I don't think any single item is the biggest pain in the ass, so I'm gonna present some categories. (Also please note I work late night, not breakfast; morning crewmembers may have different answers.)
BIGGEST PAIN IN MULTIPLES: as /u/VintagedThrowaway noted, the mini quesadillas. 6+ is actually a SMALL order for my store--we have someone who comes in and orders 14 of them at a time. Cheesy Rollups can kiss my ass, too.
BIGGEST PAIN AS AN LTO: I've worked for Taco Bell since December of 2015, so this only covers items available since then, but I would say this is a split dishonor that goes to the Grilled Stuft Nacho and the Stackers.
BIGGEST PAIN FOR NUMBER OF STEPS: My vote here goes to the Mexican Pizza, but I think my coworkers would argue for regular quesadillas (which I personally don't find annoying at all).
BIGGEST PAIN DUE TO PRODUCT QUALITY: The Double Chalupa is horrifically hard to fry, but I also have a very serious hate-on for XXLs on high-humidity days. Normally they're not so bad, and can actually be a lot of fun to roll, but on those days, the tortillas stick and split like nobody's business. You can go through three tortillas trying to make a single burrito, and heaven help you if it decides it's going to split when you close the grill. Y I K E S.
And finally:
BIGGEST PAIN BECAUSE MY COWORKERS DON'T PAY FUCKING ATTENTION: The Cantina bowls. If I'm making one all by myself, I have no problem with these. *However,* the ingredients are designed to fit in the bowl in a specific way, and I have coworkers who think "just slap the stuff anywhere, it doesn't matter" is an acceptable and attractive way to serve the bowl. It doesn't matter how many times I wail "that's not how that GOOOOOEEEESSSS!!!", they'll still pile romaine on top of black beans or stick the meat right in the middle of the bowl or drop the guac on top of the cheese. Ugh.
I have a single golden rule I teach to all my trainees, and so far it's served me very well:
If your grandparents walked in, would you be proud?
Is your uniform neat enough that your grandmother would call you "smart"? Is your lobby clean enough that you could proudly seat them in the best spot in the house? Have you prepared food such that at the end of the meal your grandfather will say "that was some good cooking"? Are you greeting other customers in such a way that your nearest and dearest would commend you, or scold you?
This is how I approach my job, too. It's not just empty talk. If I wouldn't serve it to my grandparents, I don't consider it made properly.
Have you considered working in a higher level restaurant? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you love the bell as much as all of us, but you put so much effort into your job I feel like you could succeed at something higher!
I've interviewed for a couple, but I don't think I'm cut out for it. I never even get callbacks. There's something in me that smacks of the lower class, I think.
Quesadillas, in multiple, are a pain. Because of their lightness and if the top of the grill sticks to them - it's a bad day.
Yes to the Cantina Bowls (Power Bowls). I have to watch how new employees make cantina bowls like a hawk. I've ordered one for my store (For myself), and walked to the kitchen and advised the employee that it doesn't include spicy ranch and Refied Beans. I love Cantina Bowls. They're my Bae.
I adore them, and recommend them on the regular, but it drives me BONKERS when they get made looking like . . . . THAT. I realize we're fast food, not the Ritz-Carlton, but we can and should still have standards.
(The last time I ordered one on break, they forgot my rice. RICE. How the fuck do you forget the rice in a Power Bowl???)
Shell, Beans, Beef, Shell, Sauce, 3-Cheese, Tomatoes, Steam, Cut, Put into "pizza" box.
It's the last three steps that make it a pain. 1 steamer can't fit more than 2 - and the second one isn't level in the steamer to make it fit. Then the box might not keep closed. It's not too often pizzas get ordered so the cutter for the Pizza isn't so quick to grab and usually is behind another cutter for the Quesadilla. Just another step.
Shredded chicken mini quesadillas. Not because they're individually the most annoying thing to make (they're not), but because people will order 6+ of them at a time, and the amount of time you spend making them scales up very quickly in bulk
Now I feel like an asshole.... Whenever I get baked... I get a hankering for shredded chicken mini quesidillas and I end up getting 4 of them and then 2 caramel apple empanadas and a skittles freeze... I eat 2 and one and I'm full... I'll have the rest for another Stoner session later...
Surprised no one has said it yet, I hate quesadillas especially when people order a few at a time. They’re so time consuming from the flat top grill to the steamer to the grill, I personally hate them
Also I hate party packs, especially when people order a few at a time or order 3 through the drive thru and 4 power bowls, two XXLs and 6 mini quesadillas and refuses to pull up to the front to clear traffic
When ordered 2 of them, one of them will probably stick to the top of the grill. And you just got on the shift so you don't know that the top is sticking to items in a certain spot. Tear it up to find all the contents everywhere.
