Taco Bell has released some new items but for under $7, how good can they be? 

Starting off strong with the Chicken Bacon Ranch Street Chalupas. Right off the bat these chalupas look different than the other Taco Bell ones. At $6.99, the shells have toasted cheddar and are smaller, less fluffy compared to generic Taco Bell chalupas. This new limited item is crunchier, crispier and has a savory creamy flavor to it.

The Chicken Bacon Ranch Street Chalupas are definitely becoming a favorite. “The chalupas are an absolute must-order” was written in Delish by Sean Abrams.

Next up, the Chicken Bacon Ranch Nacho Fries. The item is also up for a limited time. It tastes like the “Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes”, just bigger with added chicken, veggies and crispy bacon. Not as special and could use a new flavor twist to it. Due to the nacho sauce the fries end up becoming soggy but that is expected. The Chicken Bacon Ranch Nacho Fries doesn’t have a “wow” factor to it for $5.49, but it does give you a good quantity.

Briar Woods’ sophomore, Ishitha Chandu, has expressed her opinion on the dish. “I couldn’t really taste the bacon. It [Chicken Bacon Ranch Nacho Fries] was, like, basically normal. It kinda tastes like their normal nacho fries thing” said Chandu. “It was like a basic menu item but they just added a little, like a few more ingredients to make it special” summarized Chandu. 

For something other than chicken or bacon and there on the permanent menu is the Beefy Potato Loaded Griller. The dish was superb, a burrito wrap with crispy potato bites, seasoned beef, some chipotle sauce, nacho sauce, and sour cream. Not a lot of stuffing in it but it tastes savory & impressive. The only problem? Potatoes can soften up a bit, but exceeds expectations for $2.89.

“Very good, really creamy and stuff. The beef added more flavour to it [Beefy Potato Loaded Griller], it blended all together, so good” said Chandu.

 Now a new limited item for the Luxe Value Menu, the Avocado Ranch Chicken Stacker! The avocado ranch can be tasted but is lacking, especially for an item with the avocado in the title. Disappointing for an avocado ranch dish. Overall the $2.99 dish just tastes standard. 

“It [Avocado Ranch Chicken Stacker] was good but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. It was, like, very dry” said Chandu.

 There is always room for dessert, the Confetti Cookie Freeze! Now, Taco Bell isn’t widely known for their desserts, in fact, they have two desserts on the fixed menu: Cinnamon Twists & Cinnabon Delights but this dessert is a blend of a sweet and a drink. We all know Taco Bell can make great drinks. The Confetti Cookie Freeze does not disappoint. The $4.19 drink is very sweet and slushy like. Imagine a sugar cookie, vanilla and cake batter concoction, that is what the limited time drink tastes like. 

 It’s great to see Taco Bell adding new items with new ingredients. There hasn’t been a bacon item in Taco Bell – excluding the breakfast menu – for a while. Overall the new items have a mix of hits and averages. The budget friendly prices really encourage people to try out the options.