Next time you hit up a Taco Bell drunk after midnight, have a moment of silence before you plow into your Chalupa. Glen W. Bell Jr., the founder of Taco Bell, passed away on Sunday in Rancho Sante Fe. He was 86 years old.
Bell was a pioneer in the fast food game. Seeing the early success of chains like McDonald’s, Bell opened up his first drive-in burger joint in San Bernardino in 1948. He followed that up by establishing Der Wienerschnitzel, a grammatically butchered German-like hot dog chain that doesn’t server Wiener Schnitzel.
But Bell wasn’t content with slinging burgers and dogs. He knew that Americans had an untapped craving for bastardized Mexican food. Bell opened up Taco Tias in Los Angeles and El Tacos in Long Beach before launching the mother of all Mexican fast food chains, Taco Bell, in 1962.
Taco Bell blew up in LA and became a franchise in 1964. In 1978, Bell flipped his 868-location taco empire to PepsiCo for $125 million in stock. Taco Bell now has over 5,600 locations in the country.
Sure it’s not authentic, and yea, it may not even be real food, but Taco Bell serves its purpose. So the next time you visit the chain that brought you the Mexican Pizza, the Cheesy Gordita Crunch and the Fourth Meal, remember that if it wasn’t for Glen W. Bell Jr., your drunk ass would have to eat Jack in the Box every weekend.
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