Summer 2024 is looking a little brighterand cheaperthanks to the return offast-food value menus.
But restaurants are trying all the same and presumably doing their best given current inflation levels.
Burger King is promoting its own$5 Your Way Meal deal.
Photo: Brett Hondow / Shutterstock. Design: Eat This, Not That!
The Mexican-inspired chain is known to be pretty affordable.
But the ten items on this list are especially low-cost ranging from just $1 up to $3.
Cheesy Roll Up
It doesn’t get much simpler than Taco Bell’s Cheesy Roll Up.
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
You know…just in case.
The look:A small, flattened tortilla.
The taste:Too basic and disappointing.
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
The cheese was possibly melty at some point.
It seems like something I would whip up in the microwave as a desperate late-night snack and later regret.
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for, I guess.
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
Loaded Beef Nachos
Nachos BellGrande has been one of the pillars of the TB menu for decades.
Not to worry, though.
In terms of the presentation, I would say it’s relatively sloppy.
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
Each sauce is sloshed one on top of the other, unevenly covering the chips.
Ground beef sits beneath, and at first glance, the beans are nowhere to be found.
The taste:Inconsistent, yet consistently mediocre.
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
There’s no happy medium with these chips.
While some are stale and dry, others are soggy and inundated with an array of sauces.
Many even drooped with no backbone or rigidity at all as I tried to bring them to my mouth.
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
I think if the nachos were fresher with better-dispersed toppings they would have fared better.
Plus, I would remove at least one of the four sauces for some relief in that department.
The look:A tad squished but the size of a normal soft tacomaybe even a little bigger.
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
For actual vegetarian customers, this taco may be an admissible substitute.
As for me, thoughan avid meat eaterit didn’t tickle my fancy.
It lands on the higher end of the price range at $2.49.
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
The look:Surprisingly bulky and large for a $2.49 burrito.
It’s nowhere near the magnitude of Chipotle’s monstrositiesperhaps about half the sizebut still sizeable.
The chicken and cheese, on the other hand?
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
The taste:A mess of mostly rice and taco sauce.
It’s thicker, fluffier, and covered in more obvious brown spots and edging.
Prying it open was a chore.
Photo: Megan Hageman, Eat This, Not That!
The taste:I’ll start with the flatbread itself.
Dare I say it’s even better than the chain’s standard soft shells?
The big but, though, is that the rest of the taco is drab.
Once again, like with the soft potato taco, there isn’t enough chipotle sauce.
The $2.49 order comes with just seasoned potatoes along with nacho cheese and reduced-fat sour cream.
The look:Close to double the amount of potatoes I found earlier in my taco.
I was also unsurprised to see such wide-reaching globs of both sour cream and cheese.
The taste:The taste of the potatoes themselves didn’t fluctuate from the earlier Spicy Potato Taco.
They’re flavorful and tender but could be cooked better on the outside to deliver a satisfying crunch.
Despite appearances, there’s actually a perfect sauce-to-spud rationot too little and not too much.
Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito
I appreciate the straightforward naming convention Taco Bell employed for this burrito.
The no-frills vegetarian burrito is priced at just $1.49.
The look:Significantly more deflated than the previous Chicken Enchilada Burrito.
Mushy beans and cheese-covered rice ooze out from the middle.
The taste:This burrito had no business being as good as it was.
It resolves to a gooey and cheesy pile of rice and beans swirled together.
But, for some unknown reason, it just works.
I can’t say I noticed the creamy jalapeno sauce too much.
Overall, it’s an option that won’t disappoint.
Instead, it’s referring to the double layer of taco shells.
Then, the entire thing is wrapped in a soft tortilla that has been slathered with nacho cheese.
The taste:Well-planned and well-executed.
A TB soft taco is a classic, and this creation takes that simple makeup to new heights.
The rigidity of the hard shell provides an appreciated change-up in texture and gives each bite a gratifying crunch.
Just some food for thought, Taco Bell.
It’s currently priced at $2.19.
The look:Similar to a quesadilla, but it stands taller thanks to all the tortilla rows.
The brown beef and various cheeses seem to be somewhat separated by layer but also frequently intermingle.
But, the melty, creamy cheese and spiced meat remain the same.
Plus, I think the touch of the grilled tortilla is what drove the reminiscence.
The look:Similar in size to the Chicken Enchilada Burrito, and just as chaotic.
However, here, most of the ingredients present themselves well.
The taste:This is a genuine adult burrito.
The rice is just as good as always, with a formidable yet not overbearing presence.
All in all, everything going on inside this burrito is of decent quality.
