The Beloved Fast Food Chain That Discontinued Its Kids Menu Over A Decade Ago

When you're headed out to grab a quick bite for the family, fast food kids meals are often a go-to. McDonald's Happy Meals and Burger King's King Jr. Meals are well known, as are restaurant kids menus from places like Benihana and Cheesecake Factory. Even Panera has a kids menu, although our taste tester found it disappointing. But what about the chains that don't offer a kids menu or meal, like Taco Bell? The Tex-Mex fast food chain hasn't offered a kids menu in over a decade.

While Taco Bell used to offer its smaller fans meals that featured crunchy tacos, soft tacos, bean burritos, or cheese roll-ups, it announced its kids menu and toys were being discontinued at U.S. locations in July 2013. At that time, it was the first quick-service chain in the nation to do so.

"As we continue our journey of being a better, more relevant Taco Bell, kid's meals and toys simply no longer make sense for us to put resources behind," Greg Creed, chief executive officer of Taco Bell, said in the announcement. "What does make sense is concentrating on expanding choices that meet and exceed the diverse needs of consumers of all ages, without losing focus on what makes us great today."

When Taco Bell decided to do away with its kids menu, it aimed to focus more on its long-term brand strategy and felt that its children's options were having a negative impact on system sales. So, after stepping away from the menu, it looked toward new menu options which it felt offered a broader range of choices for its clientele. Among these new items were the Doritos Locos Tacos and the Cantina Bell Menu.

"Pioneering this change on our menu is a bold move for our industry, and it makes sense for Taco Bell," said Greg Creed in the 2013 announcement. "We'll be able to better focus on creating new and inventive items that our customers love." That said, Taco Bell didn't actually eliminate the items on the kids menu entirely. Instead, its crunchy tacos, soft tacos, bean burritos, or cheese roll-ups remained on its regular menu for individual purchases.

While you can no longer order off a Taco Bell kids' menu, there are still many fast food kids meals available — even for adults. You can even turn a kids meal from Chick-fil-A into a satisfying meal for an adult.