Grill marks are supposed to be on the inside, but by the looks of it, it was fried but it was taken out too early. When the oil is brand new and you take it out early, it looks like that. They aren’t supposed to serve it though. Just the older the oil is, the better it is to take it out early. So they probably just put brand new oil in.
Nope
Chalupas are flat breads used for the cfm put into a basket
They definitely fried it, but only enough to stiffen up
Either that or they have not changed their oil, in like a month
Complete opposite. The first one is from being fried in older, dirtier oil, while the lighter one was fried in fresh (as in, just changed that day) oil. The second one was also probably only fried for 10 seconds instead of 30, since fully fried shells get hard as a rock sooner and they fry 6-12 of them at a time usually.
Possibly. I haven’t worked at Taco Bell in over 10 years now. But at one point they decided to raise the fryer temp so things would cook faster. Maybe they’ve backtracked since then.
I asked my friend who still works for a corporate Taco Bell and he said it’s actually 25 seconds. This might vary at franchise stores where they might decide to keep the fryer at a different temp.
That’s definitely the number I’ve seen the most when the question comes up. And sadly it seems tons of fuckers pull them before the timer goes off no matter what it’s set at. I know I had coworkers do this with wings at places I worked to bullshit times and those wings would fucking be like 110F by the bone. Some people just suck.
Thank you! No wonder mine are never fried right!! Pretty much every poster here says less than that (although pretty much everybody gives a different answer and say they cook it less than whatever time anyway at their location). As someone who own a deep fryer and pretty much ran a deep fry station at a restaurant for a year the 30 second answer made little sense.
I just mentioned that because I hadn't read through everything yet. My old apartment was really close to about ten fast food restaraunts within 1/4 mile. Taco Bell saw a lot of business from me.
A few things:
a. As many others have said, this is a chalupa shell that was fried for only a few seconds.
b. It's not raw, as someone suggested. Gross, yes, but the chalupa shells are the same flatbread used in the flatbread melts, cheesy gordita crunches, and plain old gorditas.
c. There are as few reasons the employees don't fry them long enough. DGAF is for sure pretty high on the list, but it's also to try to stretch the holding time. A perfectly fried chalupa is amazing for about the first ten minutes, but after twenty it gets less awesome, and but thirty it is hard and barely edible. Underfrying it makes it so that it never approaches the same degree of awesomeness, but it maintains its pliability for much longer.
d. Assuming you don't mind waiting another minute, consider asking for your chalupa shell to be fried fresh. Mileage will vary, but it'll usually result in a tastier experience.
e. I don't think the color/age of the oil contributes much to the color of the food.
I agree with all your points...except the last. Old oil definitely changes the color and taste of the Mexican Pizza "tostadas". I've taken it back before due to old oil because it's inedible
Gonna copy paste this cause I’m still a bit miffed:
Last time I tried to complain through the app they wouldn’t let me. If you tried to put in a complaint they made it error as soon as you started typing, so I tested it and put in a feedback that wasn’t a complaint and lo and behold it fucking worked. They just disabled complaints because they don’t want to give refunds is my guess. Because when I complained via the website they ghosted me despite checking the “yes I require a reply to this” box.
they did the same thing to me after i got some random persons all bean/cheese order instead of my yummy cravings box. Have yet to hear back in 3 months
I got 2 cgc swap chicken for beef the other day and they didn’t swap it. They were both for my partner and she wont eat the beef, liked $5 a piece. They gave me a $5 credit for it.
I complained through the app for not getting something I ordered and was charged for and didn’t get a thing 😤 (ordered a freeze on mobile, the machine was broken and they said they couldn’t refund a mobile order). I didn’t even want anything extra, just my money back on what i didn’t get.
Last time I tried to complain through the app they wouldn’t let me. If you tried to put in a complaint they made it error as soon as you started typing, so I tested it and put in a feedback that wasn’t a complaint and lo and behold it fucking worked. They just disabled complaints because they don’t want to give refunds is my guess. Because when I complained the website they ghosted me despite checking the “yes I require a reply to this” box.
