15 Changes I Wish Taco Bell Would Make

Taco Bell is my favorite major fast food restaurant chain. On the island where I spent so much of my childhood, Taco Bell was one of the only such joints available, so I'd go there often with my siblings. And as an adult, I love that my beach town has a location. My favorite item? A dairy-free, vegetarian Crunchwrap Supreme with refried beans, pico de gallo, tomatoes, jalapeños, purple cabbage, and seasoned rice with extra guacamole and fire hot sauce packets on the side.   

There's a lot to love about Taco Bell. It has so many options for everyone, the food is consistently tasty, and the endlessly customizable menu walks the line between imaginative and nostalgic. That said, there are some changes I wish Taco Bell would make (like offering corn tortillas and seafood). But my biggest ask? For Taco Bell to lean into the nostalgia even more — and it has a lot of it to lean on. It's been around for a while.

The first restaurant opened in 1962 in California. Since then, there have been loads of iconic moments, from the introduction of the Baja Blast in 2004 and the Crunchwrap Supreme in 2005 (what a time to be alive) to that time it did a Forever 21 collaboration in 2017 (much to the delight of us millennials). These moments prove how Taco Bell has a gift for reading the room. So, with that in mind, I hope the fast food giant is listening (or reading): I have some ideas for how to make Taco Bell better.

As a Pacific Northwesterner, I'm bummed if a menu is seafood-less. I wish Taco Bell would get on board (pun intended) for good. Because while the chain's 1980s-era seafood salad isn't exactly a fond memory for diners, many miss the shrimp tacos that were released in the 2010s.

I wish Taco Bell would add (sustainably sourced) seafood to the permanent menu. This would give pescatarians, climatarians (or those who are attempting to eat in a more environmentally friendly way), and those who are trying to avoid red meat another protein option. It also goes so well with Taco Bell's theming (which I like to think of as Californian, beach-friendly bites).

Since they're one of the many foods the West Coast does best, I suggest a seafood taco — customers could pick between blackened cod, Baja-style fried cod, or the previously beloved spicy shrimp. Ingredients like lime crema, cilantro, pico de gallo, pickled red onions, mango and red cabbage slaw, pineapple salsa, avocado slices, shredded cabbage, salsa verde, and sliced radishes would make for the perfect topping selection. This could also be easily made into a stellar seafood burrito. And, as customers still adore the Taco Bell tostadas, a spicy shrimp version would likely be welcome, too.

On the note of protein options at Taco Bell, I wish the chain would add some more vegan meats to the permanent menu. Speaking from many years of experience as a vegan, the beans are great, but it's disappointing to have that as the only option when meat-eaters have such plentiful picks. And I know the California brand has the capacity for plant-based innovations — Taco Bell debuted vegan nacho fries not all that long ago. And overseas in places like Cyprus and Finland, there are already non-meat, non-bean protein options.

I'd like to see some plant-based ground "beef" on the menu, as that would be an easy way to give some extra oomph to customers who want classic Taco Bell flavors without the meat. For every ground beef-based menu item, there could be a vegan version, and it would be hard to mess up.

I'd also like to see plant-based chicken, al pastor, and steak equivalents. For the first of these, a grilled and blackened situation would be fantastically smoky, meaty-flavored, and versatile. Al pastor, meanwhile, would provide that signature sweetness and complexity that could be achieved with something like jackfruit. And as for the latter, vegan steak would just be lovely for those who love a California burrito.

The taco salad at Taco Bell has some serious history, having launched in 1984. And it makes me pretty sad that, since the late 2010s, there hasn't been a full-sized taco salad on the permanent menu. It feels like a piece of the restaurant's heritage is missing.

I'm a big fan of the mini taco salad — a spicier version was revealed as part of the Taco Bell Live Más 2026 lineup. The shell is so flaky and delicate, and the toppings are, generally speaking, super fresh. I'm a sucker for a bright salad, so I order this almost every time I'm there. I just wish there was a larger counterpart that I could order as an entree (but don't get rid of the mini, because it's super cute and a nice snack). It could have all of the same ingredients (just, you know, bigger and more plentiful), but also have a few upgrades like fajita veggies, sliced avocado, crema, and pepitas. I'd also like to see more protein options, like the aforementioned plant-based and seafood selections. Just don't forget a big, crispy tortilla bowl, since that's the best part.

Taco Bell's biggest strength might just be its customizable menu. It's really a place where everyone can sit down together and enjoy a meal, whether you're vegan or all about the beef. That's something that I hope never changes about Taco Bell. But there's another way that the chain could step further into that energy: a chips and salsa bar.

