Taco Bell

Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, novelty, and specialty items, and a variety of "value menu" items. As of 2023^[update], Taco Bell serves over two billion customers each year, at 8,212 restaurants, more than 94 percent of which are owned and operated by independent franchisees and licensees.

PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell in 1978. PepsiCo later spun off its restaurants division as Tricon Global Restaurants; subsequently, it changed its name to Yum! Brands.

Taco Bell was founded by Glen Bell, an entrepreneur who first opened a hot dog stand called Bell's Drive-In, in San Bernardino, California, in 1948. Bell watched long lines of customers at a Mexican restaurant called the Mitla Cafe, located across the street, which became famous among residents for its hard-shelled tacos. Bell attempted to reverse-engineer the recipe, and eventually the owners, along with head chef Gloria Hoyle, allowed him to see how the tacos were made. Hoyle (Mitla Cafe still has a special named after her today) taught Glenn Bell her version of the Dorado taco style which Mitla Cafe was known for. Bell took what he had learned and opened a taco stand in 1951. The name underwent several changes, from Taco-Tia through El Taco, before settling on Taco Bell.

Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell on July 6, 1962 at 7112 Firestone Boulevard in Downey, California. The original location was a 400-square-foot (37 m²) building about the size of a two-car garage, and was built with mission-style arches that covered a walk-up window that served the original menu items: tacos, burritos, tostadas, Chiliburgers and frijoles, all for 19 cents each ($2 in 2024 dollars ). The first restaurant closed in 1986, while the building was saved from demolition November 19, 2015, and was moved 45 miles (72 km) to the Taco Bell Corporate Office at 1 Glen Bell Way in Irvine, California and is currently stored intact on the corporate parking lot premises and known as "Taco Bell Numero Uno". Currently, there is a Taco Bell location across the street at 7127 Firestone Blvd, in Downey, which opened in 1996. The oldest operating Taco Bell location is store #2 (now operating as store #40400) at 1822 Santa Fe, in Long Beach, CA, which opened on August 7, 1962. Initially designed exactly like "Numero Uno", the building has since remodeled extensively. Two former "Numero Uno" buildings still operate as other businesses, including another one in Long Beach, California (opened in early 1963), and one in Hawaiian Gardens, California (opened as store #3 in September 1962).

In 1964, the first franchise was purchased by former police officer Kermit Bekke. This location, located at 1654 West Carson Street in Torrance, California, had its grand opening on May 28, 1965. Bekke sold his franchise a year and a half later. This location closed in 1975 when it moved across the street to store #1130 at 1619 West Carson Street, which itself would close in the late 1990s and subsequently be repurposed. On January 20, 1967, the 100th Taco Bell grand opening took place in Anaheim, located at 400 South Brookhurst (store #63); this location would later be replaced by a new location at 324 South Brookhurst in 1993. The first Taco Bell restaurant east of the Mississippi River (the 270th to open, store #258) opened at 2050 East Main Street in Springfield, Ohio, on September 20, 1968. Original Taco Bells featured only walk-up window service without indoor seating or drive-thru service. Inside seating was added sporadically in 1968 and drive-thru service was not generally available until 1980. As of 2025, seven original mission-style operating Taco Bell restaurants still remain, located in California and Colorado. A mission-style location (opened in April 1976) that operated in Honolulu, Hawaii (store #1281) remodeled in 2024, and another Mission-style location in Scottsdale, Arizona (store #31, opened circa July 3, 1966) closed on April 12, 2025. Many former mission-style Taco Bell locations still survive which have been repurposed, frequently as other Mexican fast food restaurants. In 1970, Taco Bell went public with 325 restaurants.

The corporate office has had a few locations, and previously maintained an office at 2516 Via Tejon in Palos Verdes, then at 2424 Moreton Street in Torrance before settling into Irvine (at 17901 Von Karman Avenue) in 1976.

In 1978, PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell from Glen Bell. In the 1980s, Taco Bell entered rapid expansion when it acquired several other fast food joints and turned those locations into their own. This included Taco Charley, a San Mateo, California-based chain, in 1982, Pup 'N' Taco, a Long Beach, California-based chain in 1984, and Zantigo, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Mexican chain, in 1986. These acquisitions (and later conversions) resulted in many early Taco Bell stores closing and moving to these newer facilities. Taco Bell also dropped its existing Mexican-based branding, replacing it with a more mainstream design in 1984. In 1990, the Hot 'n Now chain was acquired. Taco Bell sold Hot 'n Now to a Connecticut company in 1997.

In 1991, Taco Bell opened the first Taco Bell Express in San Francisco. Taco Bell Express locations operate primarily inside convenience stores, truck stops, shopping malls, and airports; this concept had been experimented with as early as 1984, with several test mall locations opening. Taco Bell began co-branding with KFC in 1995 when the first such co-brand opened in Clayton, North Carolina. The chain has since co-branded with Pizza Hut and Long John Silver's as well.