How Taco Bell Was Founded On A Stolen Idea

If you're a big fan of Doritos Locos tacos from Taco Bell, it's not the chain's founder you have to thank. Long before Taco Bell became the global TexMex fast food sensation it is today, its founder stole the brand's inaugural crunchy menu item from a local restaurant run by Mexican immigrants.

Back in 1937 in San Bernadino, California, Mexican immigrants Lucia Rodriguez and her husband Salvador opened Mitla Cafe. Inspired by the traditional Mexican dish, tacos dorados — fried, crispy tacos — the restaurant's owners started serving their own version using common American ingredients like ground beef, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. The crispy tacos were a hit and a business owner just across the street, Glen Bell, took notice. Bell, better known as the founder of Taco Bell, opened a Hamburger stand in 1948 called Bell's Hamburgers. Though his own business was doing just fine, Bell couldn't ignore the roaring success (or encroaching competition) of future fast food giant, McDonald's, which was also open and serving burgers nearby.

So, Bell took it upon himself to befriend the owners of Mitla Cafe, learned their frying method, and even fashioned his own fry basket before adding tacos to the menu at his burger joint. But, of course, the shady moves didn't stop there. Turns out, Taco Bell wouldn't be what it is today without Bell's appropriation of Mexican cuisine.

Glen Bell went on to open a taco stand called Taco Tia in 1954, where he sold (guess what) crispy fried tacos. As the crunchy tacos grew in popularity amongst his mostly white patrons, Bell didn't shy away from taking credit for the invention and Taco Tia eventually became Taco Bell.

Although Taco Bell is careful not to credit its founder with the invention of tacos, it does note him as having played "a large role" in the mass production of the hard shell version. Bell's so-called accreditation is easily disproven not only by the story of Mitla Cafe but also by patent records. In 1950, Juvencio Maldonado, another Mexican immigrant, got the patent for a machine that could fry multiple corn tortillas at once long before Bell's Taco Tia stand or the official founding of Taco Bell in 1962.

Nowadays, Taco Bell continues to lean heavily on Mexican cuisine to propel its business forward. In April 2024, Taco Bell launched a limited test of a line of Agua Fresca beverages. Agua Frescas is a traditional Mexican drink made by blending fresh fruit, water, ice, and sugar.

Considering the long-standing popularity of Mexican cuisine in the United States, it's unsurprising that the fast food chain continues to follow this path. The chain also isn't alone in its history of profiting from other cultures. What is unfortunate, though, is that if people don't take time to learn the difference between authentic Mexican food and a fast-food Americanized version, then vital parts of the culture are lost to history.