Imagine a '90s-style buffet set-up with all kinds of colorful decorations and memorabilia (speaking of which, that's another tip I have for Taco Bell: make your restaurant interiors colorful and cozy again). Then, there would be the salsa, which, ideally, would run the flavor gamut — there should be a pico de gallo, a smoky chipotle option, a salsa verde, a few fruity options, restaurant-style, and a rotating wild card. Customers who, like me, are curious why Taco Bell doesn't have more salsa options would celebrate getting to see the chain's salsa creations. And everyone loves a nostalgic food bar.

Outside of the (warm) chips and bevy of salsas, I'd like to see guacamole, queso, hot sauces in bottles, lime wedges, pickled red onions, radish slices, cilantro, grilled pineapple, crema, jicama slices, shredded red cabbage, and red chili flakes.

Dairy-free diners are often left out of fast food creamy condiment menus. Unfortunately, Taco Bell is among those perpetrators — the sour cream is a nightmare for the lactose-intolerant, and there's no other option for those customers.

Sour cream is such an iconic addition to tacos, burritos, and other Taco Bell staples. It's silky, thick, and cooling all at once, which makes for a really balancing flavor combination when paired with the salty, savory, and spicy dishes on the menu. It's such a shame that customers who are dairy-free can't partake. There are some really great vegan sour creams on the market, but Taco Bell could make its own (and, ideally, a crema as well) or use a similar but comparable product. In fact, we've ranked the absolute best sour cream substitutes before, and there are so many delicious ones to choose from.

I love a soft and pillowy burrito or taco filled with different textures within. But nothing beats a crispy taquito — there's something so crave-worthy about the savory fillings, crackly tortilla, and salty bite it offers. They also happen to be perfect for fast food, since they're less messy than a burrito or taco (the fillings are not likely to fall out), are portable, small, and, if rolled in advance, can quickly be fried up and served within moments of ordering. So it's pretty surprising that Taco Bell doesn't have any on the U.S. menu.

I'd love to see multiple options available at the chain, including a bean taquito, vegan chicken or jackfruit taquito, and shrimp taquito. The fast food joint could also turn to its existing menu items for inspiration for the fillings. We've ranked Taco Bell tacos, and there are so many great starting points for potential taquito masterpieces.

Fruit tends to go really well with all of the savory and salty items on just about any Mexican-inspired menu. Regardless of what specific fruit is used, it offers a sweet, sometimes sour, tangy, and juicy balance to it all that can lighten even the heaviest bites. Taco Bell should play around with that and infuse some fruit into various sections of the menu.

The chain should roll out a few fruity salsas and dips on the permanent menu, for one. A spicy habanero pineapple salsa, mango pico de gallo (which Taco Bell has a limited-time version of), and pineapple guacamole would bring on the heat, the sweet, and the creamy in a way that would complement existing menu items. But any addition will do. In fact, we've discovered that fresh fruit can elevate salsa of all kinds.

I'd also love to see both fresh pineapple and grilled pineapple offered as an option to put into burritos, tacos, and other fully built-out dishes. It would add depth and some gorgeous brightness.

I'm not picky with beans, but there's a better way to prepare them. Taco Bell's black beans tend to be runny, underseasoned, and a little mushy. They're really just okay, and it feels like a huge missed opportunity since beans are such an iconic ingredient on the menu that can be used in everything — they can serve as a protein star in tacos, a sidekick to meat in burritos, and as a topper to side orders of rice. Taco Bell really needs to up its game and ensure that the beans are stellar.

I wish Taco Bell would drain and sauté the black beans in spicy and garlicky seasonings and good fats. They can pour back in the liquid if they wish, but only after the beans have gotten that caramelized, chewy, and browned texture that makes them so hard to stop eating. It would make the beans such a star on the menu, even when compared to big-hitting proteins.

Customers love the refried beans, despite the unsettling way they're prepared, but they could also use some more seasoning, in my opinion.

I wish we didn't have to beg for our favorite menu items to come back, but here I am. The caramel apple empanada is one of those discontinued fast food bakery items that have been revived temporarily. But I need Taco Bell to bring it back for good.

This sweet treat is sugary, buttery, spiced, fruity, and oh so decadent. It's heartwarming and cozy for fall (like all apple desserts tend to be), but it's not just an autumnal thing — who doesn't love an apple pie at summer picnics? And this is like a more gooey, rich, and flaky cousin. Plus, it's very portable thanks to the pocket shape and thick crust, so it's more convenient than, say, a slice of pie or other similar desserts that could compete with the taste. It's a perfect fast food sweet, and I'm so confused why Taco Bell would ever take it off the permanent menu.

On that note, I wish the restaurant would expand its dessert lineup. Not because it's skimping on us, but because Taco Bell does sweets so well.

There's nothing like a good roasted vegetable taco or salad. They're hearty, packed with flavor and textures, versatile, and, in my experience, hard to mess up. They also feel like great frameworks for Southwestern and spicy flavors (such is the case with dishes like cowboy-style cauliflower). And yet, they're missing from the Taco Bell menu.

