New year, old menu?
Last year, Taco Bell cut all of its potato items from its menu and upset a lot of customers in the process — at one point, a petition to save the potatoes garnered more than 5,000 signatures, according to CNN.
Liz Matthews, Taco Bell’s chief food innovation officer, told Business Insider it felt like she had heard from “everybody in the entire country” about the decision to slash potatoes from the menu.
It was an especially tough change for vegetarians, who didn’t really have a lot of fast food options to begin with, the Deseret News reported. One cook even released a recipe for Taco Bell-style potatoes to help fill the void.
But now there’s some good news for potato-loving Taco Bell fans: Your voice has been heard.
On Thursday, Taco Bell announced it is bringing back the Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes and the Spicy Potato Soft Taco on March 11, Fast Company reported. The chain is also planning new menu items that use potatoes, according to CNBC.
But that’s not all.
Expanding on the vegetarian menu it launched in 2019, Taco Bell has also announced a partnership with Beyond Meat. The chain will release a new plant protein in the coming year, according to Fast Company. This marks Taco Bell’s first foray into plant-based “meat,” Business Insider reported.
“I’ll tell you we’re doing it in a way you haven’t seen before, and it will have an innovative Taco Bell twist,” Matthews told Fast Company. “It will be craveable and delicious. I’m serious. When I had this product, I was fooled.”
This news comes a few months after Taco Bell expanded its vegetarian options with the Black Bean Toasted Cheddar Chalupa, the Black Bean (regular) Chalupa and the Veggie Nachos Party Pack, according to the Deseret News.