Taco Bell — Restaurant in Washington

I previously reviewed this Taco Bell location at 5 stars, but after my recent experience I had to come back and not just edit my review, but delete it so I could post a fresh one in the hopes the manager/owner will see it.

A couple of days ago I came to this store in my vehicle, parked in the parking lot, and started placing an order using the app. I had the munchies something fierce and it ended up being a pretty large order, and one with a lot of customization. The first time I started to make the order, the app encountered some issue about halfway through and lost the rather detailed stuff I'd already put in my cart. It was frustrating, but stuff happens and I was hungry, so I started over.

After what must have been another 10 solid minutes of deep contemplation and button pressing, I finally had my order just where I wanted it. Tried to pay, and had to add a payment method. Error. Error. Error. Nothing would work.

Annoyed, but not defeated, I went inside. I talked to the first employee I saw: Trevor. I recognized him from a previous excellent visit--he had the lobby/front counter area sparkling like a diamond then, and he was doing the same this time, as well. When I explained the situation to him, and certainly I would have sounded a little frustrated, he very calmly and you might even say enthusiastically offered to help me out by punching the order in for me using the big touch screen tablet in the lobby. I dictated the stuff that I'd put into my phone app (it was still on the screen, I just couldn't order it), and he quickly and carefully copied everything into the system perfectly. When I got my food, everything was absolutely perfect. Not a single thing was missed by the grill crew.

As I went to grab some diablo sauce on the way out the door, I was reminded of something I'd seen when I encountered Trevor the last time: His incredibly presentable style of layering the sauce packets. I mean it looked like art. This guy really takes pride in his work and cares about putting the best foot forward for Taco Bell. I hope he's appreciated as much as...

Just updated my rating, and if people would have told me that I would EVER give Taco Hell (sp = intentional) I would have laughed in their faces. Let's face it, labeling TB "Mexican" - or even labeling it "food" really - stretches the imagination to the breaking point. It's pre-fab, canned & pouched consumables, which thoroughly insult Mexican cuisine or home cooking. But here's the thing, sometimes - - in very RARE instances - - it's the employees who make a visit to places like this a remarkable surprise. This was the case with our last visit to this particular TB. The girl taking our order (who looked to be about 12 years old) was polite, attentive, LISTENED to our special requests, answered our questions, and remarkably made us feel like welcome guests. After taking our order, she called back into the prep area and politely reiterated the special needs of the order. The "cook" listened, answered, and for the first time in Taco Hell history GOT THE ORDER RIGHT. We sat down and waited, and she proceeded to clean tables thoroughly and restock self-service areas. She even brought our order to the table and came back a few minutes later to make sure everything was "just the way we like it." I give all the credit for this to the girl behind the counter - - a girl who was clearly well raised, and who is far too bright to belong working fast...

This Taco Bell has consistently failed in its basic duties as a fast food establishment. Every time that I order from here either the wait is long, I am missing something in my order or the chalupas are stale. Today I placed and order on the mobile app at 6:18 and showed up at around 6:25. I said that I had a mobile order and soon after heard the line cooks saying my order and verifying all of the items. I waited until about 7:02 and asked again and they said that they already gave out the order. They did not call my name. Who I assume to be the manager said told the cashier to re-ring the order so I sat down and waited. After about 15 minutes I asked again and they said it was on the next SCREEN, not the next order. If I had a customer waiting in the store for nearly an hour I would push their order to the front. I asked about cancelling and they told me to do so on the app and could not give me a refund. It is sad that this is the only Taco Bell in the area. The other chains seem to have gotten something right and have two of each in this city.

It is like a toxic relationship that I have kept coming back to just because it is the only option. I used to love TB and now this has put a sour taste...