Those Refried Beans Start as Dehydrated Pellets
Turns out, those refried beans you order in your burrito don’t arrive at Taco Bell looking anything like beans – according to former employees, they come dried in sacks resembling pellets similar to rabbit food, then workers add water to rehydrate them. This preparation method is why the consistency varies so wildly from visit to visit. Sometimes they’re too watery and turn your nachos into a soupy mess, other times they’re bone dry and you’re gulping down your drink just to get through your meal.
Employees have noted that the refried beans arrive in plastic bags in dry form, are dumped into hot water, and stirred until creamy. Let’s be real, this isn’t what most people picture when they’re thinking about their Taco Bell order. While it might sound off-putting to some, it’s actually a pretty common fast-food practice designed to maintain consistency and shelf life across thousands of locations.
Drive Thru Workers Are Under Serious Time Pressure
Employees are timed on how fast they serve customers in the drive-thru, with the target time for the entire process – including taking money, passing food, and having the customer drive away – being around one minute and ten seconds. That’s an incredibly tight window when you consider everything that has to happen. Though it varies by store, many employees are supposed to get each car out of line within a certain time limit, with one former worker saying their target was three minutes and thirty seconds.
Here’s the thing most customers don’t realize: those gigantic party pack orders placed in the drive-thru can completely derail the timing for everyone behind you. During the pandemic period, Taco Bell’s drive-thru demand increased by roughly forty-seven percent, yet the company managed to cut eighteen seconds off service time. Still, when you’re stuck waiting, it’s probably because someone ahead ordered enough food to feed a small army.
Every Menu Item Gets Weighed on a Digital Scale
According to a Taco Bell manager, every item at Taco Bell is actually weighed on a scale, and if the weight is even tenths of an ounce off the target weight, employees still have to throw the item out and start over. Think about that for a second. A soft taco, for example, is supposed to weigh exactly 1.6 ounces. Not 1.7, not 1.5 – exactly 1.6.
Taco Bell food workers are required to weigh every menu item to ensure uniformity of product, and if a given item is off by more than 0.3 ounces, it must be discarded and a new one supplied in its place. So that burrito that feels lighter than usual? It shouldn’t be. Workers are trained with these scales until they can eyeball the exact portions needed, which is honestly pretty impressive when you think about the speed they’re working at during rush hours.
The Steak Sits Out Longer Than You’d Like to Know
When employees were asked what menu items to avoid, steak ranked high on the list – they noted that if customers knew what steak starts to look like when it sits on the line for even a decently short amount of time, they’d definitely give it a miss, describing it as having the consistency of hair gel. Yeah, that’s not an appetizing image. Honestly, I think about this every time I see steak on a fast-food menu now.
Some ingredients like steak and chicken were such slow sellers that in some locations, they might be carried over for days. Former employees raised concerns about the steak’s quality, stating it can sit for hours, leading to a less than appetizing texture and taste. Not every location operates this way, though – some managers are reportedly sticklers for health and safety standards.
There’s a Specific Order for Customization Requests
Employees say to always mention the ingredients you want removed before asking for anything else – for example, if you ask for a quesadilla with no sauce and extra cheese, they won’t put the sauce on, but if they hear extra cheese first and then no sauce, they might have already added the sauce, creating a lot of waste. It seems like such a small thing, but it makes a huge difference on the line.
Taco Bell is big on customizations, and employees appreciate when you mention the things you want to remove first before adding other ingredients, as hearing the additions first can lead to food waste. This little trick can actually speed up your order and help the employees do their job more efficiently. Plus, fewer mistakes mean you’re more likely to get exactly what you ordered.
The Fryer Oil Gets Reused for Hours
According to one employee, the grossest thing they’ve seen has to be the fried foods, noting they’ll keep the oil there for hours upon hours with stuff floating in it like old potatoes and tortilla chips. They admitted the fried food still tastes good, but acknowledged it’s a little gross when you know what’s happening behind the scenes. The oil used for frying is often reused for hours, which can lead to degradation in food quality and raises health concerns regarding the breakdown of oil at high temperatures.
It’s worth noting this is actually a common practice across the entire fast-food industry, not just Taco Bell. Still, former employees say they might avoid certain fried items knowing these details. One TikTok user mentioned that the beloved potatoes at Taco Bell take almost thirty minutes to prepare, so if the restaurant is making a new batch or has recently run out, it will take longer to get your food. Sometimes the wait is actually a good sign that you’re getting fresh food.
So there you have it – six truths straight from the people who’ve been on the other side of that counter. Some of these revelations might change how you order next time, or maybe you’ll just appreciate the hustle that goes into getting your late-night Crunchwrap to you in under two minutes. What surprised you most about these insider secrets?