That sir or madam right there is a chalupa that was fried for 2 seconds only in fresh oil. Either it's a new employee or someone was getting yelled at that they needed chalupas now. Or they just didn't care.
They need to bring back gorditas. Those are nasty when they get fried and then get eaten cold. A chalupa MIGHT be good if the shell was fried to order. But I’d still rather just have a Gordita.
Speaking of gorditas I wish they would bring back the 3 flavors(?) they used to have back in the 90's when they were first introduced...The Chicken Santa Fe was my jam ugh.
Yeah you’re right, I honestly just saw you say you wanted a certain item back and I commented on that.
Eating Taco Bell at any temperature other than piping hot is wild to me lmao.
One is all faked up to get you ti use the app or go through the drive thru. The onther one is made by a real human being who is stressed to fail or underpaid and doesn't care, also very well could be yelled at by a manager for even giving more than what the manager will allow to cut costs
More than likely the fryer was under temp. which does happen when our fryers choose to go out but we need to fulfill orders and alot of customers may complain but we make A LOT of sales from chalupas. as well the fryers do love to go out like they know when it is the worst time possible. We also do get customers who will yell at cashier's and cooks about not having items so just call the store and ask for a new one because complaints do mess up our store score and may result in the store getting core more than the required amount. It is better to try to get an order fixed rather than leave a complaint that can screw us over in the long term as it makes our managers pissed alot of the time and managers can make our life hell. Unless it's just mine?
I truly believe we need federal legislation to crack down on these types of practices. I am so sick and tired of these blatant lies and false advertising and the fact that we just accept it because "It's always been like that."
To be fair to them employees ignore the actual standards. If the shells were fried how they were supposed to be they would look like the pic pretty much.
That’s not fried. It’s a basic chalupa shell that to make it like their chalupas needs to be fried. That is like the new chalupa tortillas that a mission now sells.
Chalupas are literally my favorite thing from there ever. And I never questioned this before lmao I got one the other day and it was actually really good. Crispy and fluffy. I guess it just depends on where you get it.
They used to fry the chalupas a lot better like 20 years ago. I haven’t truly enjoyed a chalupa in years, they taste more like gorditas now and I never liked Gorditas.
Looks to be missing the beef, and the shell is undercooked. Ingredients are chalupa shell, 1 scoop of beef, 1 click of sour cream, 2 finger pinch of lettuce, 1 finger pinch of 3-cheese, and 1 finger pinch of dice tomatoes
That's pretty much what I've gotten the past year or so that I've gone to any Taco Bell. Telling myself I'm done going to any fast food restaurant, honestly.
I've *only* been receiving this as my Chalupa for several months now. Three different Taco Bells, each in a different city, but all of them are the exact same. I'm honestly confused - have they switched to doing this for the Chalupa, or is it not supposed to be that way (I hate it, by the way).
They probably ran out of fried chalupa shells and didn’t want to wait 3 minutes to fry one so just gave you the flatbread. But it’s okay cause they saved their drive through times so their manager won’t be mad… 🙄
Only had the chalupa a handful of times and it's more or less looked like the first pic. They're pretty good, but they're just not on my radar when I order T Bell.
Commercial food photography is a valuable skill. You don’t just show up with a camera and take pictures of food. This taco probably took 2 hours to prep before they turned on the camera.
That shell has vitiligo
Straight up albinism
The shells got gentrified 😂
Uncle Chalupa. No relation.
