It’s always disheartening when your favorite menu item gets discontinued from a restaurant/fast food chain. For a TikToker named Alex (@coffey.pot), it was Taco Bell’s nacho fries.
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According to the Live Mas brand’s website, as of this writing, the side is no longer being offered. However, the franchise does offer a glimmer of hope for those who enjoyed the fried potato and melted cheese pairing. “Check back later for updates on when Nacho Fries will return to the menu,” it wrote.
Alex, however, doesn’t want to wait with bated breath for her nacho fries fix. Thankfully, however, she has an intimate relationship with someone on the inside. Someone who has access to a treasure trove of Nacho Fries so she can savor the beloved offering. Additionally, she gets to do so from the comfort of her own home.
Boyfriend hack
In a viral TikTok that’s accrued over 2.9 million views, Alex records her boyfriend holding a massive, clear plastic bag of the fries. It appears that the location he worked at had some leftovers after they were discontinued. Consequently, he was able to take the fries out of the restaurant for personal use.
After Alex’s significant other showcases the fries for the camera, her clip cuts. The next image is of the cooked and seasoned fries in a bowl. She holds one of the reddened, cooked fries up to the lens. Furthermore, a text overlay in the video delineates how she was able to get her hands on the stash.
“When nacho fries get taken off the menu for good. But your boyfriend works at Taco Bell,” she writes.
Why discontinued?
It seems like Alex isn’t alone in her pangs for nacho fries. Several other Taco Bell customers on the internet questioned the brand’s decision to excise them from the menu. Oftentimes, fast food businesses will often stop offering specific items due to low sales.
Conversely, one Quora commenter who claims to be a Taco Bell employee says this isn’t the case with nacho fries. She says that they’re a “fantastic seller” but the reason why they were taken off the menu is workflow related. That’s because the fries are “difficult to keep up with.” According to her, they necessitate extra prep time with several steps to make it properly.
Consequently, cooks will often find themselves pausing orders to dump fries in oil. Then check back on said fries to separate them from their fryers and coat them with adequate amounts of seasoning. The Taco Bell employee does state that this is her own personal opinion, however. This echoes the reasoning of McDonald’s corporate chef Mike Haracz’s experience in trying to make a hashbrown breakfast sandwich. Upper management thought that it would take too much time to make the offering. Thus, striking it as a viable, consistently profitable menu item.
Another forum commenter replied that the nacho fries discontinuation is a marketing strategy. By only offering nacho fries for a limited time, and then taking them off the menu, this creates desirability. So when nacho fries are back, patrons will feel compelled to go to Taco Bell during this time frame. Subsequently, they will likely order other menu items while satisfying their craving for the limited-release item.
This isn’t an uncommon strategy: think of McDonald’s Shamrock Shake or McRib.
Disgruntled customers
The aforementioned reasons for nacho fries’ limited availability were reverberated in a Reddit post. A user on the site’s r/tacobell sub also wanted to know why they were constantly coming on and off the menu. One commenter replied that it’s a way to generate “buzz” around the restaurant. Hopefully, this collective excitement will influence people to frequent the restaurant during particular time frames.
Another replied that nacho fries were always meant to be a “limited time promotion.” And it’s not difficult to see their reasoning in arguing that this is the case. Taste of Home reported on the return of nacho fries in October 2024.
Moreover, commenters who replied to Alex’s post said they commiserated with her boyfriend’s experience. One user wrote, “Me when I worked at Taco Bell. I even took a clam shell grill home.”
@coffey.pot a whole bag of seasoning and fries to ast us forever #fyp #foryou #nachofries #tacobell ♬ ILBB2 (feat. GloRilla) – Jorjiana
Another told Alex it was unwise for her to reveal her stash: “Girl don’t expose your plug.”
One TikToker who said they were a Taco Bell employee urged Alex not to worry. “As someone who also works at taco bell they will be back in a month,” they claimed. “They take them off so when they put them back they get hella sales.”
Whereas another person thought it was strange Taco Bell would debut other items, but keep nacho fries an intermittent offering. “They can’t keep literal fries but can bring out a bunch of new items?” they asked.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Taco Bell via email and Alex via TikTok comment.
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