Nafisaria Mathews’s weekend plans are set and they revolve aroun. Discs of tortilla stacked with refried beans, ground beef and cheese.
This week, Taco Bell is bringing back its Mexican pizza after two years’ absence from its menu. Mathews, a hairstylist and singer in Portland, Ore., is ready. She and a friend are going to pick up the goods at their local Taco Bell on Saturday, and then head home to enjoy them with margaritas and her friend’s homemade tortilla soup.
“I told her we have to do it at her house because I have five kids, and I don’t want to share it with them,” she says.
Taco Bell’s Mexican pizza is back, and fans are fire up.
Lauren Newton, a real estate marketing director in Panama City Beach, Fla., also has the day accounted for. On Thursday, the day that the pizzas will appear on Taco Bell’s regular menu (they are available starting today to members of the chain’s app-based reward program) will be a “cheat day” on the diet she’s been on for three months.
“I can usually eat one, but my boyfriend can do like three or four,” she says.
The Taco Bell chicken sandwich taco is the change of pace we neede.
The chain has been orchestrating plenty of hype around the return — it enlisted Dolly Parton and Doja Cat for a TikTok musical, called “Mexican Pizza.
Taco Bell’s Mexican pizza is back.
The Musical,” which premiers May 26 — and has been teasing the return for weeks on social media.
But much of the excitement seems driven by fans’ genuine appreciation for the cult-favorite item, which was much lamented when Taco Bell took it off its menu in 2020 in a move to streamline its offerings. The move hit particularly hard as people relied on takeout amid lockdowns, quarantines and closed restaurant dining rooms.
Now, its reemergence is being lauded with the kind of fervor reserved for the drop of a new BTS album — though the chatter is laced with a kind of tongue-in-cheek humor. In a world darkened by war, a global pandemic and mass shootings, could a humble mash-up of two beloved staples be a faintly glimmering, fire-sauce-doused beacon? According to its fans, why not?
Sample tweets: “The Mexican pizza is back today at @tacobell. Proof there is still hope for the world,” and “One step closer to the world being right again. #mexicanpizza”
Newton appreciates the shared cultural moment
She recently used the Mexican pizza revival in a Facebook post advertising a real estate listing for a three-bedroom, two-bath home near the beach — and other amenities. “We are droooooling over this property & the fact that Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza can be found only a few blocks away … Both COMING SOON!” it read, punctuated by a pair of pizza slice emoji.
She came up with the idea at her team’s weekly meeting to discuss listings. Her boss, who’s also a Taco Bell fan, mentioned the proximity of the home to Taco Bell as a joke. “And I said, ‘I’m going to use that!’” she said. “It’s just a little silly fun thing.”
Taco Bell says its decision to bring the Mexican pizza back was by such fandom. The company credits a Change.org petition by superfan Krish Jagirdar that was signe by 171,717. Urging the chain not to drop it. Jagirdar cited the Mexican pizza. Popularity with South Asian people in the United States. In its past incarnation. The pizza could be ordered without meat, making it vegetarian-friendly. Now, Taco Bell is making a meatless version a standard item.
Sean Tresvant, Taco Bell’s global chief brand officer, insists that the boomerang wasn’t a preplanned marketing stunt. When the company dropped it in 2020. we were surprise by the little bit of backlash it was tough to take off the menu he said in an interview. “The silver lining is being able to bring it back.”
And he suggested that the Mexican pizza might not be the only once-discontinued item that will get a revival. The company’s history of doing limited-time releases means there are plenty of menu items that people remember fondly. For Tresvant, it’s a caramel empanada he recalls from childhood visits to his future employer. “There are a lot of fan favorites and cult favorites — so it’s a question of how do we bring some of those back?”