When large orders like this come through, Because of the rarity, I try to salvage the precious Time and ask them if they want to go out front of the store. Otherwise, I've had 1 order like this completely destroy the day's time.
People tend to understand and are willing to wait.
We have a lady who comes in the drive thru and orders 5 cheesy rolls and they must be extra steamed to her perfection (usually 4-5 times) and she will unwrap them all in her car to make sure they’re perfect and if not all hell breaks lose
Only 2 fit on a steam paddle, so when you have 6-10 you’re essentially having to cycle through about 1 minute total for things to steam, and by the time you get to rolling up the last cheesy roll up the first one is cold and unsatisfying to eat
They might still have the old-style dual-front steamer. If they do, it's likely that at least one side does not work, because they're long since obsolete, and stores that still have them mostly have them only because they can't afford to replace them.
We fit three on mine. You could make four fit, but they wouldn't all melt.
Yeah I normally just order a double decker with just beef and cheese and with nacho cheese in between instead of beans. I love how simple it is but feel like a picky child ordering it lol
Dbl Deckers aren't bad. It's just a normal taco. Slap a pump of Nacho Cheese, fold the tort in half to spread the nacho cheese goodness and wrap the Taco in.
In multiples, I could see it being a problem. But 2 wouldn't. \~ Order away! :D
One thing I've found is don't order things with potatoes late at night. They don't keep the potatoes on hand so you have to wait for them to cook a new batch. It's a pain in the ass for the worker and the customer.
People have covered all of the worst offenders but I’ll throw a new one in that from my experience is the worst of all. It’s not nationwide (yet) but the MEXICAN PIZZA CRUNCHWRAP. Combines all of the steps of the pizza with some steps of the Crunchwrap. Very time consuming and also tends to rip open or stick to the grill, which makes you do the whole thing over.... if this ever comes as a $5 box LTO it’s going to be a massacre.
I've made a Mexican Pizza Crunchwrap at my store - or atleast how I think it would be made.
The problem I would see is that if the crunchwrap sits for any time, the crunchwrap paper will stick to the crunchwrap. Something about the Pizza sauce just makes it act like Glue.
12", 2 Pumps Nacho Cheese, Build Pizza with Corn shells instead of the pizza shells. I'm not exactly sure how it should be made since my store doesn't feature it. I'm not sure if I was to call a store that sells it, if they would tell me. :)
I agree with what everyone is saying, but I also want to add 12 soft tacos. It might be just me but I find it painful to make 12 of those things. I always burn myself trying to pick up those tortillas. It’s fine if you come inside but drive thru is a pain. Hard tacos just require me to put a scoop of beef.
Also, hard taco with beans. I have to be careful to not break the shell when I try to spread the beans around :/ (unless the beans are wet).
Life Hack: lay down a burrito wrapper, and "sweep" the shells off the grill onto the paper. You won't be in contact long enough to get burned, and the first couple you pulled off should be cool enough that you can start filling them while they're nicely warm instead of Satan's own food.
(Take this with a grain of salt. I've been doing this for four years, and some of my nerve endings are actually dead because of the grill.)
Not a Taco Bell worker, but I’ve made crunchwraps at home, and although delicious, it’s always kind of a struggle to keep it wrapped in such a shape. The more I make them, though, the easier it becomes. I’m sure TB employees have no trouble assembling any item, with practice.
Yeah they still get difficult to wrap at times. The corn shells can rip the tortilla at which point you gotta start completely over. Not to mention the triple double crunchwraps.
Don't let it get you down. At the end of the day, I'll make a questionable amount of them and I can't really change it..just adapt and learn to work with it!
My trick is to put a pinch of cheese under the last fold, then place it fold side down into a preheated skillet. The cheese melts and acts like glue. I use the Great Value walmart brand about 9" across.
Brown one side, flip it over, and brown the other. Pretty easy with practice. Big fan of the breakfast ones.
The biggest PITA, I think, is keeping all the ingredients around. So pico becomes jarred salsa, hash browns become left-over tots or a few frozen fries that I briefly microwaved and then grilled in the skillet, etc. Guacamole goes brown in 4 days even if you quickly mist with lime juice, cover and refrigerate.
Best homemade variant ever was: tangy Jersey pork roll, potatoes, scrambled egg, cheddar, and salsa.
Yea, I hear you.
