Taco Bell — Restaurant in Columbus

I have had decent experiences here in the recent past especially during the day but a recent experience at evening was so bad I just feel the need to post about it. I work late nights and was happy to see their drive thru still open late according to google maps, so I swung by around 1 am. Their main sign light was still turned off which from my experience working fast food in the past is a tactic sometimes pulled to trick people into thinking the business is closed so they'll get fewer customers, but perhaps it was just innocently forgotten. Anyway I pulled up to the window only to be told that they had just run out of both chicken and beef. I wish I had just left then and there, but I had offered to pick up food for my partner also and I didn't want to come home empty-handed. I blame management for supply issues, not regular employees, but it's still pretty aggravating. Anyway the worker told me they still had steak. I've never had steak here and wasn't particularly interested but I asked if I could order what I wanted (two cheesy gordita crunches) with steak as a substitute for the lack of meat. I was told yes but that it would be a $1 upcharge for each. I'm not one to argue but I should have NOT been upcharged on account of the lack of meat being their fault, but the customer gets punished instead for whatever reason. Anyway, I agreed to the charge without contesting. I had also ordered a side cup of sour cream and two orders of cinnamon twists. Well the total came out to be something like $15 and some change so I paid and received my food. The employee who handed me my food was different from the one who took my order and payment and he just handed the bag to me and stared without a word, which is a big pet peeve of mine. It's a fair minimal expectation for me that whoever hands off my food at least says a single word like "thanks" or something like "here you go." When an employee is totally silent like that after handing me something, my instinct is that I'm still waiting on another item. This kind of encounter happens a lot but I consider it a negative mark for the customer service. Anyway I drove home, and when we pulled out the food from the bag, it was two regular hard shell tacos (not even supreme), not the cheesy gordita crunches I had ordered and paid for. Basically I paid roughly an extra $8 for what I received and not only that but they really skimped on the taco toppings and the steak was bone dry and lukewarm. I also had received no receipt to prove my purchase and didn't feel like going all the way back at that point. Needless to say I was a bit upset, but that being said, I had some decent experiences during the day here so I will still likely give them...

It’s 9:20 pm on a Sunday, Been in the drive thru for twenty minutes I’m in it now, there are two good things about this location the rest is my opinion but i personally think they suck. They are the only food place open around this area and they are open until 3 am. They SOMETIMES get your order right and make the food good, guess depends on the workers inside. It’s half and half.

Now the bad. I’ve been here a few times and they turned me away, no tortillas, no beef, have even told me they couldn’t take my order at all unless I waited 20 minutes to even place my order! I had to wait in the parking lot and they almost wouldn’t still take it at that time and were closing soon. I wouldn’t even come here but my wife likes the steak soft taco with avocado ranch and my daughter loves soft tacos with sour cream so I come here sometimes. If you need food late you’ll be kind of forced to wait and endure them getting your order wrong maybe, your other option late is to drive to Polaris prkwy Steak N Shake they’re open late too. If it’s not late go to a different Taco Bell honestly, they really get 3 stars here and I actually really enjoy Taco Bell’s food usually. But the long lines, not getting orders right, and sometimes turning down your order all are things fast food shouldn’t be. My opinion, take it as you will.

Update: Just getting my food and leaving at 9:32 pm, 32 minute wait in the drive thru line.

Food was decent, burritos were smaller than usual, and tortillas were over cooked, better than under cooked I guess, which they do here too. First 5-6 times I came here they didn’t cook the tortillas at all. But I was hungry so it wasn’t too bad. At least the beef, sour cream and nacho cheese were fresh. Wife’s food and daughters food were similar in quality, except their tortillas were fine just over loaded...

Tuesday is Taco Bell night in our house. I live between this Taco Bell and the one on 23. I prefer the one on 23 because the staff is friendlier, and the one time they were short-staffed, they told us instead of making us wait forever in the line.

Tonight we were near the one on Worthington-Galena. The guy on the drive-thru box barked "AND WHAT ELSE?!?" after I told him each item I was ordering. Stressed me out.

Waited in line for 10 minutes. Was offered a receipt and for some reason, I took it. I guess The Universe knew what was coming.

Got home and, lo and behold, we got someone else's order. The only correct thing we got was my kid's drink.

It was too cold to venture back out, and really, what even is the point? It's not a life or death situation. Two families got the wrong orders. The sun will come up tomorrow. At some point, I will again place an order for Taco Bell and the Wheel of Fortune will determine if it is correct or wrong.

I was going to do the survey on the receipt, but they don't do that anymore. I don't blame them. I'm sure 99.7% of the responses were about wrong orders. At a certain point, you gotta lean into your strengths. So here I am, quietly complaining into the void. Enjoy the rest...