Review: Taco Bell Beefy Nacho Burrito

Taco Bell’s latest limited-time only offering is the Beefy Nacho Burrito.

FIRST LOOK: Taco Bell launching Beefy Nacho Burrito on Wednesday: Nachos inside a burrito (99 cents) say.ly/BNt3mqo

— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) May 21, 2012

Of course, Darren Rovell was the first one with the scoop, because he knows everything before everyone. I honestly have no idea how he does it. I think when he dies he’ll be the first to tweet about it.

So what is it? Taco Bell describes it like this:

Seasoned beef, warm nacho cheese, cool sour cream and our NEW Queso Strips, all wrapped in a warm flour tortilla.  Like a plate of nachos, the Queso-seasoned strips are layered into this 6.7-ounce burrito, giving customers supreme texture while packing flavor to keep every fan’s summer delicious.

Taco Bell’s limited time offerings are usually just reconstitutions of existing ingredients. I guess it’s kind of hard to innovate Mexican food, if that’s what you want to call it. It’s all just the same stuff prepared in different ways. The Bell’s newest creation actually does include a new ingredient: Queso Strips. They’re basically little tortilla strips with cheese flavoring.

You may recall a similar LTO product that has appeared more than once on Taco Bell’s menu, the Beefy Crunch Burrito. Basically the same idea executed a little differently. The difference is that the Beefy Crunch included Flamin’ Hot Fritos instead of Queso Strips, and also had rice. Personally, I’m just fine with the omission of rice. I don’t think it really adds much to a burrito, other than weight.

Just released this past Wednesday, the Beefy Nacho Burrito is being offered on the value menu for just $.99. You can also get it in a combo, along with two tacos and a large drink, for $3.99. Furthermore, in a tie-in with Major League Baseball, the burrito is available in the $5 Buck Big Hitter Box along with a Burrito Supreme, taco and medium drink. By the way, “$5 Buck” Big Hitter Box is not a typo. That’s actually what it’s called. So I guess if you say it out loud it’s technically “Five dollar buck big hitter box,” which is ridiculous. Don’t they research the shit out of this stuff? How did no one catch that? (This sophomoric solecism was first noticed long ago, and they’ve still yet to correct it. Eick discussed the matter at length a couple years back.)

Anyway, if you’re like me, you were sort of wondering what Taco Bell’s angle was with this burrito. Exactly why am I supposed to want nachos in a burrito? Well, wonder no more:

I guess it sort of does make some sense; nachos can be quite messy. I’m not sure the situation in the commercial is plausible though. How exactly did the guy get Taco Bell into the stadium? Have you ever tried sneaking outside food into a major sporting event? It’s not that easy. You definitely need a trenchcoat and/or enormous pockets. Even then it’s not a guarantee that you’ll get away with it. I think a guy at the turnstiles with a bulge in his pants would be a red flag, whether he’s smuggling burritos or just really fucking loves baseball.

So we know what the burrito is, and what Taco Bell aims to acheive with it. Let’s find out if they’ve got a winner.

The size of the burrito (6.7 oz.) is pretty good for $.99, and there are certainly plenty of the Queso Strips inside. I couldn’t really tell if the strips themselves were any good since they’d been soaking up flavors from the other ingredients. I did detect a hint of spiciness though, which was a welcome addition.

Overall, it pretty much tasted just like you would expect. Unfortunately, most of the crunch was lost thanks to the nacho cheese and sour cream soggifying the Queso Strips, so it wasn’t really reminiscent of eating nachos. I thought it would have been better served by getting rid of the sour cream, and replacing the nacho cheese with real cheese. That would eliminate the soggy chip issue, and real cheese is always better. Still, the burrito was better for having the chips, and it is a pretty great value.

It’s not something for which I’ll be throwing on a coat and some slippers at 1 AM and driving to Taco Bell because I saw the commercial for Fourthmeal during SportsCenter and my stomach growled. But on my next visit, the Beefy Nacho Burrito might be under consideration to be included in my purchase. I can’t say I recommend it; you’re not missing out on anything amazing if you don’t try it. However, if you’re a sucker for value menus and limited-time only items, you may have found a winner. You’d better be swift as the coursing river, because it’ll only be around until early July.