jersey Mike's now, instead).

 

[symbolipoint]

Who here has tried Jet's Pizza and/or Costco pizza and doesn't like it?

I have not tried those, but based on the description, just my own consumer experience and intuition tells me ' I would not like it '.

 

[collinsmark]

Who here has tried Jet's Pizza and/or Costco pizza and doesn't like it?

I have not tried those, but based on the description, just my own consumer experience and intuition tells me ' I would not like it '.

I haven't tried Jets or Costco pizza either. There is a Costco in town but I'm not a member*, so I haven't eaten there.

That said, there is former colleague of mine that swore by Costco pizza. He would drive for miles sometimes at lunch just to have the Costco pizza.

*(For those unfamiliar with Costco, it's like a huge warehouse food supply store where you can buy items in bulk for not much more than the wholesale price. I guess it's great for large families that eat a lot of food. Rather than buy a small jar of mayonnaise, Costco might sell a vat of mayonnaise, or maybe six jars of mayonnaise all packaged together. But in order to shop there in the first place, you must first become a member, and get a special card. If you don't have the card, they won't sell to you. This might be a USA only thing, I don't know.

They also have a cafeteria which sells various cafeteria food items, including the pizza discussed here. It definitely has its fans.)

 

[symbolipoint]

*(For those unfamiliar with Costco, it's like a huge warehouse food supply store where you can buy items in bulk for not much more than the wholesale price. I guess it's great for large families that eat a lot of food. Rather than buy a small jar of mayonnaise, Costco might sell a vat of mayonnaise, or maybe six jars of mayonnaise all packaged together. But in order to shop there in the first place, you must first become a member, and get a special card. If you don't have the card, they won't sell to you. This might be a USA only thing, I don't know.

They also have a cafeteria which sells various cafeteria food items, including the pizza discussed here. It definitely has its fans.)

Some Costco stores are in countries outside of USA; Mexico has some but not sure about other countries.

A compromise type of store between big-box type and grocery & variety type is, (not sure what it is called) something like Iris Smart & Final. They do not have customer - cafeteria service like at Costco.

 

[gmax137]

Costco ... I guess it's great for large families that eat a lot of food.

My wife and I buy the Costco rotisserie chicken, it is $5. We have hot chicken for dinner, then cut up the rest to make chicken salad or pot pies.

This might be a USA only thing, I don't know.

I've been to Costco in Mexico. The funny thing there was, the Don Julio tequila was priced higher than in my local US Costco. Go figure.

Jersey Mike's

plus one on Jersey Mikes!

 

[kyphysics]

That said, there is former colleague of mine that swore by Costco pizza. He would drive for miles sometimes at lunch just to have the Costco pizza.

Pizza's a food that I find hard to mess up to the point I wouldn't eat it. As long as the ingredients are fresh/quality and the prep is good (not left under heat lamp at 7-11 for 2-3 days straight), then I think it's a simple tasty food. . . .Yet, you'd be surprised how often it can go wrong. Some places skimp on quality ingredients and you get a watered down cheap cheese and gross tomato paste, etc.

What's great about Costco's pizza is the 16-incher is only $9.99, yet they somehow put in pretty good quality ingredients. That's what I was talking about earlier. It's just surprisingly darn good. Good cheese. Good dough. Good sauce. . . .Heck, I'm probably going to drive and buy one this week! They last a long time too, b/c the slices are humungous.

 

[kyphysics]

This was lunch. I purposely pulled out a slice and took an angled picture to give a sense of crust thickness.

For $10.99, the Costco 16-incher is just a value champion. Good quality ingredients. Lots of cheese. Not thin crust, but on the thinner side. It's a chewy style dough. Tangy tasty sauce and flavorful, plentiful pepperonis.

Not all pizzas taste good as leftovers. This one still does, because there's enough sauce and cheese that it doesn't dry out.

Enough for 3 meals or more. Hard to beat.

 

[kyphysics]

I saw this Jersey Mike's vs. Wawa Italian hoagie review on YouTube and decided I'd try the Wawa Italian. Not sure why my camera didn't save/record the picture of the unwrapped hoagie, but I did snap a profile view of the Wawa classic $6 sub deal (all subs are this price).

Size: both were the same
Price: Wawa was $6 vs. JM's at $9.50 (before tip***)
Taste: JM's slightly was better in the small details. The meat was more flavorful and seemed fresher. The condiments and veggies were pretty much the same to me, except JM's gave more (this is presumably easily fixed by asking for more at Wawa and/or could just be a function of the preparer). The bun at Wawa's was hard (granted, I asked for it to be toasted, but you could tell it was still harder than normal) as if it'd be sitting around for days, whereas JM's roll was fresh and soft.

Verdict: The price/value difference would make me buy Wawa's Italian more regularly than Jersey Mike's. If I had infinite money, of course I'd take the JM's over Wawa. But the difference wasn't that big between them. I plan on buying more Wawa subs THIS week! . . .In the age of inflation/shrinkflation/tip-flation, the Wawa $6 classic sub is a super bargain.

***JM's payment kiosk had 10% as the lowest tip option and I felt the pressure to tip (with the worker looking at my selection and a customer next to me).

 

[kyphysics]

 

[kyphysics]

The end is near for humanity. This monstrosity from KFC is pathetic. Chicken pizza = chizza. Use fried chicken as the base/bread.

 

[docnet]

I really enjoy a good old fashioned American cheeseburger from a diner or a restaurant. Is anything more yum than a Cheeseburger????

 

[symbolipoint]

I really enjoy a good old fashioned American cheeseburger from a diner or a restaurant. Is anything more yum than a Cheeseburger????

Yes plenty of things at restaurant (including diners) are more appealing than a cheeseburger. Depending on preference of each individual, smoked ribs, pan-fried fish (especially salmon), certain noodle things from Italian restaurants and some from "Chinese" restaurants.

 

[docnet]

Yes plenty of things at restaurant (including diners) are more appealing than a cheeseburger. Depending on preference of each individual, smoked ribs, pan-fried fish (especially salmon), certain noodle things from Italian restaurants and some from "Chinese" restaurants.

True, food preference is subjective. But it's difficult to not like smoked ribs.
Eggs Benedicts with bacon and BLT are some of my diner favorites.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I even live in California -- I have for decades now -- and I still haven't figured out why anybody would opt for this.

My favorite pizza place in Hawaii does not sell a "Hawaiian pizza". Well, they do, but a) its off menu, and b) they call it a "Mainland pizza".

 

[Andystraus44]

My favorite pizza place in Hawaii does not sell a "Hawaiian pizza". Well, they do, but a) its off menu, and b) they call it a "Mainland pizza".

There is a