Is Taco Bell's Most Popular Discontinued Item Coming Back?

Taco Bell is well known for its strategy of abruptly discontinuing and then bringing back popular menu items. The chain took fans on a roller coaster ride of emotions in the past year, cutting the hugely popular Cheesy Fiesta Potato in July of 2020 only to bring it right back six months later. Another heart-breaking discontinuation that is yet to be reversed? The Mexican Pizza, which was taken off the menus in 2020 much to the chagrin of fans, 166,000 of whom even signed a petition lobbying for its return.

Originally launched in 1984 (under the name Pizzazz Pizza), the Mexican Pizza was a staple of the Taco Bell menu for decades. It combined two tortillas, seasoned beef, cheese, and beans in a clever reimagining of a traditional quesadilla—but it was also easily made vegetarian.

Since its removal, it has been an evergreen topic of online speculation among fans and employees and has inspired a number of popular copycat recipes. In fact, the item is still so popular that Taco Bell's main competitor, Del Taco, didn't even try to hide the fact that their Crunchtada was a close copy of it.

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Unsurprisingly, the return of the Mexican Pizza crops up as a sporadic rumor among the 92,000-member Taco Bell Reddit community. And just recently, the fires were stoked with what looked to be a Haloween-inspired Taco Bell ad promoting the item's return in October.

According to the poster, the pizza is to return as a limited-time offer on October 5, in two different versions: Original and Bacon Ranch. But if that sounded too good to be true, it's because it was—the ad was soon debunked as fake by the shrewd fast-food community.

The spoof advertisement did little to comfort Mexican Pizza fans, now in their tenth month of bereavement. "Don't do this. Don't give me hope," and "This is cruel," were just some of the comments that followed. Others were quick to pick the fake ad apart, pointing out typos, stylistic flaws, and even gaps in the logic—like the fact that October 5 is a Tuesday, while all true fans know that Taco Bell drops new menu items on Thursdays.

And while we accept the ad is a fake, let's play the devil's advocate for just a minute here, and point out that the chain itself left the door open for a Mexican Pizza sequel. In March, Taco Bell's chief food innovation officers Elizabeth Matthews said this when asked about the potential return of the item:

"I think there's always a chance. We're constantly listening to our customers. So, I wouldn't pull that off the table."

In the meantime, Taco Bell fans just have to keep on adding signatures to that online petition. And for more, don't forget to sign up for our newsletter to get the latest restaurant news delivered straight to your inbox.

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