The Taco Bell on Yale should be nominated for a James Beard award.

Five years ago, it looks like the Sawyer Heights location was the consensus here for best Taco Bell in town. I don't want to burst the bubble of anyone working there, but a lot of times that location serves complete dog s**t. In fact, it's usually a given that any fast food inside the loop is going to be fubar.

Go ahead and roll your eyes, but the Taco Bell on 21st and Yale is the best fucking Taco Bell in the city, and at least top 5 in the country. It feels like going back in time; back to the days when shrinkflation, employee scarcity, and declining customer service standards hadn't spread American fast food to its thinnest margin. The food taste completely different and a million times better when it's fresh and well prepared. When's the last time you had a chalupa with a shell that was still warm and light, generously loaded with meat, cheese, fresh lettuce and tomato? I know, it's been years for all of us, and I just got one at like 10pm. There's no reason for it to be this good.

And it's not a fluke. I was thinking it was. I've been there five times now and its always exceptional. Other stores will skimp on everything. Stale, half empty chip baggies and nacho sauce cups filled 1/4 way full. Tacos with two teaspoons of beef, splattered like dog food. Burritos with old tortilla, haphazardly assembled so you never got a good bite. Never happened to me at this location.

And yes I eat Taco Bell in other states, cities, and regions around Houston. This one beats out all the other locations that still make great food. If you go, you will agree that they should be the first Taco Bell to be awarded 3 Michelin stars. If Chis Shepherd were smart he would apply for a stage and humbly learn from the artisans working there. If it were me being inaugurated mayor instead of John Whitmire, I would be giving this Taco Bell the keys to the city and an annual holiday. If I were President Biden, I would say goodbye to Kamala and put the Yale Taco Bell on the ticket as VP.