12 Discontinued Del Taco Menu Items We Miss Dearly

Del Taco is a wonderland if you love Americanized Mexican fare and fast food. It's a place where you can find burgers, tacos, and breakfast all on the same menu, and where the milkshakes are as good as the burritos. Founded in 1964 in Yermo, California, it's been slinging tostadas and cheeseburgers for over 60 years. But after more than six decades of building out its menu, some dishes have unfortunately had to go.

Since opening in the Golden State, Del Taco has cut a lot of items from its menu. These discontinued foods range from things we never want to order again to items we miss dearly — and it's the latter category that we want to spare a thought for. From plant-based masterpieces to fried seafood baskets to absolutely flawless desserts, the best discontinued Del Taco menu items are foods we think about often. It seems the restaurant chain has been waxing nostalgic too, as the brand announced Project Sunrise in May 2026 as a means to boost engagement and bring back less enamored customers, including the revival of the Jack'd Up lineup (a Jack cheese-centric selection of dishes).

With that in mind, perhaps there's hope for our favorite axed foods, too. Here are some of the discontinued Del Taco menu items that should never have gone away in the first place, starting with a vegan star.

Anytime we see a fast-food chain that isn't embracing a plant-based protein of any kind, we shake our heads. Why wouldn't you serve something that could drastically expand your customer base and is flexible enough to go along with just about any menu? Consequently, we regret to note that Del Taco made that mistake having let go of (among other vegan masterpieces) the Beyond 8-layer burrito.

This beauty was a favorite in the late 2010s and early 2020s, and it came packed with Beyond Meat plant-based crumbles and beans. Balancing out the intense umami and heartiness of the burrito were diced tomatoes and lettuce. These bright and fresh ingredients were met with creaminess thanks to guacamole, cheddar, and sour cream. Paired with some red sauce, the discontinued Del Taco burrito was a well-crafted combination of just about every texture and flavor note. It's a concoction that customers still crave in 2026, and desperately wish would return to the menu.

The taco salad at Del Taco that exists as of this writing is pretty good. It definitely scratches that itch for taco toppings and lettuce. Plus, it's nice that you can pick between chicken and beef for protein. But it's just not the same as the deluxe taco salad, a discontinued Del Taco menu item that got phased out in the 2010s.

The biggest difference between the dish of today and the one we miss is the vessel — the Del Taco taco salad used to come in a big bowl made of a fried tortilla shell. It was festive, fun, and, most importantly, edible. Who didn't love breaking off bits of it to scoop up the last bites of the salad? Now, there are just a few tortilla chips served with it, and they honestly feel like afterthoughts.

The other thing we loved about the old taco salad was that it came with beans. It added another source of protein besides the main meat and offered extra umami. Vegetarians could get the taco salad without any meat, too, and they'd still have a protein on it. It was truly a crowd-pleaser.

The Del Taco platos died before the 2020s, but these meal platters were glorious. Introduced in 2016, it was an all-in-one type of order. You didn't need a bunch of individual items to build a whole meal — the Del Taco plato was the meal.

There were four renditions of the meal platter. All came with an entree of your choice, rice with pico de gallo, cheesy refried beans, and a side of chips and salsa. The carne asada or chicken verde wet burrito was essentially a meat enchilada topped with red or green sauce, melted cheese, and avocado slices. It was heartwarming, a little spicy, and many of us still miss it. Carne asada and grilled chicken were also available on the street taco version of the platos. Customers would get two tacos topped with the usual suspects of onion and cilantro, as well as hot sauce and avocado slices. It was a platter that should still be here, according to many former fans, including us.

Luckily, you can still make your own version of the beer-battered fish tacos by ordering two fish tacos, a bean and cheese cup, and two secret menu items — Del Taco serves chips and guacamole as a side, but pico de gallo is available on all kinds of items. So ask for a cup of the salsa instead of guacamole. The same can be said for rice, as you'll spot it on plenty of the burritos, and it can be put into a cup on the side instead.