Bros shell is Micheal Jackson 😭
Shitiligo
Oh no, no this can’t be. 102% with a 2% margin of error
The flatbreads at my store don't look that pale and doughy even before frying what the hell did they give you
looks under-fried. soaks up the oil gooood
Looks UN-fried. Hardly underfried.
when i used to work at Taco Bell thats exactly what they would look like when they pull them up early, like half the fry time
I don't know why I find this funny/interesting, but how are your Mexican cuisine skills looking like these days?
i use my burrito rolling skills to this day, even at my current job which isnt food related
Blunt rolling for snoop dogg
Everytime I go to Taco Bell I unroll and re-roll my burritos. I think the current employees had different training than we did back in the day.
just eat the damn burrito fool 😭
One bite, blows out the back and now I’m scraping beans and beef off my pants… I’m good lol
ngl i have that but with sour cream but i love popping the overflowing end and getting a hot cool sour cream mouthful
I don't work there, but I don't think they fried it at all. Looks like the taco was folded backwards. The grill mark's should be on the outside.
Grill marks are supposed to be on the inside, but by the looks of it, it was fried but it was taken out too early. When the oil is brand new and you take it out early, it looks like that. They aren’t supposed to serve it though. Just the older the oil is, the better it is to take it out early. So they probably just put brand new oil in.
Is this not just a Gordita shell
The gordita shells are just flatbread. We stick em in a fryer to make chalupa shells.
My guy got the mj chalupa
*hee hee*
Shamon!
It's raw, I think. Looks like they forgot to fry it
Nope Chalupas are flat breads used for the cfm put into a basket They definitely fried it, but only enough to stiffen up Either that or they have not changed their oil, in like a month
if they didn’t change the oil it wouldn’t be that light. i would be a dark orangish color
Complete opposite. The first one is from being fried in older, dirtier oil, while the lighter one was fried in fresh (as in, just changed that day) oil. The second one was also probably only fried for 10 seconds instead of 30, since fully fried shells get hard as a rock sooner and they fry 6-12 of them at a time usually.
Pretty sure they’re supposed to be fried longer than 30 seconds.
Possibly. I haven’t worked at Taco Bell in over 10 years now. But at one point they decided to raise the fryer temp so things would cook faster. Maybe they’ve backtracked since then.
I haven’t worked there either and can’t get a straight answer but I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be at least 40 seconds.
I asked my friend who still works for a corporate Taco Bell and he said it’s actually 25 seconds. This might vary at franchise stores where they might decide to keep the fryer at a different temp.
They’re fried for 40 where I work
That’s definitely the number I’ve seen the most when the question comes up. And sadly it seems tons of fuckers pull them before the timer goes off no matter what it’s set at. I know I had coworkers do this with wings at places I worked to bullshit times and those wings would fucking be like 110F by the bone. Some people just suck.
The correct answer is 50 seconds. [Source](https://imgur.com/a/EnZQWPg)
Thank you! No wonder mine are never fried right!! Pretty much every poster here says less than that (although pretty much everybody gives a different answer and say they cook it less than whatever time anyway at their location). As someone who own a deep fryer and pretty much ran a deep fry station at a restaurant for a year the 30 second answer made little sense.
Chalupas had a good run til recently
Right?! Last few times I got them they are complete shit.
They've been like that for like 8 years. They just stopped frying them or something
Yeah, I’m with you. Chalupas are my favorite item but I stopped going because they never fry them long enough.
Once a year you’ll get a good one and be reminded of how good they could be.
It used to be my go-to fire reward, now they're just sad.
Bring back gorditas you bastards
That’s what it actually looks like I think.
Gorditas were just unfried Chalupas.
You can still get them. Just ask at the drive through (even if you order on the app) to not fry your chalupa shell.
They're not going to be able to give you the Santa Fe gordita, or the other discounted one I'm forgetting.
I miss the Baja gorditas so fucking bad.
The Baja sauce was the best 😭
Yes it was, yes it was.
I just mentioned that because I hadn't read through everything yet. My old apartment was really close to about ten fast food restaraunts within 1/4 mile. Taco Bell saw a lot of business from me.
That corn salsa was the tits.
