The Divisive Fast Food Tacos Customers Love More Than Taco Bell
Most, if not all, of us have a favorite fast food taco. You may profess your allegiance to mom-and-pop taquerias, to artisanal varieties like Korean tacos you can make in 20 minutes, and to Michelin-starred restaurants that hand-grind their masa, but that does nothing to dispel the convenience and comforting familiarity of a fast food taco. And when it comes to a favorite among consumers, there is one brand that appears to stand out — and it's not Taco Bell.
Users on a Del Taco-centric Reddit thread claimed that the chain has the best fast food taco, both in terms of quality and price. "Value menu is actually VALUE, with most items being 1-1.50$ and the taste range is extensive," wrote one individual. Others concurred with this assessment: "My son was built off Del Taco's chicken soft tacos when I was pregnant," wrote another Redditor, while a third noted, "Del Taco is the only fast food place I don't get complete sticker shock at."
Not every user concurred with the majority opinion, however. One claimed that the quality varies between locations (which applies to virtually every fast food chain), while others stated that their closest Del Taco was too far away, or that they found the menu underwhelming (as one user wrote, "It made me contemplate life. And not in a good way"). But the support for Del Taco underscored an opinion that has been building for some time: Del Taco makes a better taco than Taco Bell.
Del Taco has been gaining popularity for years
The aforementioned Reddit thread isn't the first time that Del Taco has ranked higher than Taco Bell. In fact, we at The Takeout wrote that Taco Bell should watch out for this competitor back in 2024, noting Del Taco's expansion in terms of locations and new territories. Del Taco has an impressive national presence, with more than 590 locations in 15-plus states, but that number pales before the gordita juggernaut that is Taco Bell, which boasts over 8,700 restaurants in more than 30 countries worldwide.
That disparity may account for the divided opinion on Del Taco, in that there simply aren't enough of them to fully sway the fast food taco faithful. But it doesn't appear to have curbed its growing popularity among consumers and industry observers alike. In 2022, Del Taco's eponymous crunchy taco captured "Best Fast Food Taco in America" from Thrillist for the second time in two years — a laurel which spurred a subsequent ad campaign highlighting an independent lab's finding that the Del Taco was 30% larger and twice as cheesy as Taco Bell's crunchy taco.
More recently, The Takeout conducted a cross-reference of customer responses and reviews from multiple platforms in an attempt to determine the ultimate ranking of fast food tacos. Topping that 2025 list? The Del Taco, again besting Taco Bell's Crunchy Taco Supreme. So, while not everyone yet agrees that Del Taco has the best fast food taco, it does appear that it's winning people over to its side.