11/29/05 | Del Taco Four Dollar Combo Meals
[ Currently Eating: Macaroni and Cheese ]
If you watch any of the cable or DTV sports stations, you’ve no doubt seen a billion of the same commercials replayed over and over by now. For sports, I guess they are really marketing to the correct demographic because the commercials never seem to change. I’m extremely tired of the farking “Hemi” commercials by now, but for fast food commercials I’m semi-willing to let them pepper me with those for a bit because they can be funny and we’re always interested in cheap fast food.
Anywho, the current Del Taco commercial featuring those Four for $4 combos seems to have wormed its way into my brain, because the other day I decided to try one out. It’s a good thing that the Del Taco near me is difficult to get to; it’s on the opposite direction of a busy street so I’ve got to make an effort to get there (same with Jack-In-The-Balpha, by the way). Otherwise, I might eat there too often.
I’ve got a lot of good memories from eating at Del Taco in the 70s. I think we used to get the red or green chili burritos quite a bit, as well as the tacos. We pretty much switched off between Del Taco and Taco Bell equally. McDonalds and other hamburger joints didn’t get as much patronage from us.
So, I already knew that 25 percent of this combo would pretty much be a waste. Getting a soda as part of a combo meal is near the top of the Cheap Eats no-nos, especially if you’re taking out. Still, the way the portrayed the meals on TV, they made it sound like the average 6 foot tall 200 pound guy could get full on one of these. I’m a five foot 4 120 pound weakling and I could tell that this meal wasn’t enough just from taking it out of the bag.
The size of the burritos at Del Taco have certainly shrunk over the years. I couldn’t believe that they were calling this was a Del Beef Burrito. I think my mistake was getting the Del Beef Burrito and Taco combo. There are two other four dollar combos that I know of, including one that has a Big Fat Chicken Taco and Chicken Soft Taco and one featuring a Spicy Chicken Burrito and Chicken Soft Taco. Those seem more promising. It’s just that I ate all this poultry recently for Thanksgiving!
One other thing. In the commercial, they also mention that you can a free movie rental if you “up-size” the meal… this might be a good deal for some but I haven’t rented a movie from Blockbuster or any other place for years. I’d rather see more food in the combo meal than a stupid movie rental.
So, as far as taste goes… the Del Beef Burrito was pretty standard. The inside looked nothing like their picture, but it was at least tasty. I definitely make bigger and better ones at home with little effort. The only thing is that I don’t always have flour tortillas on hand.
The taco was puny and the hard shell was actually stale. I like the Jack In The Balpha fried tacos because at least they taste good. I must admit that at least the taco had actual cheese and shredded lettuce in it which is a lot more pretty than what JITB offers. But the meat wasn’t very good, and it was too dang small. I think they have certain days where you can get 3 of these tacos for a dollar so maybe that’s a better option to try.
Del Taco fries are supposed to be “world-famous” crinkle-cut fries. I don’t see what’s so world famous about them, but they certainly were the best part of the combo meal. They have that twice fried taste to them so that the outside is actually crackly. The crinkle cut has an appealing look. I definitely enjoyed these the most and they contributed the most toward filling me up.
I actually like eating the fries with Del Taco Hot Sauce. Actually, that is a great Cheap Eats tip. Always ask for hot sauce or ketchup. Those little packets go a long way in keeping your condiment larder filled. I don’t want to speculate on exactly these foil packets will last, but my guess is sometime between 2 years and forever.
Both Del Taco’s and Taco Bell’s hot sauces are actually quite good for being free, though neither is very spicy at least to my tastes. I didn’t feel my mouth burning with the Del Scorcho… it’s sort of a medium as far as Scoville units go.
Anyhow, I don’t think I’d try the Del Taco Combo meals again. Though it fared better than a lot of other combo meals, the drink part of the combo will really get you in the wallet. I’ll stick with trying to find the cheapest combination of the food items only…the 3 tacos for a buck special is intriguing.
Price: $4.33
Bought at: Del Taco
Cheap Eats Score: 4/10
November 29th, 2005 at 4:26 pm
Being an East Coast guy means no cheap taco places:(
November 29th, 2005 at 5:23 pm
aaron - really? So there’s like no Del Taco, Taco Bell, or Jack in the Box? Wow, I didn’t know that! Well, I’ve heard JITB is regional…
November 29th, 2005 at 6:51 pm
I’m from Chicago and there aren’t any Del Tacos or Jack in the Cracks around here. Not that it’s a loss as I tried both while on vacation and wasn’t impressed. The JITC was so dirty I felt dirty after eating there. Same goes for Chik-fil-A in Georgia too now that I think about it.
But fries with tacos? Isn’t that sacreligious or something? If you want better tacos, I suggest Chipotle if they’re in your area.
November 29th, 2005 at 10:00 pm
Passed by a Del Taco while I was in Rancho Cucamonga and saw the sign for the $4 combo meal, but decided In ‘n’ Out would be much, much better.
