Taco Hell has been my preferred national fast-food since Zantigos closed, these many years ago. Mostly I have a chilito (that being an item they carried over from the Zantigos menu) and something else.
I ran into a new special item (which means, I think, that it’s being considered for a permanent place on the menu, but that’s far from certain). They’re calling them “Cantina Tacos”, and they are really quite close to the tacos we got at Tacos Blass on the corner here when they were in business. I’d rate the Taco Hell versions as about 75% as good; which for a national fast-food chain is doing pretty well.
They come in three fillings, steak, chicken, and carnitas. And currently you can get a set of three of them (any fillings) plus a large drink for $5.19.
They even come with wedges of fresh lime (neatly wrapped into the foil so they don’t touch the food). I squeezed one into my drink and the other two over the food.
The actual dish looks more real than the photos on the web site; in particular, the web photos show the tortillas looking half like crisp corn tortillas, but they’re not, they’re soft (and hence not as yellow).
All the fillings were pretty good. The carnitas lacked much juniper flavor, but had no serious false notes.
They’re served with onion and cilantro, no cheese or lettuce or whatever, just like the ones at Tacos Blass were.