This crispy taco was another gorgeous entry on the Beyond Meat menu at Del Taco. Housed in a crunchy shell, the Beyond avocado taco was stuffed to the brim with seasoned plant-based crumbles, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and big slices of avocado. It had so many textures and flavors that came together really nicely. It was crunchy and soft; creamy and a little spicy; fresh and hearty; meaty and vegetal — it was super balanced in the way it combined everything and made for what might have been the most craveable item on the menu back in the late 2010s and early 2020s.

A lot of customers, both vegan and non-vegan, still think about and miss the Beyond avocado taco from Del Taco. There's nothing on the current menu that replaces it if you loved it for the plant-based meat. An increasing number of Americans are consuming alternatives to protein derived from animals, and it's not just diners who are fully vegan. If Del Taco wants to appeal to them, offering a plant-based meat is a basic option which the chain has done before. In short, then, we want the Beyond avocado taco back.

This ultra-salty fry and fried shrimp platter from the 2000s and 2010s was the stuff of seafood enthusiasts' dreams. The shrimp were huge by fast food seafood standards, and packed a huge punch on their own: Tender and meaty on the inside, crunchy and salty on the outside. The batter was such a welcome touch thanks to how golden and crispy it would get, while the slightly sweet shrimp within made for such a satisfying balance. As for the fries, they were just okay, but we always feel that way about the chain's fries. At least this discontinued item came with some of the best fast food seafood anywhere.

What was really fun about this basket was the accoutrements. Customers would get lime wedges and dipping sauces with their meal. Condiments ranged from spicy ancho to classic Baja to Del Taco's creamy secret sauce, and each brought a different sort of pizazz to the table.

We miss this menu item dearly, but there is hope. After all, if there's fried shrimp available in other forms at your local Del Taco (like as a protein in a burrito), you can try ordering the seafood in a cup on its own. Get it with a side of fries and lots of condiments to build your own platter.

Don't ask us what's going on with Del Taco's sad version of queso in 2026 because we're just as confused as you are. In fact, we all miss the original nacho cheese sauce and we want it back. While  we liked a few items with queso on them when we previously ranked Del Taco menu items, it has a weird aftertaste and is bland compared to what used to be offered.

Back in the day — meaning anytime before the 2020s – the nachos were outstanding with the classic cheese sauce and a plethora of well-paired toppings. We all loved the decked-out Macho Nachos, and still consider it one of the most elite menu items of all time. They came with the beloved original cheese sauce, chips, a protein (you could pick from beef, chicken, or steak in the 2010s), slow-cooked beans, diced tomatoes, jalapeños, and sour cream. Meanwhile, despite having fewer ingredients, the salsa verde nachos were just as flavor-packed thanks to the combination of tangy green sauce, spicy jalapeños, beans, salty chips, and that impeccable nacho cheese.

Back in the 2000s, you could get crispy jalapeño rings at Del Taco. They were gloriously salty, spicy, and the right amount of crispy. It was hard to stop eating them if you loved a little kick, and the batter was absolutely perfect. This pepper-based snack was gone by the 2010s, and no side item on the menu has since compared.

This discontinued Del Taco item was essentially just red and green pickled jalapeño slices that were battered and fried. But the mix of bright, hot, and savory flavors came together so well. And they were served with creamy secret sauce, making for a nice cool-down to the spiciness (although we loved getting them with lime wedges as well for some tanginess). The side suited the Mexican-American fast-food menu so nicely, and it complemented literally any entree order, whether you went with the more Americanized foods or the tacos. We miss this crispy side dearly, and we know we're not alone.

Since bowls are served at competitors like Taco Bell — which is the fast food chain that Del Taco almost went bankrupt trying to compete with – it feels pretty wild that Del Taco would stop serving them altogether. The Fresca Bowls, as they were called, were a fantastic entree option in the 2010s. But despite having all of the ingredients needed to craft them, Del Taco cut them from the menu before the next decade hit.