November 29th, 2005 at 11:13 pm
nicole - I have eaten at Chipotle before… I didn’t know that was a nationwide chain. Are we talkin about the same one… the “Make your own Burrito” place? I actually like Baja Fresh though they are a bit pricey as well. But there are tons of cool hole-in-the-wall Mexican Restaurants nearby, but sometimes you just want to pick up something quick. I never ate at Chik-Fil-A, though I’ve heard of it. By the way, the secret of getting over the “dirtiness” of the restaurant is to Drive-Through so you don’t eat amidst the grime. =)
Marvo - hey yeah, you were down here for Thanksgiving… so your sister lives out in Rancho? That’s a good drive from where I am… Oh yeah, you made the right choice with In ‘n’ Out. I likes me a good Double Double Animal Style plus Well Done Fries… now if they only would build one a little closer to me. Apparently, they are picky when it comes to franchising…
Also interesting… I have had several East Coast transplants say they’re unimpressed with In ‘N’ Out hamburgers which I just can’t believe. They say the meat and the bun “aren’t One”… but they won’t elaborate on what that means! I guess it means the bun and the hamburger are too distinct? I dunno… i always thought as far as fast food hamburgeres goes it is hard to beat.
November 30th, 2005 at 8:15 am
I am a self-proclaimed fast-food king. My gut would attest to that. I also never get soda at fast-food restaurants. I do like Del Taco sometimes (3 for 99 cents on Taco Tuesday), but I prefer Taco Bell, believe it or not, even though I worked there for a couple of years in high school. Rancho Cucamonga is not too far from me, though it’s on the outside of the Orange Curtain.
And, lest this post look like it actually has a driving point, did you know that Chipotle is a McDonald’s-owned company? They are fantastic, but aren’t really “cheap eats.” But still really good. And In-n-Out is conveniently located less than 1/4 mile from my front door.
Happy holidays.
November 30th, 2005 at 10:14 am
BF - hey, happy holidays to you… yeah, I have to defer to you guys on the fast food info. I probably will try the 3 for 99 Taco Tuesday sometime soon. I didn’t know Chipotle is owned by McD’s. I actually had no idea it was such a large chain… the only one I’ve been to was near my old work place, in Marina Del Rey? In ‘N’ Out… I don’t know why they don’t build one near me. On a unrelated note, interesting there are Bible verses on the cups and wrappers…
December 4th, 2005 at 7:39 pm
Ah yes, we call Chipotle the Mexican McDonald’s due to their ownership. And yes, that would be the make your own burrito one.
Baja Fresh isn’t bad either. A newer one I stumbled upon that has really good burritos and nachos is Qdoba, but I agree that sometimes the best places are the hole-in-the-wall joints.
December 4th, 2005 at 7:41 pm
Oh and did you known Baja Fresh is owned by Wendy’s? So I have to wonder, does Burger King own Qdoba?
December 4th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
French fries and tacos? Thats seems like a real strange combination. Never had an In- n -Out burger but have always wanted to try one. Unfortunately, i’m from the upper midwest and there are no In-n-Outs
December 4th, 2005 at 10:43 pm
nicole - we usually go to Baja at least every other month… yeah I remember now that they were owned by Wendy’s. I sort of like their salsa too. I never heard of Qdoba though… there is also one called Wahoos that is more surf-turf type of fish tacos, etc. Oh also, there is one called Rubio’s that is not bad… except for some reason every time i eat there i get sick.
bob - french fries… i can eat them with almost anything. I forgot, isn’t there something about dipping mcdonalds fries in ice cream…
December 8th, 2005 at 6:32 am
My local Taco Bell has their sauce packets out where you grab as many as you want. I’ve got about 9 zillion packs in the fridge… I like it on El Monterey frozen burritos - 3 for a buck @ Winn-Dixie. It’s not hot enough though so I keep a jar of Jalpenos for a little added heat.
December 8th, 2005 at 7:00 am
I like taco bell better.
December 8th, 2005 at 10:04 am
shawn - oh yeah, the sauce is great on frozen burritos! I need to load up on frozen burritos again soon… they aren’t very good for you but are great for a late night snack. I haven’t been to Taco Bell in a while but i remember saving their sauce packets quite a bit in the fridge.
jane - I don’t care for the talking chihuahua in their old commercials though.. =)
December 24th, 2005 at 9:15 pm
taco del mar is better then all of those places, they make the food right in front of you, the food is prepared fresh every day, there salsa is awesome and dollar kids meals on sunday are the best for people who want to eat out on a budget and drink, chips and entree all for a dollar, can’t beat that.
December 24th, 2005 at 11:57 pm
deborah - is taco del mar a chain or is it a local hole in the wall type restaurant? i like those hole in the wall mexican restaurants, they’re the best.