I'd love to see some roasted vegetable toppings offered for existing menu items, like cauliflower, squash, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes. This would be an especially great addition if Taco Bell doesn't plan on introducing vegan meats on a permanent basis — roasted vegetables offer the same heft but often with more flavor. In fact, I prefer them in many cases to vegan meat as a central dish component.

Taco Bell could also roll out some fresh menu items that put roasted vegetables at their heart. Think spicy cauliflower tacos, smoky sweet potato burritos, and mushroom tostadas that would bring the umami in spades.

Taco Bell seemingly has all of the stuff for enchiladas: the tortillas, the sauce, the produce, the proteins, the dairy, and the know-how. If employees wanted to, they could make their own behind-the-scenes. So I'm really surprised that the restaurant doesn't currently have an enchilada on the official menu, since the historic enchirito is off the menu — the closest thing now, if you don't count asking an employee to jimmy-rig one for you, is the enchilada nacho fries.

I wish Taco Bell would launch an enchilada line. They could be customizable, with customers able to pick their protein, their sauce, and the other fillings. Creations like shrimp enchiladas with green enchilada sauce and vegan chicken enchiladas with red sauce could be stuffed with various goodies, such as bell peppers, jalapeños, onions, and cheese. And when served on top of rice, it would be a well-built entree option for all. It just feels like a no-brainer. They are a West Coast comfort food, after all.

What's a taco without pickled onions? They're crunchy and cooling yet sour, zesty, and peppery, and provide freshness to even the heaviest dishes. They'd go with just about anything on the Taco Bell menu and would really elevate simple and busier items alike.

I'm partial to red pickled onions, but honestly, any kind of onion would do. Just a basic pickling brine would suffice, as the tanginess is really what I'm dreaming of. However, Taco Bell could get more creative with it, perhaps testing different flavors like spicy, sweet and sour, and herbaceous twists. I'd love to see other produce options pickled as well (I love a pickled carrot on my taco salads), but onions, with their intensity, are absolute musts.

Making pickled red onions is easy, and with onions already being a staple taco ingredient, I can't see this being much of an inconvenience for the fast food restaurant chain.

This may be controversial, but I think the potatoes at Taco Bell could be better. They're actually quite good overall, but I always wish they were spicier, had the skin on for extra texture (they don't give me enough of a crunch or crispiness), and had fluffier insides. And unless they're served piping hot, they can be pretty dense and lackluster in my experience.

There could be many reasons why the potatoes aren't crisp enough at Taco Bell. But whatever the reason, I think the chain needs to go back to the drawing board. The company needs to figure out a way to get that crackly crust on the outside without making the potato within taste like a bland brick of starch. As for the seasoning, I think the spices already in play on the proteins on the menu could work if enough is used. The potatoes just need a kick, so if Taco Bell doesn't want to come up with an original spicy blend specifically for them, it could just recycle what is available.

I love anything avocado, but avocado slices are just undeniably the best way to enjoy them, in my opinion. It allows the texture and flavor of the fruit to shine, and I find it much more pleasant to bite into than mashed. It's why I always make avocado toast with slices, rather than guacamole. So, it would be a really nice touch for Taco Bell to offer slices as a topping for salads and a filling for tacos and burritos, instead of just the avocado-based condiment.

I'd also love to see a dish completely centered on the simple menu addition. Taco Bell could offer dressed-up platters of avocado slices. Customers could ask for their avocado base to be topped with things like hot sauces, green onions, pico de gallo, pineapple salsa, crispy onions, tortilla strips, pepitas, and, of course, pickled red onions for another customizable menu gem. It would definitely appeal to diners avoiding carbs, and if requested, the slices could even be grilled first — we've found that if you do this to avocado before mashing, it makes for smoky guacamole.

Taco Bell, a fast food chain founded in California and serving up Mexican-inspired favorites, is inherently fusion cuisine. And I think it would be really cool if the restaurant leaned further into that piece of the brand identity — it's not authentic Mexican food, so the chain might as well play around with the flavors even more than just putting American spins on it.

I wish Taco Bell would do an "around the world" series that drops every month, featuring the flavors of a different region. There are a few dishes that I think would be solid (and imaginative) expressions of Mexican and other international cuisines: Korean barbecue tacos topped with kimchi, vegetarian Brazilian feijoada with tortilla chips for dunking, British mushy peas and fried cod tostadas, Canadian maple salmon tacos, Swedish Toast Skagen tortas, Greek horiatiki or gyro tacos, Indian tofu tikka masala burritos, and Japanese sushi filled with fajita veggies and avocado.

Taco Bell has already launched global tacos before, allowing customers to vote on flavors. I think this would be a fun way to not only experiment with what Mexican fusion cuisine can be, but also bring diners from around the world together.