Taco Bell is testing out a (relatively) fresher, healthier menu that it's dubbed "Cantina Bell." If you want to give the new menu a try, you're in luck because one of the two markets that are getting a test run is just 90 minutes to the North in Bakersfield (the other is in Kentucky). more ›

Taco Bell's taco supreme might come with a whole bunch of fillings, but staples are not on the menu. A local woman has filed a complaint against a Santa Monica Taco Bell location when she said she found four staples inside her lunch. more ›

That's what a hamburger, customer service, value, and being fast is all about: In-N-Out Burger comes in at the top of Consumer Reports' first-ever major ratings of fast food restaurants. more ›

A class action lawsuit filed against Taco Bell asked the fast food chain "where's the beef?" and now that lawsuit has been dropped, reports MyFoxLA, after Taco Bell made alterations to their "marketing and product disclosure." At issue was the amount of beef in the beef mix they put in their various menu items; the suit alleged false advertising, claiming that the "meat" was made of more binders and fillers than actual beef. more ›

When Taco Bell thinks outside the bun, it sometimes involves adding in a beloved junk food staple. You know, because it's not bad enough you're eating junk from Taco Bell, but you need to have it enhanced with junk made by Frito-Lay, who are part of PepsiCo, who happen to be Taco Bell's parent company. more ›

According to authorities, a man was shot dead early Sunday at a Taco Bell drive-thru in Rialto. "The driver and a female passenger were approached around midnight by several men in the drive thru at the Taco Bell located on the 1200 block of Baseline Rd.," reports KTLA. more ›

When a lawsuit was filed alleging Taco Bell was dishonest in their advertising about how much beef goes in their seasoned beef mix, the OC-based fast food giant realized they needed to do some spin control. Their first move was to publish an ad saying "Thank you for suing us." Their next move is to offer 10 million free tacos to their fans, reports the Fast Food Maven. more ›

It looks like Taco Bell's PR team has been working overtime after a how legit-is-your-meat lawsuit alleged that the meat in your Chalupa is full of "extenders" that add fake volume. The Huffington Post reports that a new "Thank You for Suing Us" campaign hit today's editions of the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times and other papers. more ›

Comparing themselves--favorably!--to one of the nation's largest mass-producers of packaged food products, Taco Bell got the word out this morning via an email from parent company Yum! Brands' PR department that the lawsuit filed alleging their beef isn't so...beefy is as full of crap as the suit says their beef is. more ›

In an era when advertising is based on honesty, and the fast food industry prides itself on serving only the highest-quality fresh ingredients in their thoughtfully prepared dishes, it is nothing short of shocking that OC-based Mexicasual giant Taco Bell has been slapped with a lawsuit alleging they're lying when they say their food uses "seasoned ground beef" or "seasoned beef." more ›

Maybe we should move beyond the donut indulging cop stereotype. Amid news of Taco Bell founder Glen W. Bell's death, the LA Weekly finds that the first Taco Bell franchise went to an LAPD officer in 1964. That officer was one of the five motorcycle cops who opened franchises in the 60s. Five more soon got into the business and one of them, a former officer and current reserve, owns 21 Taco Bells. Random Taco Bell Fact: Local Chef (also known for appearing on Top Chef), Stefan Richter, once planted seeds found in a Taco Bell hot sauce packet. Now he has a "beautiful Taco Bell tree full of peppers." more ›

Sad news, y'all. Gidget, who we all know as the Taco Bell chihuahua ("Yo Quiero Taco Bell") suffered a stroke and died at age 15. After she retired from her commercial fame, she lived her days in the sun before dying Tuesday night. "She made so many people happy," said Gidget's trainer, Sue Chipperton. Speaking of Taco Bell, they've also joined the Twittering trend of mobile food trucks, but fear not, they are not in Los Angeles...yet. They'll be here for a few days next week. And in completely unrelated news, Baja Fresh is giving away Burritos today if you buy a drink with this coupon. more ›

Remember those ads that ran between 1997-2000 featuring a sassy chihuahua who was crazy about Taco Bell? Turns out the Irvine-based company turned down a pitch made in the 1990s by Michigan ad men Joseph Shields and Tom Rinks for a "psycho chihuahua" but "later hired another ad agency that wound up using the talking animal in the now famous 'Yo quiero Taco Bell' ads," reports the OC Register. more ›