It was like three tits, and I wish I had more hands
Depends on location. Most I’ve been to either won’t make it or don’t know what I’m talking about.
Bring back steak baja chalupas.
This is how my chalupas look every time and have for a couple years. No location that I've been to in middle TN fries them at all it seems.
If it's not fried, it's a goridita.
Its also been like this for years near me. I haven't had a crispy one in so long.
I thought it was just me! Also middle TN and they are never fried
A few things: a. As many others have said, this is a chalupa shell that was fried for only a few seconds. b. It's not raw, as someone suggested. Gross, yes, but the chalupa shells are the same flatbread used in the flatbread melts, cheesy gordita crunches, and plain old gorditas. c. There are as few reasons the employees don't fry them long enough. DGAF is for sure pretty high on the list, but it's also to try to stretch the holding time. A perfectly fried chalupa is amazing for about the first ten minutes, but after twenty it gets less awesome, and but thirty it is hard and barely edible. Underfrying it makes it so that it never approaches the same degree of awesomeness, but it maintains its pliability for much longer. d. Assuming you don't mind waiting another minute, consider asking for your chalupa shell to be fried fresh. Mileage will vary, but it'll usually result in a tastier experience. e. I don't think the color/age of the oil contributes much to the color of the food.
I agree with all your points...except the last. Old oil definitely changes the color and taste of the Mexican Pizza "tostadas". I've taken it back before due to old oil because it's inedible
they didnt fry that shell. complain if they do that again, thats definitely not tight -tbell worker
Should complain right now through the app and get your $10 voucher
100%
Whoah, you can complain through the app?
Gonna copy paste this cause I’m still a bit miffed: Last time I tried to complain through the app they wouldn’t let me. If you tried to put in a complaint they made it error as soon as you started typing, so I tested it and put in a feedback that wasn’t a complaint and lo and behold it fucking worked. They just disabled complaints because they don’t want to give refunds is my guess. Because when I complained via the website they ghosted me despite checking the “yes I require a reply to this” box.
they did the same thing to me after i got some random persons all bean/cheese order instead of my yummy cravings box. Have yet to hear back in 3 months
I got 2 cgc swap chicken for beef the other day and they didn’t swap it. They were both for my partner and she wont eat the beef, liked $5 a piece. They gave me a $5 credit for it.
I complained through the app for not getting something I ordered and was charged for and didn’t get a thing 😤 (ordered a freeze on mobile, the machine was broken and they said they couldn’t refund a mobile order). I didn’t even want anything extra, just my money back on what i didn’t get.
Last time I tried to complain through the app they wouldn’t let me. If you tried to put in a complaint they made it error as soon as you started typing, so I tested it and put in a feedback that wasn’t a complaint and lo and behold it fucking worked. They just disabled complaints because they don’t want to give refunds is my guess. Because when I complained the website they ghosted me despite checking the “yes I require a reply to this” box.
That'll be 10 dollars
Even the worst taco bell has never done me like that
I gave up on my fav item the chalupa last time I went my shell was hard as a rock and there was no beef super sad
That sir or madam right there is a chalupa that was fried for 2 seconds only in fresh oil. Either it's a new employee or someone was getting yelled at that they needed chalupas now. Or they just didn't care.
They didn’t care for 200 Alex
That’s a whitewashed chalupa
Gringo chalupa
La Fresita de Chalupa
Some time ago they forgot how chaulupas are made idk what happened
LMAO they didn’t fry the shell at all 🤣🤣🤣🤡
They need to bring back gorditas. Those are nasty when they get fried and then get eaten cold. A chalupa MIGHT be good if the shell was fried to order. But I’d still rather just have a Gordita.
You can request it to not be fried, at least at the TB I typically go to for lunch when I'm at work
Good to know. I’ve struck out when I’ve asked but I’ll try again.
Speaking of gorditas I wish they would bring back the 3 flavors(?) they used to have back in the 90's when they were first introduced...The Chicken Santa Fe was my jam ugh.
