Taco Bell — Restaurant in Wooster

This complaint is about the Tace Bell at 1839 Beall Ave in Wooster, Ohio.

I want to lead off by saying if there's someone from this local store monitoring reviews, please know that I will not under any circumstances accept any form of compensation or free food. I do not want compensation. I want this issue seen and recognized in the hopes that it might improve the experience of future customers.

I will be sending a copy of this complaint via email to tbell corporate as well.

On 5/15/24 around 3:25am, we ordered x2 Chalupa Supreme, x1 Crunchwrap Supreme w/ Xtra Cheese, x1 Chicken Quesadilla, x2 Doritos Locos Tacos, and x2 Cinnabon Delights 2-packs.

We arrived home to realize that we were missing 1 of the Chalupa Supreme, and the Chalupa Supreme we did get was somehow a glowing example of ineptitude the likes of which I've seldom seen before.

1.) The beef was very obviously short.

No, not a little short or questionably short.

Not "entitled customer who has unreasonably high expectations of how much meat should be on a fast food item and complains" short.

It was "actually" short. Most of this chalupa was shell, lettuce, and cheese.

2.) There was no sour cream, which btw is an integral part of the tbell chalupa for me.

But whatever, I guess it's ok... I'll just finish my own incomplete item on my incomplete order with my own condiments at home for the food I just paid in full and upfront for.

And ya know I wasn't even gonna make a complaint up to this point. After all, mistakes happen, and I was fully prepared to chalk it up to that, move on and give the benefit of the doubt... I was frustrated, for sure, but I really was just gonna move on.

Till I took the first bite of said (and only) chalupa...

3.) The shell of my (one and only) chalupa was unmistakably old. And not like a few minutes old but like, OLD.

The outermost edge of the shell extending down for a 1/2 inch was completely rigid-hard (yes, I needed to phrase that redundantly to drive home how far from soft it was); with the remaining majority of the shell being - and I am not exaggerating - CHEWY.

I wouldn't feed the shell I got to my dog... And his idea of a snack is raiding the cat box if we accidentally leave the lid off.

This shell should NOT have been served to a customer, PERIOD. It should've not been on the rack for use in making an item in the first place in this state.

And you can't even try to act like they didn't know or notice either, after all they hand to assemble the item manually, by hand, which means reaching for, choosing, and handling that shell while assembling the chalupa, and then wrapping it too. They knew they were using an old and unacceptable shell and still - by intent and not by happenstance - utilized it and sent it out the window.

If you don't wanna put fresh shells down because it's a half hour from close, then just say you're out of shells for the night or something. Don't send out obviously time expired food.

Expiration timers exist for a very good reason, and it can be literally DANGEROUS to ignore them for the sake of your convenience. Cutting corners at the expense of paying customers isn't ok. There are innumerable jobs elsewhere to be had if you don't like having to make food during the last hour before closing.

Also, WHY has it become the customers job to ensure their order is correct and COMPLETE before they leave the drive through line?

ESPECIALLY considering every fast food place now (and yes, including this tbell in particular) abuses the "pull forward to XX spot" system and now just EXPECTS customers to just comply with it, all in order to artificially inflate or disingenuously spare their drive through times?

Ya know, instead of just addressing the actual workflow issues which cause such...

🔥🔥🔥 That was my experience from start to finish. (For those of you lacking in your understanding of pop culture, those emojis indicate something very good) when we walked in “shut up and dance” was playing which automatically earned it a 5 star atmosphere. Then while ordering, I realized I could add a freeze for the drink in the 5 piece nugget meal. Pog. I couldn’t use a deal on the app which was a bruh moment but it’s ight cause when the food came out, there were 8 chicken nuggets in my 5 piece nugget so it’s like I used a deal anyway. Additionally, while I was walking up to gather my food, I realized I forgot to add the jalapeno honey mustard to my order and only had the bell sauce so naturally, I requested it of the employee who was at that moment handing me my food. Now, you must understand, I knew about the chicken nugget meals and I knew there was no way I could make it with only one condiment packet and so I thought by forgetting to order it at the kiosk I would actually be saving 30 cents by pulling one over on the unwitting employees, however, unwitting is the last word I would use to describe the smug smirk that this worker gave as he took back my bag into his hands after it had been a few inches from being in my possession. He looked up at me with that same devious grin as he said the words “my name is Lucas. I’ll give you your extra sauce, if you give us a 5 star review.” Checkmate. I’d been out played every step of the way, failing to order the sauce on the kiosk, trying to get both of the fancy sauces in stead of considering the free sauces a possibility, and then asking for the final sauce before taking my food thus revealing that I was unwilling to eat my food without it. Now he was asking not only for a good review but a name drop. By the time I tried the sauces I wasn’t even upset as those were the best dang sauces Taco Bell has ever produced. Made a mess of myself enjoying every last drop of it while writing this review and finally, thanked Lucas, ceremonially threw away the Panda Express I had brought for some reason, then posted this review....

Well, I reckon it's high time we had us a talk about this here Taco Bell, friend. Now, you see, Taco Bell ain't exactly what folks would call "authentic Mexican grub," but it's got its own brand of charm, much like a riverboat gambler with a crooked smile.

You see, Taco Bell, it ain't about stickin' to them old traditions. It's like a river in flood, mixin' flavors and spices from all over. It takes the crunchy, the spicy, and the cheesy and throws 'em together in a wild culinary jamboree. It's like a tall tale spun by a storyteller on a hot summer night – full of surprises and flavor twists that'll keep you comin' back for more.

Now, I know some folks say it ain't healthy eatin', and they might have a point. But, you see, sometimes a man's gotta indulge his taste buds, even if it means tippin' his hat to health for just a spell. Taco Bell, it's like a good ol' riverboat feast, where you know you oughta pace yourself, but it's just so darn tasty you can't help but dig in.

So, in the grand scheme of things, Taco Bell might not be the most authentic or the healthiest, but it's got a flavor all its own, and that, my friend, is a flavor...