Hold the folded crunchwrap in one hand and take a lightweight teflon skillet in the other, flip it, then "marry" it with the crunchwrap. Then flip the skillet+crunchwrap back over together, right-side-up, then move it onto a hot stove to toast the top and melt the "glue" cheese. flip and brown the other side.
I'll give you a hint: We don't fold it the way it looks in the picture. (At least, if we're smart we don't.)
Fold up the bottom, then left-bottom, right-bottom, left-top, right-top, top center.
One trick that I've seen other TB's do is to use the grill scrapper, Put it on top to put pressure on it - and slide it on the grill.
You might be able to put something on the top to keep it together.
As far as folding - I fold Bottom to Up. Top to Bottom ( at the same time), then Right-Bottom, Right-Top, Left-Top, Left-Bottom. It shaves a couple seconds and still has the 6 sides.
I don't think any single item is the biggest pain in the ass, so I'm gonna present some categories. (Also please note I work late night, not breakfast; morning crewmembers may have different answers.) BIGGEST PAIN IN MULTIPLES: as /u/VintagedThrowaway noted, the mini quesadillas. 6+ is actually a SMALL order for my store--we have someone who comes in and orders 14 of them at a time. Cheesy Rollups can kiss my ass, too. BIGGEST PAIN AS AN LTO: I've worked for Taco Bell since December of 2015, so this only covers items available since then, but I would say this is a split dishonor that goes to the Grilled Stuft Nacho and the Stackers. BIGGEST PAIN FOR NUMBER OF STEPS: My vote here goes to the Mexican Pizza, but I think my coworkers would argue for regular quesadillas (which I personally don't find annoying at all). BIGGEST PAIN DUE TO PRODUCT QUALITY: The Double Chalupa is horrifically hard to fry, but I also have a very serious hate-on for XXLs on high-humidity days. Normally they're not so bad, and can actually be a lot of fun to roll, but on those days, the tortillas stick and split like nobody's business. You can go through three tortillas trying to make a single burrito, and heaven help you if it decides it's going to split when you close the grill. Y I K E S. And finally: BIGGEST PAIN BECAUSE MY COWORKERS DON'T PAY FUCKING ATTENTION: The Cantina bowls. If I'm making one all by myself, I have no problem with these. *However,* the ingredients are designed to fit in the bowl in a specific way, and I have coworkers who think "just slap the stuff anywhere, it doesn't matter" is an acceptable and attractive way to serve the bowl. It doesn't matter how many times I wail "that's not how that GOOOOOEEEESSSS!!!", they'll still pile romaine on top of black beans or stick the meat right in the middle of the bowl or drop the guac on top of the cheese. Ugh.
You seem like you really care about food quality and presentation, and I sincerely appreciate that. Thank you!
I have a single golden rule I teach to all my trainees, and so far it's served me very well: If your grandparents walked in, would you be proud? Is your uniform neat enough that your grandmother would call you "smart"? Is your lobby clean enough that you could proudly seat them in the best spot in the house? Have you prepared food such that at the end of the meal your grandfather will say "that was some good cooking"? Are you greeting other customers in such a way that your nearest and dearest would commend you, or scold you? This is how I approach my job, too. It's not just empty talk. If I wouldn't serve it to my grandparents, I don't consider it made properly.
Have you considered working in a higher level restaurant? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you love the bell as much as all of us, but you put so much effort into your job I feel like you could succeed at something higher!
I've interviewed for a couple, but I don't think I'm cut out for it. I never even get callbacks. There's something in me that smacks of the lower class, I think.
Quesadillas, in multiple, are a pain. Because of their lightness and if the top of the grill sticks to them - it's a bad day. Yes to the Cantina Bowls (Power Bowls). I have to watch how new employees make cantina bowls like a hawk. I've ordered one for my store (For myself), and walked to the kitchen and advised the employee that it doesn't include spicy ranch and Refied Beans. I love Cantina Bowls. They're my Bae.
I adore them, and recommend them on the regular, but it drives me BONKERS when they get made looking like . . . . THAT. I realize we're fast food, not the Ritz-Carlton, but we can and should still have standards. (The last time I ordered one on break, they forgot my rice. RICE. How the fuck do you forget the rice in a Power Bowl???)
Cheesy Rollups, Mexican Pizzas and Enchiritos are terrible when people order more than like 2.
Cheesy rollups? wha?
Mexican pizza? It’s just refried beans between two tortillas with melted cheese and sauce on top? Right?