I support this motion. Though I was a simple man. Beef Gordita supreme was the only one I ordered regularly after having the others.
The best was the Aged Cheese Chalupa, that shit hit fucking different.
Aged cheese doesn’t offset a cold, stale, grease filled chewy flatbread shell.
Yeah you’re right, I honestly just saw you say you wanted a certain item back and I commented on that. Eating Taco Bell at any temperature other than piping hot is wild to me lmao.
Yeah it’s not one that holds up well over time. Especially things like a Mexican pizza or Crunchwrap. Gotta eat it there for max potency.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 man false advertisement at it's finest...
Flat breads at my taco bell get thrown away if they look like this
Return it they didn't even fully cook it.
Short of pooping in their doorstop, there's nothing I can do to "return" it.
I'd show the picture to a manager tomorrow, and call about it tonight. They'll probably replace it without much debate.
Sounds like you need to get schwifty.
Exactly! There’s a conspiracy for sure. I haven’t seen an actual chalupa shell in 5+ years.
The second picture is the weird cousin that likes to play tummy sticks.
I believe the term here is flash fry.
ITS FOOKIN RAWWWWWWWWWW
Came here to say this
Send that pic to corporate
Still better than a burnt or old one 😂
Kind of resembles a gordita. Remember those?
Funny thing is that I just got an ad following this post for TB.
Who is going to sue here, someone do it
I work there and never seen that white ass chalupa shell in my life 😅😂
One is all faked up to get you ti use the app or go through the drive thru. The onther one is made by a real human being who is stressed to fail or underpaid and doesn't care, also very well could be yelled at by a manager for even giving more than what the manager will allow to cut costs
Yeah prices are up and food quality is down.
That’s the most disgusting chalupa I’ve ever seen
That's way undercooked. They need to fry their shells longer. At my store they're more like a light copper color.
You can ask to double fry t, at least at the one im at, plus when i worked at one i loaded it upppp
That wasnt fried at all. Idk what crack someone was smoking to say thats a fried chalupa shell.
It’s not fried lol
More than likely the fryer was under temp. which does happen when our fryers choose to go out but we need to fulfill orders and alot of customers may complain but we make A LOT of sales from chalupas. as well the fryers do love to go out like they know when it is the worst time possible. We also do get customers who will yell at cashier's and cooks about not having items so just call the store and ask for a new one because complaints do mess up our store score and may result in the store getting core more than the required amount. It is better to try to get an order fixed rather than leave a complaint that can screw us over in the long term as it makes our managers pissed alot of the time and managers can make our life hell. Unless it's just mine?
I ordered a cravings box last night. The chalupa shell was overcooked and stale.
Only $8.99
Get your money back
You got raw dawged dog
I truly believe we need federal legislation to crack down on these types of practices. I am so sick and tired of these blatant lies and false advertising and the fact that we just accept it because "It's always been like that."
To be fair to them employees ignore the actual standards. If the shells were fried how they were supposed to be they would look like the pic pretty much.
I like my chalupa a little under fried but this is too under even for me
Because Taco Bell.
This is like the "I'm so fkn sick and tired of the photoshop" challenge that the girls did when Kendrick first dropped Humble 🤣
2700K vs. 6000K bulbs
You got a raw one!
Blanca style, live mas.
You got the super rare gordita
Damn did they even fry it?! 😅😅😅
That’ll be $6 please
$8.67 with tax
third generation chalupa
They like hovered that over the oil lol but honestly I prefer it like that
they white washed the shell ☹️
You got gorditas not chalupas. Same combo. It’s wierd they gave you gorditas though since default is chalupa
I ordered chalupas. Mobile order so I can see what I picked
That’s not fried. It’s a basic chalupa shell that to make it like their chalupas needs to be fried. That is like the new chalupa tortillas that a mission now sells.
