Taco Bell : A Hot Dog Stand Called Bell

“Taco USA: How Mexican Food Became More American Than Apple Pie” was written in 2012 by Gustavo Arellano, a prolific food author for the Orange County newspaper OC Weekly. This article originally appeared as an online publication in Reason Magazine. Arellano has written books about Mexican food and its role in the American experience. His writings explain how this genre of cuisine has evolved and transformed as it has spread geographically throughout the United States. Growing up in Orange County California with two Hispanic parents, Arellano experienced firsthand the transformation of traditional Mexican dishes into the tex-mex that most American families are familiar with today. The online news site, Reason Magazine, originally published this article to accommodate to an audience of readers who want to be informed but also entertained by the news. These readers care about what is happening in society but are not considered scholars on the topics presented. Although the readers of Reason Magazine might not have any formal knowledge about food and its role in culture, all of them have experienced the importance of a meal in their everyday lives. The author uses the experience and background of his audience to show them the importance and prevalence of Mexican food in the American culture. In “Taco USA” Arellano uses personal stories, ethnic language, and historical information to show his

• Taco Bell is a quick-service restaurant concept and operates in a very competitive climate. Was founded in 1962 by Glen Bell.

With the previous merger with the Frito-Lay Company, and acquisitions of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, PepsiCo successfully ventured into different segments in the food services industry, but was also able to create synergies with its soft drink product. PepsiCo also attempted to integrate into trucking transportation and bottle manufacturing in the 1970s.

For the last few months, there has been a hype over a local taco joint called Torchy’s Tacos located on West McDermott in Allen. From people giving it such a positive review, I decided to give it a try. As someone who is a lover of tacos, including breakfast tacos, I knew I would be a tough critic over Torchy’s. After I went to Torchy’s twice, I decided to give it two thumbs up.

In American culture, we typically center our food choices around american options such as burgers, fries, chicken fried steaks, and chicken tenders. However, I decided to seek out a food from a culture that differs than my American background. I sought out a restaurant that served and Indian cuisine and one that I wouldn’t usually try. I decided Indian for the reason that I love spice in food and the spice that the Indian culture uses in their food should really compliment the food. The restaurant that I found was called Taco Naan, which combines cultures and serves food that cater to Mexican and Indian cultures.

In 1951, S. Truett Cathy made an outstanding discovery. After fifteen years of being in the greasy fast food business he found a pressure-fryer that could cook a delicious chicken sandwich in the same time as it would a hamburger patty (Chik-Fil-A.com). Cathy loved it. He decided to birth ‘The Chik-Fil-A.’ Because of the noteable all chicken menu and new way of making chicken sandwiches, Cathy came up with the slogan, “We did not invent the chicken, just the chicken sandwich.” Believe it or not Chik-Fil-A is half a century old. The first ever to open was at Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta. Throughout the seventies and eighties this franchise expanded their business by opening new restaurants in mall food courts. Finally in 1986 Chik-Fil-A opened their very first ever freestanding restaurant. Now as of 2015 there at approximately 1,900 locations in forty-two states (Chik-Fil-A.com). There are in fact twenty eight different Chik-Fil-A locations in the state of Arizona. But, in Vail, Arizona, there are zero of

Qdoba, second-largest Mexican fast-casual chain in the U.S, was founded in the same location (Denver, U.S) but 2 years later than Chipotle (1995). In 2003, Jack in the Box acquired Qdoba from the owner of a private firm.

All throughout California, fast food restaurants were popping up everywhere. Most of the fast food restaurants that are popular today, were the main self service restaurants that fueled California's economy when the fast food industry first started. Those restaurants include Mcdonald’s, Dunkin Donuts , Taco Bell, Domino’s and KFC. Schlosser also goes into detail about

Tacos…. What are they made up of? Well to start of their is a corn or wheat tortilla which is the base of the whole taco and in the taco there's a variety of fillings going from beef, pork, chicken to lettuce, salsa, onions, and cilantro(coriander leaves). A taco basically has a variety of fillings that makes it unique. My type of taco is made up of a soft corn tortilla, carne asada,and lastly onions and cilantro which is sprinkled on it and then ta-da, you have the type of taco I prefer which kind of resembles my family actually.

Brands, Inc. owns three of the world’s best known fast-food franchises, which are Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. With a multi-branding strategy, a firm can combine its brands into the same location in order to increase sales and improve operating efficiency.

* Today, September 15, 2000, Taco Bell Corporation notified about upcoming press release related to Kraft Foods product labeled Taco Bell Originals containing StarLink.

Chipotle is the leader in the fast casual market, with over 1,900 locations, $3.21 billion in annual revenue, and the ability to serve up to 300 customers an hour. It has innovated the restaurant market by providing reasonably priced scratch-made meals, containing local ingredients, all within the confines of a pleasing aesthetic environment (Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., 2014; Kaplan, 2011). To reach its success, the firm utilized architectural innovation by stealing components of various types of restaurants already in existence. The company appropriated its rapid meal preparation methods from fast food chains such Subway and Quiznos, adopted its provision of quality food from more upscale casual Mexican restaurants, and implemented a locally based supply chain similar to that seen at many local farm-to-table establishments. This convergence of different properties came together right as the millennial generation was coming of age and demand higher quality, natural, and locally sourced ingredients in meals that could receive quickly. The company has also attempted to utilize an incremental innovation approach by removing all CMO ingredients and testing new foods such as breakfast items, soup, and chorizo sausage (The Associated Press, 2015; Peterson,

McDonald’s began as a barbeque, and the brothers strictly offered burgers, fries, and pop. Ray Kroc heard about McDonald’s one day and went to visit the restaurant. Kroc was surprised by their efficiency and the quality of the food. Kroc liked the fact that the brothers could focus on the quality of food, due to the limited menu items. Subsequently Kroc realized their success could amount to much more and shared his vision. Kroc told the McDonald brothers that McDonald’s could be a national business serving people across the country. (At this point, Kroc did not even think about being international). Dick and Mac were thrilled with what they heard, so in 1955 Kroc founded the McDonald’s Corporation and opened the first McDonald’s in Des Plaines, Illinois. By 1960 Kroc had bought exclusive rights to McDonald’s. In 1961, Kroc developed Hamburger University where new employees were trained on how to run a successful McDonald's. Kroc wanted to develop the most efficient methods to store, cook, and sell food, so he had a laboratory built at Hamburger University where students' test different ways to make McDonald's more productive. Hamburger University is still in use today in the search for ways to better McDonald’s. McDonald’s had their first sit-down restaurant in 1962, and then in 1975, McDonald’s had opened their first drive-thru restaurant in Arizona. The first drive-thru restaurant was

Subway’s first restaurant was opened in Bridgeport Connecticut in August 1965. Their goal at the time was to serve a high quality product by providing excellent customer service. One of their key approaches to success is to keep a low operating cost with a great location to grow their business. Nowadays, Subway is the world largest submarine chain with more than 40,000 restaurants in 105 countries (Subway, 2013). Coca-Cola was founded in 1886 by pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton who wanted to create a distinctive soft drink. The majority of the company was sold to Asa Candler who took the

Vision – Taco Bell will grow into the largest fast food provider of Mexican style cuisine in emerging markets. The brand will have an established presence in Asia, South America, and Africa with restaurant locations being found within the top 25 major cities on these continents. By saturating the world’s most populous metropolitan cities, Taco Bell will be the most recognizable Mexican food brand in the world.