Taco Bell — Restaurant in Sarasota

First of all let me say that I love Taco Bell. I travel for a living so I'm pretty much always on the road. Taco Bell is my one constant in my travels -- no matter where I am, once I get off the plane and I'm in search of dinner, it's "Okay Google. Find the nearest Taco Bell."

I always get the same thing, in fact it's the only thing I eat off their menu -- two Cheesy Bean & Rice Burritos. That's my dinner practically every night that I'm on the road. You could say that I'm a Cheesy Bean & Rice Burrito aficionado. I bet I've had 100's and 100's of them now at this point.

So I feel qualified to say that I know when one is made well and when it isn't. I tried the Cheesy Bean & Rice burritos at the S. Tamiami Trail location in Sarasota a few weeks back. The Cheesy Bean & Rice Burritos were terrible. They were under-filled and mostly just overly thick beans in a flour tortilla. The rice was nearly non-existent and all at one end. The jalapeno sauce was essentially not there and was just a dollop at one end of the burrito. And cheese sauce? What cheese sauce? Wasn't there. The beans were so dry and thick that it was honestly difficult to swallow.

I complained on multiple visits but to no satisfaction. The girl at the drive-in actually told me on one visit "that's just the way we make them here." I wish they would retrain the staff there. It’s horrible food. And I wish you could give a minus star because I hate this location that much.

(Hey S. Tamiami location staff -- you want to learn how they are made correctly? Go visit the 5557 Fruitville Rd, Sarasota, FL 34236 location. In an ironic twist, the best Cheesy Bean & Rice Burritos I've ever had in my life were from that location. Go figure -- the Worst that Taco Bell has to offer and the Best all in the same city in the US --...

Tried to take my kids there last night. We go inside vs drive through. First they had us standing there for 20 min with no acknowledgment I was trying to be patient. Then the drive through lady points to the kiosk and says you have to do it yourself. I let her know I have cash. She said you still have to place it there. Okay, so I get that done. Two other parties come in and the same thing happens to them, so I help them with the kiosk and try to amuse ourselves because it was a very frustrating situation. Standing there 30 min no food, no one letting me know what to expect. The two other parties then get their food and I placed my order first. Finally a team member has his lunch box and is heading out and we’re all standing at the counter . I ask him about the food and no one started it or even knew of it. So he goes in the back and comes back with a manager I think .. with bloodshot red eyes with an attitude when I explain what’s going on then says well because you still have to pay cash so I didn’t know your order was here.. but I told the drive thru lady that when she told me to use the kiosk the first time lol he said idk what to tell you. Then I finally get my order.. it’s missing the chips and cheese for two orders.. the white girl starts arguing it’s not missing even after ten min of reviewing everything horrible customer service. I sit down and I’m beyond upset .. the food was hard as a rock. Wrong ..$40 for horrible service horrible food. Someone in upper management needs to walk in and fire this entire team. There used to be a sweet girl in the drive thru that had the best customer service but this team needs to go the most horrible team imaginable. If I could give 0 stars...

If I could take stars away from a business for lack of customer service, I would. The first time I picked up an order, it was clear that the dining room was not being used, but the door was unlocked and I came in, and even though the person that helped me was quite short with me, I still got helped and I didn’t say anything, because sometimes people just have those kind of days. But now it’s happened again, and worse, and I can’t not say anything this time, because it’s not right. I pulled up and parked, then went inside the dining room. I got to the counter, and a woman came around and basically berated me for coming inside. “The dining room is closed!” she exclaimed at me. I was understandably confused, because there was no sign on the door and the dining room was obviously unlocked, so she told me again, more stridently, “The dining room is closed! You have to go through the drive-through!!” There was literally no way I could have known that, and there were about a million nicer ways she could have informed me. So anyway, unless you like poor service and being yelled at and your time wasted, maybe stay away...