Taco Bell has struggled with entering the breakfast market for years. It's not hard to figure out why. Let's face it, the primary Taco Bell patron is the late-night snacker. (We won't discuss why anyone would have the midnight munchies.) If those guys are up for breakfast, it's only because they are still up.
As for everyone else, aside from fairly mild breakfast burritos, most people aren't craving spicy food first thing in the a.m. Plus, Taco Bell has an image to maintain. They can't just serve up muffin sandwiches like everyone else. They pretty much have to incorporate a tortilla if they want to stay consistent.
Finally, there's the matter of taste. Frankly, Taco Bell has not delivered in that department when it comes to breakfast. One could argue that they don't deliver at dinner either, but that's another topic.
The Waffle Taco addresses all of those challenges. Not only does it come off as a typical stoner concoction (okay, I lied), it's tasty, it's breakfasty, and it's tacoy! Win, win, win!
Lemme break it down for you: We've got eggs. Eggs are eggs. They could maybe use a little salt, some hot sauce maybe. Guess what, Taco Bell has hot sauce if you want it. Then we've got sausage. Taco Bell has found a good slab of sausage. I'm sure there's better out there, but this is the best I've ever been handed through a sliding window. But the pièce de résistance is the waffle. It tastes like funnel cake. It's crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. In short, there is nothing wrong with this waffle except the fact that they don't give you four. (Heads up Taco Bell: serve a waffle platter.) My only complaint is that they only gave me one tiny packet of syrup, but I'm betting they'd give me more if I had thought to ask.
The eating was a little awkward, but no more so than most of what Taco Bell has to offer. It certainly held together better than a crumbly biscuit, and the contents didn't slide around as much as on a McDonald's bagel. The convenience factor is generally lacking in all quick-serve breakfast, so the Waffle Taco is a bit ahead of the pack.
I decided to go all in and get the combo meal. That gives me a hashbrown to critique. I'm the first to admit I'm not big on hashbrowns. Most of the time I pass. But this was a pretty good hashbrown. On par with McDonald's for sure, which seems to be the standard for most people. And a little bit bigger, I might add.
I'm a Coke drinker, morning, noon, and night, so Pepsi put me off. Fortunately, they have all the standards. I opted for OJ. For the late-night munchie crowd, I noticed that they offer Mountain Dew Kickstart--a fizzy orange/caffeine concoction.
I can count the number of times I've been to Taco Bell since finishing college. With the Waffle Taco, I may just lose count again. Taco Bell finally has something worth waking up for on the breakfast menu. If they're smart, they'll expand on this item as much as possible. I'd like to try with bacon.
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