Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Taco Bell history
Taco Bell company history timeline
In 1962 Glen Bell built a small restaurant stand in Downey, California, called Bell's Drive-In.
Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell in 1962 at 7112 Firestone Boulevard in Downey, California.
In 1964, the first franchisee opened, in Torrance, California at the intersection of West Carson Street and South Western Avenue which still exists but has been repurposed at 1647 West Carson Street.
In 1967, the 100th restaurant opened at 400 South Brookhurst in Anaheim which was replaced by a new restaurant at 324 South Brookhurst.
The first location east of the Mississippi River opened on East Main Street in Springfield, Ohio in 1968.
By 1970 Taco Bell had become a $6 million operation, producing annual profits of approximately $150,000.
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 more than 40 years ago in 1976 at 17901 Von Karman Avenue.
As Bell later noted in a 1978 speech to a Taco Bell franchise convention, “My plan for experimenting with tacos was to obtain a location in a Mexican neighborhood.
In 1978, PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell from Glen Bell.
As a measure of market strength, Taco Bell's nearest rival in the Mexican fast food segment was Naugles, a California-based chain with only 160 outlets and 1983 sales of $84 million.
By 1986 Taco Bell had grown to 2,400 outlets with just over $1.4 billion in sales.
In 1986, Taco Bell expanded overseas by opening a restaurant in London, England.
Several locations in the Midwestern United States were converted from Zantigo, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Mexican chain which PepsiCo acquired in 1986.
In 1990, the Hot 'n Now chain was acquired.
A 1991 article in the Harvard Business Review named Taco Bell as the best performer in the fast food industry at the time, surpassing traditional market leader McDonald’s.
These changes helped the company to achieve 60 percent more sales in 1991 than two years earlier.
To keep customers focused on Taco Bell’s menu, the company in 1991 introduced a three-tiered value menu.
In 1991, Taco Bell opened the first Taco Bell Express in San Francisco.
In 1992 Taco Bell opened outlets in Aruba, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, bringing the number of international locations to 11.
In 1993 it introduced 18 new items in 3,000 stores throughout Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, Chicago, and Indiana.
Taco Bell—with 1995 sales in the United States of $3.5 billion dollars—held the largest share of the Mexican-style restaurant market in the United States.
Rather than have company money tied up in capital, Taco Bell could rely on franchisee investment, a strategy followed by McDonald’s, who owned only 20 percent of its restaurants in 1995.
The initial solution tried by Roger Enrico, the new chairman and CEO, was to reduce the percentage of outlets owned by the company, which stood at 60 percent in 1995.
One such attempt was the "Border Lights" line in 1995, but it made a disappointing showing, as even a $75-million marketing push failed to convince customers to pay more for lower fat items.
Taco Bell began co-branding with KFC in 1995 when the first such co-brand opened in Clayton, North Carolina.
In the overall fast-food market, Taco Bell held 2.1 percent of the national share in 1996 and ranked fourth, following McDonald's, Burger King, and Pizza Hut.
In the overall fast-food market, Taco Bell held 2.1 percent of the national share in 1996 and ranked fourth, following McDonald's, Burger King, and Pizza Hut. Thus, three divisions of Tricon Global Restaurants—Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC—were in the top 10, and their combined market share of 6.2 percent placed them second after McDonald's, which in 1996 had a market share of 7.7 percent.
sellers, patricia. "pepsi's eateries go it alone." fortune, 4 august 1997.
In 1997 the chain enjoyed a 2 percent increase in same-store sales.
Taco Bell reaped the benefits of the Chihuahua craze with increased revenues and immense recognition in 1997 and intended to ride the Dinky wave as long as possible.
Taco Bell sold Hot 'n Now to a Connecticut company in 1997.
PepsiCo spun out Taco Bell and its other restaurant chains in late 1997 in Tricon Global Restaurants.
In May 1998 new television spots starring Dinky began airing to promote Taco Bell's new food offering, Gorditas.
"pepsico, inc." hoover's online, 28 may 1998. available at http://www.hoovers.com.
"tricon global restaurants." market guide, 8 may 1998. available at http://205.216.146.123/ply/yum/html.
"taco bell launches new commercials with chihauhua." reuters, 7 july 1998. available at http://www.newsalert.com.
In 1998 McDonald's Corp. entered the quick-service Mexican food competition when it acquired a minority interest in the Denver-based gourmet-burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
A new tagline also replaced the popular "Yo quiero Taco Bell." Television spots that began airing in December 1999 used the tagline "Grande taste.
The campaign was modified in 1999, with Dinky still playing a part but in a supporting role rather than as the star.
Bluth, Andrew. "Analysts Say Chihuahua Ad Campaign Not Sole Cause of Taco Bell Slump." Tribune Business News, August 1, 2000.
