Taco Bell — Restaurant in Alpena Township

This is the fourth interaction in a row over a span of six months that a family member or myself has been treated with, lets kindly say "sub-par, with a dash of 'what-do-you-want-and-why-are-you-bothering-me attitude" service, comparable with fast food service around Detroit's East Side.

One family member ordered a chix chalupa, plus two beef soft tacos. On the screen, every item was rung in as adding chix. We kindly corrected the teller on her mistake, and she says, "There. I changed it.", with a snotty sigh. We get to the window, and she doesn't even say the total, just reaches out for our card and asks "any sauce?" Card is handed back, window closes, and without saying "Have a good day", or anything at all for that matter, the window opens, she hands us the bag, that she practically tossed to us and nearly dropped, and the window closes. Again, without words. End of interaction.

Upon inspection of items in the sloppily arranged bag, we found a chix chalupa that was roughly 43°F to the touch, two soft tacos that, you guessed it, had chix instead of beef. My mother's Mexican Pizza was smashed to the roof of the box, with 70% of the cheese stuck to the top, and the 'za itself left crushed into sad, jagged bits. The only thing that was remotely intact was another member's Nacho Bel Grande, which was likely to be intact if not for the only saving grace of having a hard plastic enclosure.

I've worked in the food industry for 13~ years. I understand how a Sunday dinner rush can frustrate you. If you wouldn't eat it, don't serve it forth. Be proud of your work, whatever it may be. Take a crappy job, and find ways to make it interesting or fun, so it feels worth the money. If you're stressed, have a manager take over the window for a few mins so you can calm down. If your station is a mess, take 30 secs to reset it, flip/fill pans, and give a quick wipe down. Don't let your food show your anger, frustration, or sadness. The customer eats with their eyes. But if you go a step further than the food, and have a personal, face-to-face, grounded-13-year-old attitude with a customer, that isn't a mistake or a slip-up. That was Direct. Go cry in the walk-in. If that were a secret-shopper or health inspector, that attitude would one-eighty° REALLY fast. Do not attack, take out frustration on, or expel your bad-day-energy onto a customer. Take a breath and collect yourself, for goodness sake. Get it...

Ah, Taco Bell—the land where dreams are wrapped in tortillas and logic takes a backseat to nacho cheese. I entered with an empty stomach and left with a sense of profound confusion...and a full heart. Well, mostly full. The burrito took up some of that space.

The food? A culinary mystery in the best way. How do they make every menu item taste the same and yet completely different? It’s like a flavor paradox wrapped in a soft shell. I ordered a Crunchwrap Supreme, and let me tell you, it was the most satisfying hexagon I’ve ever eaten. Geometry has never been so delicious.

The drive-thru is where heroes are made. I once asked for extra hot sauce, and the employee handed me a fistful of packets that could power a small furnace. A true act of generosity. And let's talk about the sauce—it's basically liquid courage. It says, “You know what? You WILL survive eating this fourth taco at 2 a.m.”

Sure, Taco Bell’s menu might occasionally inspire existential questions like “Is this a taco or a chalupa?” But does it matter? Probably not. Taco Bell isn’t just a restaurant; it’s a lifestyle choice. One I’ll keep making until the end of time (or until my stomach stages a revolt). Bravo, Taco...

Came here after work, only to find out that they were out of chicken and lettuce. The lady charged me extra for a steak quesadia and gave me a hard shell taco when I specifically asked for soft shell. I questioned her why I was paying extra for the steak when they're out of chicken (which is what I originally ordered). She took a 15-20 second pause, then came back on over the speaker saying "that's just how it is". It's a little ridiculous that I have to pay extra for a quesadia that didn't come with my meat preference and give me (the wrong) taco with very little beef and cheese, no lettuce. Why would I pay extra when I'm being jipped? No chicken or lettuce. At least make it somewhat like a taco and put a little extra cheese or beef in it. What really got me, was after I questioned her why I was being charged extra for something I didn't want, she asked me if I wanted to round up. I understand that asking to round up is part of her job, but WOW, after I make it obvious that I'm upset about paying extra for their lack of supplies and ingredients, I would think that it would be obvious what my answer would be. Ya'll...