The Long-Gone Taco Bell Side Dish That Fans Still Mourn

Every fast food fan has a discontinued menu item they mourn. Many McDonald's devotees fervently wish the McDLT, Cheddar Melt, and McLean Deluxe would make a comeback, while the Culver's faithful have resigned themselves to the fact they might never eat another CurderBurger or Bananas Foster Sundae. For Taco Bell habitués, the deep-fried holy grail is the Mexi-nugget. Though the name suggests something along the lines of the Mexican chain's Crispy Chicken Nuggets (which we reviewed), the Mexi-nugget was, in actuality, tater tots coated in taco seasoning. History is not rich with information on the item, but it debuted at some point in the 1990s and disappeared shortly after the close of the decade.

Despite the mystery, the mere mention of Mexi-nuggets spawns nostalgic reveries on Reddit and other platforms. "My go to was the 7 layer burrito and a couple orders of the mexi tots. I soooo miss them!" wrote one Redditor, whose sigh of remember-when was almost audible. "I just had a memory bomb I put away deep deep back there somewhere," gushed another on a separate Reddit thread. From these and other posts and reviews, two things become certain about the Mexi-nugget's fanbase: They are aware that other fast food entities make similar items or could easily make them at home, and they don't want either of those options.

Taco Bell has potato sides today, including its Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, but don't ask a Mexi-nugget diehard to accept these as a substitute. "I can't stand any of their current potatoes," griped one Reddit contributor. The same goes for other fast food companies that offer potato sides, like Bojangles' Bo-Tato Rounds, Taco John's Potato Oles, or Taco Time's Mexi-Fries. Propriety and good taste won't allow us to directly quote one Mexi-nugget admirer's thoughts on Bo-Tato Rounds, but suffice it to say: They didn't think they measured up.

The easiest way to revive Mexi-nuggets would be to make them at home. After all, as one Redditor dryly noted, "They're just tater tots with taco seasoning sprinkled on them." And while that statement may be true, it's also terribly reductive and doesn't take into account the veneer that nostalgia often lends to beloved items, no matter how humble. For many Mexi-nuggets fans, the food item was linked to a fun memory. "Can still hear my dad saying I can make those at home with taco seasoning, but we insisted that he couldn't so we got our mexi nuggets," recalled one poster. 

Like many discontinued Taco Bell items, Taco Bell's Mexi-nugget is unlikely to return. Efforts to keep its memory alive are limited to a handful of online threads and a closed Change.org petition. That effort only garnered 329 signatures almost a decade ago, so it seems the Mexi-nugget masses are content to just think fondly of their salty, spicy side of choice.