Owned by Yum Brands Inc., Taco Bell is the largest Mexican fast food chain in America. Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell in 1962 after several successful taco stands in the 1950s. The company became a franchise in 1964 and was sold to PepsiCo in 1978.

The fast food chain is known for unusually low prices on their menu, which includes tacos, burritos, quesadillas. nachos and other Mexican-American staples. Their value menu includes several items priced between 79 and 99 cents. http://www.tacobell.com/valuemenu/Taco Bell is known for serving up late-night fare, and one of their many marketing campaigns features the addition of the Taco Bell fourthmeal, adding an after hours snack to the standard 3 meals in a day. Some locations are open 24 hours.

Taco Bell is known for their creative menu items, including the Gordita, Mexican Pizza and the Crunchwrap Supreme. The items are often slight variations of traditional [[|Mexican dishes]]. Several items have been discontinued from the Taco Bell menu over the years, including the Volcano Burrito, Cheesy Beefy Melt and Bacon Cheeseburger Taco Supreme.

In an attempt to fight its reputation for serving fattening, unhealthy fare (and perhaps as response to Subway Restaurant's diet-oriented marketing campaign), Taco Bell has recently added Fresco items to the menu, which have a lower fat and calorie content than other menu items. Spokesperson Christine boats losing over 50 pounds by going on a Taco Bell "Drive-Thru Diet."http://www.drivethrudiet.com/christinesstory

In April 2007, Taco Bell along with other Yum Brands restaurants, changed cooking oils to exclude trans fat. Though this significantly reduces the amount of trans fat in the finished product, some still remains. The majority of current Taco Bell menu items have two or fewer grams of trans fat.