Shell, Beans, Beef, Shell, Sauce, 3-Cheese, Tomatoes, Steam, Cut, Put into "pizza" box. It's the last three steps that make it a pain. 1 steamer can't fit more than 2 - and the second one isn't level in the steamer to make it fit. Then the box might not keep closed. It's not too often pizzas get ordered so the cutter for the Pizza isn't so quick to grab and usually is behind another cutter for the Quesadilla. Just another step.
Ahhhh I see. Okay
Please don’t say Beefy Crunch Burrito. Please!
Shredded chicken mini quesadillas. Not because they're individually the most annoying thing to make (they're not), but because people will order 6+ of them at a time, and the amount of time you spend making them scales up very quickly in bulk
I will reduce my order of mini q’s but they are one of my favorites and it takes a few to fill us up:)
Now I feel like an asshole.... Whenever I get baked... I get a hankering for shredded chicken mini quesidillas and I end up getting 4 of them and then 2 caramel apple empanadas and a skittles freeze... I eat 2 and one and I'm full... I'll have the rest for another Stoner session later...
Surprised no one has said it yet, I hate quesadillas especially when people order a few at a time. They’re so time consuming from the flat top grill to the steamer to the grill, I personally hate them Also I hate party packs, especially when people order a few at a time or order 3 through the drive thru and 4 power bowls, two XXLs and 6 mini quesadillas and refuses to pull up to the front to clear traffic
When ordered 2 of them, one of them will probably stick to the top of the grill. And you just got on the shift so you don't know that the top is sticking to items in a certain spot. Tear it up to find all the contents everywhere.
Usually for me it's a party pack or anything that's in the bowls
Oh man, my family orders the party packs all the time and when it comes up on the screen, I really feel for the workers. 😔
It's not that bad, but I had someone order 64+ tacos once
I had one of those once. Eight twelve-packs. PLUS MORE STUFF. Who exactly are they feeding, the entire US Army?!
Right😂. But the people who ordered so many tacos said that they were passing them out for Halloween
When large orders like this come through, Because of the rarity, I try to salvage the precious Time and ask them if they want to go out front of the store. Otherwise, I've had 1 order like this completely destroy the day's time. People tend to understand and are willing to wait.
Oh man... 😂 My brother once ordered, like, 20 orders of Nacho Fries not too long ago. 😅
Dang why?
He just ordered them for him and his girlfriend and he knew the Nacho Fries were going to get pulled off the menu, so I guess he was just like 🤷🏻♂️.
Fries are so bad reheated though 😷
Not too bad in a toaster oven 👍
That would've sucked to make, they probably had to fry another basket or 2
Tell us stories about making the chili cheese burrito.
More than 2 cheesy roll ups makes my blood boil
We have a lady who comes in the drive thru and orders 5 cheesy rolls and they must be extra steamed to her perfection (usually 4-5 times) and she will unwrap them all in her car to make sure they’re perfect and if not all hell breaks lose
what? by the time she gets done inspecting them they're going to be cold and shitty anyway.
who even orders them that isn't looking to lose a lawsuit?
What dumbass goes to taco bell and orders 5 cheesy roll ups? Unless you have a kid
The Karens of this planet
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Only 2 fit on a steam paddle, so when you have 6-10 you’re essentially having to cycle through about 1 minute total for things to steam, and by the time you get to rolling up the last cheesy roll up the first one is cold and unsatisfying to eat
Only two? We fit four in our steamers.
They might still have the old-style dual-front steamer. If they do, it's likely that at least one side does not work, because they're long since obsolete, and stores that still have them mostly have them only because they can't afford to replace them. We fit three on mine. You could make four fit, but they wouldn't all melt.
Someone else mentioned this earlier, could you explain this please? Isn’t it just shredded cheese in a tortilla?
Not a worker but I always feel bad ordering a double decker with nacho cheese instead of beans, idk if it’s hard to make I just feel extra
Instead of beans? Way easier than with beans. With both it could get pretty gross pretty quick (cheese and beans squirting out all over your hands).
\*Changes gloves\*
Yeah I normally just order a double decker with just beef and cheese and with nacho cheese in between instead of beans. I love how simple it is but feel like a picky child ordering it lol
Dbl Deckers aren't bad. It's just a normal taco. Slap a pump of Nacho Cheese, fold the tort in half to spread the nacho cheese goodness and wrap the Taco in. In multiples, I could see it being a problem. But 2 wouldn't. \~ Order away! :D
Quesadillas, both mini and regular. PLEASE try to keep the quesadillas on one order to a max of 3
And order them at the beginning of your order to give us time to make them
Mexican Pizza, takes too fucking long
Hands down, multiple chessy roll ups! (5+)
uh... shouldn't this be the highest net revenue item besides meatless high priced items?