All of the Fresca Bowls included lime rice, seasoned black beans, and sliced avocado. If you ordered the green chile chicken rendition, you'd also get grilled chicken, lettuce, diced tomatoes, and a tangy green sauce. The pollo asado was similar and came with grilled chicken, diced onions, and pico de gallo on top of the baseline ingredients. The avocado veggie was the simplest of the bunch and offered the additions of pico de gallo and diced onions. They were fresh, filling, and easy picks if you were on the hunt for a full meal but didn't want to go to Chipotle or fancier joints.

Churros are delicious no matter what, so it's upsetting that Del Taco got rid of its bigger options. Now, you can order two mini churros as of this writing, and there are a couple of flavors to choose from (classic cinnamon or sweet cream). Unfortunately, they're so small that they're gone within just a couple of bites, meaning they feel more like a quick snack rather than a full dessert.

Back in the 2010s and earlier, you could get classic larger churros. They were crispier and, in our opinion, tasted much more strongly of cinnamon. Unlike the mini versions offered by the chain, cinnamon was the main flavor profile rather than a background singer to the main event: sugar. The discontinued churros were big and sturdy enough to dredge through the spectacular shakes (we love Del Taco's strawberry milkshake), or baptize in our black coffee. It's a dessert that remains in our hearts, and one that we miss dearly.

There's nothing quite like a California-style burrito, and the way the French fries soak up all of the tortilla-wrapped goodness within. Now, Del Taco's iterations of the dish are great, and they make for delicious nods to the brand's home state and heritage. However, there's a California burrito missing from the menu: The epic Beyond Cali burrito. 

Available from the late 2010s until the early 2020s, the Beyond Cali burrito was a spectacular, flour tortilla-wrapped treat. With Beyond Meat crumbles meeting French fries, it was such a savory and salty bite. The sour cream, meanwhile, was cooling and creamy in a way that kept things from getting too saline. Paired with the brightness, herbs, and vibrant flavors of the guacamole and pico de gallo, it was one of the best items on the Del Taco menu — and that's not even considering the fact that it happened to be vegan-friendly. There are a lot of great ordering tips for Del Taco burritos, but without Beyond Meat on the menu, even the most creative hacks can't achieve what this discontinued item could. That's unfortunate, especially if you're vegan.

Any shrimp dishes at Del Taco are usually delicious; for example, we loved the shrimp burrito, one of Del Taco's popular burritos that used to be on the menu. The Baja shrimp taco from the 2010s was a star back when it was offered, as well, which is why we wish it came back.

This discontinued food from Del Taco was an absolute delight for those who love to hit every texture and note in one dish. It had creamy and spicy Baja sauce, crisp cabbage for freshness, vibrant pico de gallo, and battered shrimp that was as massive as it was perfectly fried. It all came bundled up in a flour tortilla, making for a sturdy and beach-friendly snack or meal that was such a treat for us seafood lovers.

You can still order a crispy fish taco, but it's just not the same. While the dish is certainly tasty, we've found that it's much messier to eat due to the use of a corn tortilla. Plus, we just really want shrimp sometimes.

The breakfast items at Del Taco are really strong. The egg-filled flatbread tacos are super filling, the burritos are comforting swaddles of protein, the crispy hashbrown sticks are satisfying, and few things are more delicious than dunking the sugary donut bites into black coffee. While we'd like to see some more sweet options, its morning lineup is strong overall ... but it's missing the now-discontinued breakfast toasted wrap.

Those of us who remember this menu item from the late 2010s feel its absence on the Del Taco menu. Much like Taco Bell's famous fold over — speaking of, we have an easy ordering trick for Crunchwrap Supremes that should be on your radar if you're a fan — the breakfast toasted wrap from Del Taco involved a crispy flour tortilla folded around proteins, condiments, and other goodies. Specifically, the menu item at Del Taco included scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, hash brown sticks, and salsa with a protein of your choice.

Customers could pick between chorizo sausage, grilled carne asada, crispy bacon, or more eggs and cheese. We loved how customizable it was, but no matter how you built it, it made for a super hearty first meal of the day. Plus, the crispiness of the tortilla is just really hard to beat and puts the soft vessels used on the current Del Taco breakfast items to shame.