Currently serving approximately two million people with its 7,000 outlets across the world, Taco Bell definitely got people taco-ing about Mexican food. But even food-oriented empires aren't built in a day and it takes a lot to "make them great".
Adaptation to a country's culture is one of the most important factors involved, and Taco Bell in India has taken U.S. influence and created a menu to introduce Indians to quality Mexican-American food.
Popular Menu Items
The U.S. menu includes a lot more than the Indian menu when it comes to tacos. They don't have Locos Tacos in India because c'mon, isn't that way too American? All of the taco options in India are available in the U.S., including the Crunchy Taco and the Double-Decker Cheesy Taco.
Popular items on the US menu include chalupas, Locos Tacos, breakfast items and Crunchwraps. Chalupas and Crunchwraps are also found on the Indian menu. However, the U.S. has more variations of the crunch wrap, including the Crunchwrap supreme.
The U.S. menu also offers a lot more burrito options than the Indian menu including Power Burritos, Loaded Grilled Burritos, Cheesy Potato Burritos, and more. The Indian menu offers two main options: the classic burrito and an amazing seven-layer burrito.
Taco Bell in India is relatively new as compared to the decades-old giant in the U.S., but it is catching on as more outlets open in different cities. As mentioned above, the Indian menu is very limited as compared to U.S. menu, and Indian Taco Bells even lack a breakfast menu.
A 7-layer-burrito in U.S. costs $2.79 (about 179.94 Rupees) while in India it's non-vegetarian counterpart costs 225 rupees (about $3.49). This sudden hike in Indian prices can be attributed to the relatively new presence of the chain in India and the race to meet sales targets in a new country.
Drink Options
There are many drink options on the U.S. menu, including the classic Pepsi products, coffee, tea, Mountain Dew Baja Blast, Mountain Dew-Spiked Lemonade, Mountain Dew Kickstart, and Air Heads Freezes.
While the U.S. menu provides a multitude of options, the Indian menu is slowly catching up. With their usual range of aerated drinks and Freeze (watermelon and lime-mint), they recently introduced soft shakes - ice cream shakes coated in gooey caramel and chocolate syrups.
A Starburst Strawberry Freeze costs $1.99 (about 128.35 Rupees) while a watermelon freeze costs 99 rupees (about $1.53). Taco Bell US boasts an elaborate drinks menu, which is more than twice as long as the Indian beverage menu. Taco Bell India better speed up!
Desserts
The Indian menu has desserts that Americans should be jealous of: chocolate caramel toastadas, vanilla ice-cream, and The Chocodilla. The toastadas are sweet shortbread cut in nacho shapes, dusted with cinnamon powder and topped with ladles of chocolate and caramel sauces, all finished with a huge scoop of vanilla ...mmhmm. A Chocodilla is a warm soft tortilla loaded with melted Belgian chocolate, served hot.
The U.S. menu has the iconic Cinnabon Delights, though, which are not available in India. Cinnabon Delights are cinnamon spheres filled with icing. It's America, so these can technically be eaten for breakfast as well.
With countless irresistible options, Taco Bell has the whole world enjoying Mexican-American food. Have your fiesta anywhere around the globe, and as always, Live Más.