In September 2000, up to $50 million worth of Taco Bell-branded shells were recalled from supermarkets.
Since 2000, Taco Bell has continued to find distinctive ways to brand and partner in order to attract customers.
With financial backing from McDonald's, Chipotle nearly tripled its size, growing to 100 units by the end of 2000 and claiming the number three spot in Mexican fast-food eateries, behind Taco Bell and Del Taco.
Despite being the number one fast-food chain serving up Mexican-style items like tacos and burritos, Taco Bell Corp. in 2001 had an image in need of a boost and sales that were in a steady decline.
In 2001 Taco Bell released a new marketing campaign, "Think Outside the Bun," created by the chain's new agency, San Francisco-based Foote Cone & Belding.
In 2001, Tricon Global announced a $60 million settlement with the suppliers.
With the purchase of Yorkshire Global Restaurants, the owners of A&W and Long John Silver's chains, Tricon changed its name to Yum! Brands on May 16, 2002.
In 2003, a federal jury awarded $30.1 million to the two men.
——, "Emil Brolick," Nation's Restaurant News , October 4, 2004.
In 2004 the company partnered with Mountain Dew soda and released Mountain Dew Baja Blast, which, for some time, could only be purchased at Taco Bell.
Taco Bell, with 2004 combined company and franchisee sales reaching $5.7 billion dollars, holds the largest share of the Mexican-style restaurant market in the United States.
In March 2005, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) won a landmark victory in its national boycott of Taco Bell for human rights.
Johannes, Amy. "Taco Bell Launches Online Food Sightings Museum." Promo, June 6, 2005.
In 2007 the company began a promotion with Major League Baseball that promised one free taco to everyone in the United States for every stolen base in the World Series.
In 2008 it bought a controlling interest in JSC Lebedyansky, Russia’s largest juice manufacturer, and three years later it completed its acquisition of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods.
In 2009 Taco Bell became the official fast-food partner of the NBA, replacing McDonald’s.
A similar promotion began in 2012 in a partnership with Frito Lay; the result, Doritos Locos Tacos, saw considerable success.
In February 2014, Taco Bell made its hot sauces available for purchase, sold in bottle form at grocery stores.
United States Taco Co. closed on September 15, 2015 so the company could focus on its new similar Taco Bell Cantina concept, which featured special menu items and served alcohol. It was launched in Huntington Beach, California in August 2014.
Taco Bell began experimenting with fast-casual and urban concepts when it created United States Taco Co. and Urban Taproom in 2014 reflecting a market shift due to the popularity of Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Then, in 2015 Taco Bell released its vegan and vegetarian menu, introduced a limited delivery service in the United States, and opened its first location that sold alcohol (in Chicago).
In March 2016, Taco Bell introduced private beta testing of an artificial intelligence bot on the messaging platform Slack designed to take orders of select menu items from local Taco Bell locations and have the orders delivered.
In September 2016, Taco Bell opened a pop-up in New York City in the SoHo, Manhattan area called the Taco Bell VR Arcade.
In 2016, Taco Bell launched the Taco Bell Cantina flagship store located on the Las Vegas strip.
In 2016, Taco Bell built a restaurant out of five cargo shipping containers for the Texas music festival, South by Southwest.
The 24-hour restaurant serves alcohol, unique menu items, and features a DJ. It was announced in August 2017 that the store would begin hosting weddings.
In 2019 Taco Bell opened a pop-up hotel called "The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort" which opened for one weekend in August.
Vlessing, Etan "Taco Bell Corporation ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/taco-bell-corporation
Rate Taco Bell's efforts to communicate its history to employees.
Taco Bell jobs
Do you work at Taco Bell?
Is Taco Bell's vision a big part of strategic planning?
Taco Bell competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burger King | 1954 | $2.3B | 34,248 | 1,591 |
| Wendy's | 1969 | $2.2B | 12,500 | 6,562 |
| Pizza Hut | 1958 | $7.5B | 350,000 | 10,140 |
| McDonald's | 1940 | $25.9B | 210,000 | 48,853 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 1993 | $11.3B | 64,570 | 4,328 |
| Subway | 1965 | $16.1B | 5,000 | 710 |
| Arby's | 1964 | $3.9B | 80,000 | 3,936 |
| KFC | 1952 | $7.5B | 820,000 | 9,111 |
| Dunkin' Donuts | 1950 | $1.4B | 35 | 286 |
| Del Taco Restaurants | 1964 | $527.4M | 7,274 | 1,088 |
Taco Bell history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Taco Bell, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Taco Bell. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Taco Bell. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Taco Bell. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Taco Bell and its employees or that of Zippia.
Taco Bell may also be known as or be related to Simply Tacos, Inc., Taco Bell, Taco Bell Corp, Taco Bell Corp. and taco bell restaurant.