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    How it started

    While most people can tell you their favorite menu item, many people don't know that we've been around for a very, very long time. Since the sixties to be exact. Never heard of it? Ask your parents. Back in 1962 in Southern California, our brave Taco Godfather, Glen Bell, had a dream. This dream saw the introduction of food that you could hold in your hands and in your heart. Food that was as much about what is in it as it was about who is around you when you enjoy it. And so Taco Bell became a global sensation and symbolized a movement of agile, pioneering individuals whose motto was Live Más.

    Our History

    Taco Bell originated in California, United States of America. It was founded by Glen Bell and he opened the first Taco Bell restaurant in 1962 in Downey, California. Before Taco Bell, he originally owned and operated a hamburger stand called Bell's Hamburgers in California, built in 1948 on the border of San Bernardino and the town of Colton. Glen opened his first taco stand, Taco Tia, in 1954 and sold tacos for nineteen cents (worth EUR 1.31 today).

    

    1962: Before Glen Bell founded Taco Bell, he started Bell's Drive-In and Taco Tia in Southern California. Glen Bell opened his first Taco Bell restaurant in Downey, CA, serving what his customers called "Tay-Kohs." Glen invented the Crunchy Taco to satisfy the hungry mouths of Southern Californians.

    1964: The first Taco Bell franchisee opens a restaurant in Orange County, CA.

    1967: Opening of Taco Bell's 100th restaurant in Anaheim, CA.

    

    1970: Taco Bell goes public with a total of 325 restaurants.

    

    1978: Glen sells 868 Taco Bell restaurants to PepsiCo Inc. and becomes a PepsiCo shareholder.

    

    1998: Gorditas burst onto the fast food scene and became a nationwide sensation in the U.S.

    2005: The Crunchwrap Supreme becomes Taco Bell's most successful product introduction and soon after becomes a regular menu item.

    2015: The taco emoji is introduced in Apple's iOS 9.1. We like to think our Change.org petition from the year before had something to do with it.

    2017: Taco Bell brings tacos to Brabant and opens its first restaurant in the Netherlands! Eindhoven is the first and also Tilburg and Breda opened their doors this year.

    YOUR FUTURE BEGINS WITH THE BELL

    2020: Taco Bell opens in Amersfoort! Even though we are in the middle of a pandemic. 2020: Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion customers annually in more than 7,000 restaurants worldwide. 2021: Taco Bell opens in Rotterdam and Arnhem. 2023: Taco Bell opens in The Hague and in Amsterdam. Also, at the end of this year, the first Drive-Thru location is scheduled to open; Taco Bell Geffen!