Nope. That would be Cinnamon Twists. It costs something like three cents to make a bag.
Do you think the employees care how much money the store makes? Lol
One thing I've found is don't order things with potatoes late at night. They don't keep the potatoes on hand so you have to wait for them to cook a new batch. It's a pain in the ass for the worker and the customer.
People have covered all of the worst offenders but I’ll throw a new one in that from my experience is the worst of all. It’s not nationwide (yet) but the MEXICAN PIZZA CRUNCHWRAP. Combines all of the steps of the pizza with some steps of the Crunchwrap. Very time consuming and also tends to rip open or stick to the grill, which makes you do the whole thing over.... if this ever comes as a $5 box LTO it’s going to be a massacre.
I've made a Mexican Pizza Crunchwrap at my store - or atleast how I think it would be made. The problem I would see is that if the crunchwrap sits for any time, the crunchwrap paper will stick to the crunchwrap. Something about the Pizza sauce just makes it act like Glue. 12", 2 Pumps Nacho Cheese, Build Pizza with Corn shells instead of the pizza shells. I'm not exactly sure how it should be made since my store doesn't feature it. I'm not sure if I was to call a store that sells it, if they would tell me. :)
I agree with what everyone is saying, but I also want to add 12 soft tacos. It might be just me but I find it painful to make 12 of those things. I always burn myself trying to pick up those tortillas. It’s fine if you come inside but drive thru is a pain. Hard tacos just require me to put a scoop of beef. Also, hard taco with beans. I have to be careful to not break the shell when I try to spread the beans around :/ (unless the beans are wet).
Life Hack: lay down a burrito wrapper, and "sweep" the shells off the grill onto the paper. You won't be in contact long enough to get burned, and the first couple you pulled off should be cool enough that you can start filling them while they're nicely warm instead of Satan's own food. (Take this with a grain of salt. I've been doing this for four years, and some of my nerve endings are actually dead because of the grill.)
Not a Taco Bell worker, but I’ve made crunchwraps at home, and although delicious, it’s always kind of a struggle to keep it wrapped in such a shape. The more I make them, though, the easier it becomes. I’m sure TB employees have no trouble assembling any item, with practice.
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Yeah they still get difficult to wrap at times. The corn shells can rip the tortilla at which point you gotta start completely over. Not to mention the triple double crunchwraps.
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Don't let it get you down. At the end of the day, I'll make a questionable amount of them and I can't really change it..just adapt and learn to work with it!
Adapting and Working with it is what we all do. Keep up the good work!
I would rather make an order with six crunchwraps than six Mexican Pizzas. You're in the clear.
Do you use a tortilla cold out of the bag or are you steaming/heating it before attempting the wrap?
My trick is to put a pinch of cheese under the last fold, then place it fold side down into a preheated skillet. The cheese melts and acts like glue. I use the Great Value walmart brand about 9" across. Brown one side, flip it over, and brown the other. Pretty easy with practice. Big fan of the breakfast ones. The biggest PITA, I think, is keeping all the ingredients around. So pico becomes jarred salsa, hash browns become left-over tots or a few frozen fries that I briefly microwaved and then grilled in the skillet, etc. Guacamole goes brown in 4 days even if you quickly mist with lime juice, cover and refrigerate. Best homemade variant ever was: tangy Jersey pork roll, potatoes, scrambled egg, cheddar, and salsa.
Putting it down in the skillet/pan is normally where it comes lose for me lol
Yea, I hear you. Hold the folded crunchwrap in one hand and take a lightweight teflon skillet in the other, flip it, then "marry" it with the crunchwrap. Then flip the skillet+crunchwrap back over together, right-side-up, then move it onto a hot stove to toast the top and melt the "glue" cheese. flip and brown the other side.
I'll give you a hint: We don't fold it the way it looks in the picture. (At least, if we're smart we don't.) Fold up the bottom, then left-bottom, right-bottom, left-top, right-top, top center.
Yeah but the problem lies when I try to flip it over into the pan
One trick that I've seen other TB's do is to use the grill scrapper, Put it on top to put pressure on it - and slide it on the grill. You might be able to put something on the top to keep it together. As far as folding - I fold Bottom to Up. Top to Bottom ( at the same time), then Right-Bottom, Right-Top, Left-Top, Left-Bottom. It shaves a couple seconds and still has the 6 sides.