Taco Bell was founded by a man named Glen Bell in March of 1962. Previously, Bell had started seven other companies. These companies included four independent hamburger and hot dog stands, two chains of Taquerias, and even a mini golf course. Eventually, he sold all of these companies to family or friends. Bell positioned the first Taco Bell in the city of Downey, California. This city is located ten miles southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The first restaurant of the chain started off as a small local business, and was settled on one of the busiest streets in Downey, Firestone Boulevard. The building consisted of a small kitchen, an ordering window, and a few tables and chairs on an outside patio. There was no inside seating and a very basic menu consisting of a Taco BellGrande, and a few different burritos and add-ons.
In 1964, a retired police officer named Kermit Becky decided to open another Taco Bell restaurant in Torrance, CA. He was the first franchisee. In 1965, Bell opened 8 more Taco Bells along the coast. This spread the business and it rapidly grew. By January 1967, 100 Taco Bells were spread all over Los Angeles. In 1970 was when the franchise went public with almost 325 restaurants opened. Taco Bell really took off in 19780 when Bell decided to sell the company to PepsiCo Inc. In 1995, Taco Bell formed an alliance with KFC and they opened a split restaurant in Clayton, North Carolina. Taco Bell also co-branded with Pizza Hut and Long John Silver’s. Over the course of 37 years, Pepsi Co made Taco Bell a worldwide sensation. Today, Taco Bell employs more than 150,000 team members in almost 6,000 restaurants across the US. There are more than 350 franchises and there are 36 million customers every week. It is the nation’s leading Mexican-inspired fast food restaurant. There are an estimated 300 international restaurants.
Today, when a customer walks into a Taco Bell restaurant, they are walking into a modern and innovative establishment. Walking into the restaurant, the customer is greeted by the cashier behind the counter. Looking around, there are shapes and colors decorating the walls, and different sized booths and tables to sit at. The cashier is ready to take the customer’s order and give their change. After the cashier puts the order into their system in the kitchen, the workers read the television screen and find out what type of dish, side item, or dessert they need to make. As the customer waits for their order to be ready, they approach a table near the counter with forks and other utensils, straws, napkins, and a variety of sauces to choose from. There is a drink machine that the customer can go to to fill their cup, or they can request a flavor of Taco Bell’s “freezes.” After the customer receives their food in a timely manner, they ring the service bell on the way out of the door to let the workers know they have done an excellent job. On a different approach, the customer chose to get their order to go. They go through a “Drive-Thru” window where the customer orders, pays through the window, and receives their food all without getting out of their car.
The best thing about Taco Bell is their delicious menu. It consists of tacos, taco salads, fresco, gorditas, chalupas, burritos, nachos, and a multitude of sides. An onset of the menu is called “Dollar Cravings” which features mini quesadillas, nachos, burritos, and tacos, all for just $1.  Recently, Taco bell came out with a breakfast menu that includes crunch wraps, grilled tacos, breakfast burritos, coffee and Cinnabon delights. Their flavorful selections may not always agree with bodily functions, but that never stops the customers from coming in to order the new Dare Devil Loaded Griller. Even though the Taco Bell restaurant food is satisfying, the company, as a whole, also does a lot to give back to the people they serve.
The Taco Bell corporation has invested their money and time in many projects and foundations to give back to the community and to people in need. There are four major organizations that Taco Bell has created or been a part of. They are The Taco Bell Foundation, Taco Bell Grants, The Glen Bell Scholarship, and World Hunger Relief. Both the grants and scholarships are important segments of their Foundation.
The first major program is the Taco Bell Foundation. Their mission is “to inspire and enable teens to achieve Más.” They are extremely invested in the Taco Bell community, but especially teenagers. Teens are so important because they are our nation’s future. Taco Bell aims to “ignite the potential within teens and help eradicate the high school dropout crisis.” This foundation helps teens find a reason to continue their education. It gives them the support, resources, and opportunities that they need to become successful and lead our nation in the 21st century. In 2013, they partnered with the GetSchooled program to create an online program that gives teens resources and support needed to complete their high school education. It is called Graduate for Más. They also provide job training. This program has spread through the nation and has impacted over 3 million teenagers in over 6,000 communities. Since this program has started, more than 320,000 students have promised to graduate school through this program.
The Taco Bell Grants are in conjunction with the Taco Bell Foundation. Its aim is to give back to the communities in which their businesses are located. They collect donations every year from customers, employees, and their vendor partners. The donations go out to organizations all over the country that are helping teens the same way their Foundation is. These organizations make a promise that the donations go towards experiences or programs that fulfill their requirements. The experiences or programs must “enable teens to discover and eventually pursue their career and/or educational interests and meet the following: real-world, hands on learning; interactive with real students, professors, mentors and/or career professionals; inspiring and fun!” There are also legal requirements that every organization has to meet. Taco Bell invites organizations to apply for this grants and then the organizations apply. The grant can vary from $1,500 to $100,000. The Glen Bell Scholarship also coincides with The Taco Bell Foundation. To scholarship receive this scholarship you must be a Taco Bell employee. You can be a high school senior, undergraduate, graduate, or vocational-technical student. The scholarship is $2,000.
Taco Bell’s current motto is Live Más. Más means “more” in Spanish. They want customers to live more, or live life to the fullest. It is a twist on their previous motto, “Think Outside the Bun.” Before that, the motto was “Yo Quiero Taco Bell” which came complete with Gidget the Chihuahua. This motto came about when Taco Bell introduced the new breakfast menu, the Cantina menu, which is a little healthier but still very delicious, and their Doritos Locos Tacos.
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