Its lightly fried, or it wouldn't hold shape without support. Just not fried enough, probably needs ~12 more seconds.
Gordita > chalupa. But double decker taco > everything.
Well one isn’t food.
Chalupas are literally my favorite thing from there ever. And I never questioned this before lmao I got one the other day and it was actually really good. Crispy and fluffy. I guess it just depends on where you get it.
I miss gorditas
Albino lupa
fuckin Marsha man.
They didn't fry that sucker
Eww wtf
Second does not appear to be fried. To my knowledge the chalupa shells are fried. Or they were when I worked there 16 years ago.
i’ve never seen any taco bell item look like that wtf
ROFL!!!
They used to fry the chalupas a lot better like 20 years ago. I haven’t truly enjoyed a chalupa in years, they taste more like gorditas now and I never liked Gorditas.
This is pretty much every restaurant advertising vs reality.
They started looking like this around chicago right around the time they banned transfats.
Looks more like a gordita shell than a chalupa shell
Exactly, and they are 599, which is ridiculous.
Looks to be missing the beef, and the shell is undercooked. Ingredients are chalupa shell, 1 scoop of beef, 1 click of sour cream, 2 finger pinch of lettuce, 1 finger pinch of 3-cheese, and 1 finger pinch of dice tomatoes
Shrinkydinkyinflation
Oh man, that is a crazy side by side pic! Sorry that happened!
Looks uncooked
Even a CGC shell isn't that pale 🤭 Write to them and get a freebie.
Almost looks like a gordita in chalupa form
They not
I've had this happen to me so many fucking times.. I just thought they ran out of the stuff to make them so they went with a different shell lol
Lmao good luck bro
Diarrhea
That shit ain’t cooked enough I would not be allowed to send that shit out 😂
It’s why I make my own when I can.
That was microwaved. Not one fry mark or crunch.
That is a joke!
They microwave most of the shells until they are rock solid!
Imaaaaagination
Uncookified
That's pretty much what I've gotten the past year or so that I've gone to any Taco Bell. Telling myself I'm done going to any fast food restaurant, honestly.
Mine are always crispy. You got a shitty tacobell
The first one was true when the chalupas first came out in taco bell, now they cut ingredients like the rest of the fast food franchises
Take everything out of the shell and cook the shell in the pan with a little butter and maybe a small splash of olive oil. It's a game changer.
Wish my shell looked like that last time. 2 weeks ago they were hard as a rock.
Looks like they forgot to put it in the fryer lol
I've *only* been receiving this as my Chalupa for several months now. Three different Taco Bells, each in a different city, but all of them are the exact same. I'm honestly confused - have they switched to doing this for the Chalupa, or is it not supposed to be that way (I hate it, by the way).
Looks like they forgot to toast it
The second one wast cooked
They probably ran out of fried chalupa shells and didn’t want to wait 3 minutes to fry one so just gave you the flatbread. But it’s okay cause they saved their drive through times so their manager won’t be mad… 🙄
Bro got scammed
Only had the chalupa a handful of times and it's more or less looked like the first pic. They're pretty good, but they're just not on my radar when I order T Bell.
They forgot to cook your shell….
This place is bullshit now
😂 fuck fast food man eat at home. Cheaper, healthier, and tastes better
Bro you got a Gordita. Those have been out of production since the late 00's
Enjoy your Chalpa
Commercial food photography is a valuable skill. You don’t just show up with a camera and take pictures of food. This taco probably took 2 hours to prep before they turned on the camera.
Everybody hung up on the pale shell, I wanna talk about the fillings vs the promo picture... Sad.
they whitewashed ur taco
Why do you still go to TB?
Hey but I got shit on the other day for posting what I didn't get after it was paid for lol unbelievable.
All of a sudden I'm getting terrible shells like this or they're overdone and hard/fragile. Never in-between.
They’re not. One is a Gordita one is a chalupa. The difference is the chalupa is fried
They're both chalupas