Now don't get us wrong, here at LAist we are bacon people. In fact, we are official Facebook fans of bacon, and it doesn't get any more real than that. We have eaten bacon in ice cream, covered in chocolate, and illegally wrapped around hot dogs. But some things simply don't go with bacon and one of them is tacos. more ›

a writer's perspective more ›

New Year's Day, most in LA seemed to be up in Pasadena watching either the Rose Parade or the Rose Bowl, or getting over their New Year's Eve hangover at home watching TV. Why do I think that? Because the roads were EMPTY! It seemed that no one was on the roads. My goal was to head out with a friend, with cameras in hand and hit the roads and drive around LA on the one day in the year that you can get from one end of the city to the other in 20 minutes. The city seems almost small and quaint when you can get from Silverlake to Santa Monica at a constant MPH and without going under 45. more ›

I'm as guilty of this as anyone. I love the city but routinely bitch about the lack of snow or wide open spaces (C'mon, I'm from Minnesota. What is Christmas without a foot of snow to contend with? Over the river and through the woods and all that). So, in the spirit of the holiday, here are 5 things about Los Angeles I'm thankful for. more ›

Zuma Dogg was nice enough to post this video on Mayor Sam today which lays out a proposal that Jan Perry wants to inflict on the residents of South Central. Even though the councilwoman is ignorant in regards to the neighborhoods in her district, she does know that the people she represents are fat. They're so fat (and in her mind, ignorant) that she seems to want to protect them from themselves. It's her... more ›

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.
more ›

Was last night's earthquake cause to some full moon effect madness? Breaking News: "A man from the San Fernando Valley has contracted this year's first human case of West Nile virus in Los Angeles County, health officials said Thursday." (NBC4) A female suspect has been shot by police in a Sylmar Bank robbery. (KABC) "A SWAT standoff in the parking lot of a Taco Bell ended early this morning with the arrest of a... more ›

There is a song in the early summer evening air and it’s a song of hipsters, small yummy tacos, and very, very strong drinks. I live a considerable distance from Malo, but it’s always a great place to meet up with people before going to the Greek. Malo is on Sunset Boulevard, the décor is dark, iron is very much in evidence, there are lots of curtains. Outside, the décor is minimal, with a... more ›

"You're trying to sell a historical period drama to a country like America, you don't want a big, fat, 250 pounds, red haired guy with a beard. It doesn't let people embrace the fantastic monarch he was, because they're not attracted to the package. Heroes do not look like Henry VIII. That is just the world we live in."
--WENN/IMDB

First it was spinach, then Taco Bell lettuce, then last week peanut butter, quickly followed by the chicken breast strips. more ›

We've seen issues with spinach, Taco Bell lettuce, and most recently peanut butter, and now there is a recall on a product that is stamped ok for the South Beach Diet. more ›

- Bam's Uncle Vincent "Don Vito" Margera will be arraigned next month for allegedly fondling two 12-year old girls and a 14 year old girl last year in Colorado - AP more ›

Before the current tyrannical rule of Tony Pierce, Carolyn Kellogg was the editor of LAist, in a time many yearn for. But she decamped for the University of Pittsburgh, where she's getting an MFA in creative writing. In between bouts of homesickness, she blogs about books and podcasts interviews with writers who rock at pinkyspaperhaus.com. Top 10 LA Things You Don't Realize You'll Miss, Until It's Too Late 10. Beaches. I hardly went to... more ›

If onions could high-five that's exactly what they'd be doing right now in scenic Oxnard. Less than a week ago all eyes were on Boskovich Farms, who despite claiming that the FDA hadn't come calling to investigate, still seemed guilty since they provide a good deal of the green onions that Taco Bell uses. The veggies were being accused of being the cause of the E.coli that had made dozens of east coast fast food diners ill. more ›

- Oxnard onion farmers must be shedding tears of joy. Taco Bell sez the green onions grown at Boskovich Farms did not cause the E.Coli. Then they re-opened some stores - AP - Find Saul Jaime Vaca Arceo (who threatened his ex-wife and tried to burn his two children alive in his car) and get $10,000 stuffed in your stocking - CBS2 - Despite a 25% drop in attendance, Magic Mountain wont be leveled... more ›

Farms are like NFL referees: if they're getting noticed, that's bad news. more ›

Ducks 3, Oilers 2, OT - Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer's 1,000th game was looking to be a bad night as the Ducks were down 2-0 in the second period, which thrilled the crowd in Edmonton who had come to boo the shit out of their former star Chris Pronger who helped them get one game from winning the cup last year before defecting to America. But after a power-play goal shot by Pronger and... more ›