Taco Bell Is Reviving Iconic Y2K Menu Items
Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos, Double Decker Taco, 7-Layer Burrito and more are back. Is your favorite making a return?
Photo courtesy of Taco Bell
It seems like only yesterday that Taco Bell was bringing back a bunch of menu favorites of yesteryear. In fact, it was in October 2024 that it released its nostalgic Decades Menu, a stroll through late, lamented and all-too-limited edition items from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s. Now, the 62-year-old chain is again harkening to the past and revisiting old favorites.
On September 9, Taco Bell is bringing back the hits from the aughts. The new, limited-edition Decades Y2K Menu will feature five of its most widely missed menu items from that era, each priced at $3 or less.
The revived items “aren’t just throwbacks – they’re certified legends, backed by cult followings, online rabbit holes and fan petitions that refused to let them go,” the brand boasts in a press release.
Among these is Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos, making a long-clamored-for return. A twist on the original Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Tacos in which the regular taco shell has been replaced by a Cool Ranch Doritos shell, the tacos are filled with seasoned beef, lettuce and cheddar cheese and priced at $2.49.
Also coming back is the Double Decker Taco, which has been on and off the menu several times since its 1995 debut. It’s a soft tortilla filled with beans, enveloping a hard taco shell that is itself filled with seasoned beef, lettuce and shredded cheddar cheese. This one’s also priced at $2.49.
Next is the 7-Layer Burrito, a multilayered, customizable vegetarian favorite featuring a flour tortilla filled with refried beans, seasoned rice, reduced-fat sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, diced tomatoes and three-cheese blend. The price? $2.49.
Photo courtesy of Taco Bell
The cult-hit (see this fan-run Chili Cheese Burrito Tracker, set to find locations where it’s still available) Chili Cheese Burrito — featuring chili and cheddar cheese in a flour tortilla — is also making a return. It will be available at all Taco Bell locations for $2.99.
Last, but also kind of first, is the returning Caramel Apple Empanada, which first appeared on Taco Bell menus in the early 2000s. Featuring “crispy golden crust filled with warm apple pieces and a creamy caramel filling,” it will return to menus nationwide — priced at $2.99 — along with the other four items on the Decades Y2K Menu on September 9. Taco Bell is giving its Rewards Members early in-app-only access to the Caramel Apple Empanada from September 2 through September 8.
Photo courtesy of Taco Bell
Also as part of its Y2K-palooza, Taco Bell is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Crunchwrap Supreme, which it calls “the hexagon hero that defined the 2000s,” by offering a new $9 Discovery Luxe Cravings Box. It features the Crunchwrap Supreme, Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos, Crunchy Taco, Chips & Nacho Cheese Sauce and a medium fountain beverage. Additionally, the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos will anchor a new Variety Taco Party Pack; it includes six Crunchy Tacos, six Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos and, the company says, “endless 2000s vibes.”
“No one did the 2000s like Taco Bell. That era gave us some of our most iconic menu items, including the Crunchwrap Supreme, which remains one of our best-sellers two decades later,” Taylor Montgomery, Taco Bell’s chief marketing officer, says in a press release. “Fans have never stopped asking for these items, and honestly, we’ve missed them too.”
Photo courtesy of Taco Bell
Taco Bell will drop Y2K-evocative merch — including an Ed Hardy collab — every Tuesday from September 2 through September 16. And it’s introducing a menu-inspired digital pet called Crunchkin that offers rewards as you care for and play with it.
“Decades Y2K isn’t just about the menu,” Montgomery says. “It’s about reliving the flavors, the fashion, and the fun that made that moment in time unforgettable – and letting our fans be the first to live it all over again.”
You liked Y2K the first time; you’ll love it the second time.
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