Taco Bell has not only positioned itself as one of the most iconic chains in the fast-food pantheon, but it has also firmly planted its stake in internet and meme culture through the savvy 21st-century advertising and marketing that focuses on brand self-awareness and leaning into self-deprecative trends. Taco Bell has always been one of the edgier fast food stops, appealing to generations’ worth of young adults and their insatiable cravings for cheap but satisfying food in bulk.  It’s been a generational destination of the after-school culture of riding around town with the homies or meeting up in a parking lot late-night to commiserate or celebrate over delectable, nutritionally confounding food. My dad ate Taco Bell in the nineties in the backseat of his best friend’s car, and likewise, I have eaten Taco Bell in a variety of cars with a variety of friends over the years. 

One of its unique appeals lies in its bold concoctions, taking a mad-scientist approach to creating a revolving catalog of big-ticket menu items. Past successes include the Double Decker Taco, Doritos Locos Tacos, Volcano Taco, Mexican Pizza, Nacho Fries, Beefy Frito Burrito, and a host of other items. 

  They truly seem to delight in throwing anything at a board and seeing what sticks. It would be an unsustainable practice for any other company, especially in building a core menu people can identify with, but Taco Bell has bottled that unsustainability and experimentalism into a subversive marketing principle.  They’ve frequently divided the customer base, enthusiasts, and passive enjoyers alike with this approach – often striking gold and creating a fan favorite only to phase it out in search of the next great creation – and yet they still generate hype with each new release. 

 It’s a little disappointing, then, that their most recent batch of creativity is actually just their take on the year’s dominant fast-food trend – the classic crispy chicken sandwich. 

Admittedly, in any other context, this concept is just as divinely wacky as any Taco Bell has released. Just saying “Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco” out loud feels surreal, but given just how many chains have done this, it also feels stale, though there is a particular novelty in Taco Bell doing a chicken sandwich. 

So how does the Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco fare? Is it a classic in the realm of the Doritos Locos Tacos and Mexican Pizza or a frivolous addition á la The Bell Beefer? 

Well, unfortunately, it’s trapped in the realm of mediocrity between those two extremes. 

It comes in around $2.50 a taco and is a modest size, though certainly not as much value as I’d hoped given the price. 

Per Taco Bell’s website, the sandwich-taco hybrid is a piece of crispy white meat chicken marinated in jalapeno buttermilk and seasoned with Mexican spices before rolling it in a tortilla chip coating. 

It’s then situated in a puffy flatbread shell and topped with creamy chipotle sauce. On paper, it sounds delicious, with a nice variety of textures, layered flavors, and a little heat. 

Ultimately, it looks like a small chicken strip in a croissant. Texturally, it’s comparable to the thick but fluffy density of the Chalupa and richness of the Gordita Supreme, especially with the chipotle sauce. The shell is nicely soft, but a little sticky. 

The chicken is tender, but not exactly crispy, which highlights my primary issue with the taco– it’s mostly marketing. The flatbread shell is denser than it is fluffy, the chicken softer than it is crispy, and the flavors are just bland, saved only somewhat by the tasty chipotle sauce. There is no hint of the seasoning on either the chicken or the shell. Also, given how soft everything is, the texture just feels off. There’s no balance and the sandwich is unpleasantly mushy in the mouth. 

It tastes okay but stacked against the rich flavors and better values of many of its competitors’ crispy chicken sandwiches, it pales in comparison and is just not worth the purchase. I recommend sticking to the value menu or buying one of the other box meals.