Taco Bell Breakfast

The day finally came.  March 27, 2014 marked the launch of the new Taco Bell Breakfast menu.  This is something that Fat Mike had long looked forward to.  Some of you may have just found out about this new phenomenon from the FANTASTIC new ad campaign that launched this week: Guess Who Loves Taco Bell Breakfast??  However, I've been following this progression slowly for the past few months when I heard that Taco Bell was testing this new menu is select locations on the west coast.  Thankfully, they decided to go nationwide, and I jumped at the change to do a comprehensive breakdown of whether "ringing the Bell" at 7am was TRULY worthwhile.

It's important to note that not all franchises are serving breakfast quite yet.  Thanks to the handy (and free) Taco Bell app, I was able to find a location that was perfectly placed during my commute to get what I needed.

The picture above represents the entire menu available for Taco Bell Breakfast.  Granted, each comes with a choice of either bacon or sausage, and all choices were made as "game time" decisions on site.  The one exception, as you'll see, was the Waffle Taco because that was the marquee item that I was looking forward to the most.  I guess that's as good a starting point as any.

By far the most disappointing part of the experience.  When I first heard about this concept, I thought to myself, "This sounds amazing. I wonder how they're gonna pull this off?" They didn't.  The idea works on paper, but it's IMPOSSIBLE to get a crisp waffle. Inevitably it just turns into a lifeless, dense, chewy waste.  The Fat's not sure what he expected, but high hopes are always on the menu.  The mixture of imitation waffle, with imitation egg just didn't come together as happily as hoped.  Luckily, there were plenty of other options.
With the failure of the Waffle Taco behind us, we'll move on to the Steak Breakfast Burrito:

This was delicious.  But let's be honest... an infant can make a breakfast burrito.  This was something that I knew would be reliable choice going in.  The fact that Taco Bell could properly execute a breakfast burrito was NOT a surprise.  Nevertheless, it is certainly a worthwhile choice if you mosey into a Taco Bell between 7-11am and decide to give breakfast a try.  There's not a lot of flash, just egg, cheese, and steak that blend perfectly together with each bite.  Good stuff.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Taco Bell AM Crunchwrap.  This was a devine breakfast experience.  Cheese, egg, an your choice of bacon or sausage (this one had sausage), topped with a hash brown, wrapped in a flower tortilla and pressed into a convenient, delicious pocket of happiness.  This is a great demonstration of creativity, innovation, and execution.  I was immediately happy with the way this turned out.  I would HIGHLY recommend trying it.  I took a brief pause after each bite, and tipped my cap to the divine beings that came up with this breakfast item.  Way to go, folks.  Yo quiero AM Crunchwrap forever and always.
These next two items were pretty simple in nature and delivered a satisfactory experience for what they were.  The first was the breakfast taco (below left), which in my mind was more of a quesadilla.  Nevertheless, easy execution with the flour shell, eggs, bacon, and light sprinkle of cheese to round it out.  For a quick snack on the go, it serves it's purpose.  Next was the sausage flatbread sandwich (below right).  Not a lot going on here.  Just meat and cheese. No egg.  Simple and easy for folks who don't crave a lot of "flash" with their breakfast.  Sometimes you just want meat, cheese, and bread.  I get that.  Not a terrific option, but easy and necessary for a well rounded menu.

To finish off the meal, the Cinnabun Delights.

Wow, these things are ridiculous.  These seemingly innocent DDMunchkin look-alikes are sinfully good treats.  Instead of being dense cinnamon donuts, these are hollow cinnamon sugar treats that are INJECTED with Cinnabun frosting.  As my friend eloquently put it, "These are for popping".  To bite into these treats is to sell the experience short.  Simply throw one in your mouth, and they explode sugary happiness into your face (yes, i know, but I can't think of another way to put it).  Sure, they're a bit greasy in there from the frying process, but that just adds to the gluttonous goodness of the whole experience.  They come in 4packs or 12 packs for those who may decide that they only want a DOZ of these bad boys for breakfast. (whoever you are...)
Overall, the menu was top notch.  I'm very happy that Taco Bell has decided to get on the breakfast train.  Simply easy food.  The best part is that this ENTIRE order was just a bit over $15.  I had estimated higher than that and was happily surprised.  That incentive alone is enough reason to walk in and try for yourself.  Keep in mind, they're still trying to learn their craft, so I was probably waiting for my order for a good 10-12 minutes, but that was a small price to pay for the whole experience. I'm sure they'll get it down soon enough, but don't wait... just go and try for yourself.  Happy eating.