Adam's Eats: Taco Bell AM Crunch Wrap

It has been just over a year now since Taco Bell started taking on other fast food giants in the multi billion dollar breakfast fast food war. It is a 45-50 Billion dollar industry. Currently McDonalds holds a 20 % share or approximatley 8-9 billion dollars in breakfast sales annually. Taco Bell is aiming to cut into that share. At this time last year Taco Bell went out in full force on the offensive, with a huge marketing blitz and commercial add compaign's making fun of Ronald McDonald. The move seemed to work and peeked people's curiosity, Taco Bell for Breakfast?

The Mexican food chain rolled out an entire new menu featuring Waffle Taco's, Breakfast Burrito's, Am Crunch Wraps, Cinnabon Delight's (mini cinnabon balls with icy cream inside), coffee and fruit juices. I had to try these new items I was as curious as anyone else, I tried the waffle taco and new burritos and crunch wraps and they were ok but I wasn't blown away or anything, it was what I expected it to be, fast food breakfast. It wasn't overly full of flavor but was decently priced.

Recently I decided to give Taco Bell's Breakfast one more try, I had been in one month prior to try the new Crunch Wrap Sliders (which I have also previously covered in an Adam Eats blog). I was hungry after a doctors appointment and going to the bank so I popped into my local branch and was excited to see some new food selections added to the breakfast menu. The first item I tried had breakfast written all over it. When you think of sausage biscuits and gravy, especially while in the south you think breakfast. One of the new menu items is the AM Country Crunch Wrap. It features a hashbrown, eggs, cheese, sausage, and country sausage gravy wrapped in a tortilla shell. It was kind of like eating a sandwich yet you could eat it with one had and drink in the other, marketing on the wrappers and signs even points to this advantage, it allows you to eat quicker.

The crunch wrap tasted great, the hash browns and eggs gave it the consistency it needed and the sausage and sausage gravy was flavorful, it was by far the best crunch wrap I've tasted, (either breakfast or lunch), it was also well priced and filling. The Bell also has another new variety that I did not sample but looked interesting in the AM California Crunch Wrap, which features guacamole, pico de gallo and bacon.

A second item I did sample on my trip however was the Grande Scrambler. The taste of the Grande Scrambler resembles that of the cheesy potato burrito, which is one of my favorite items on the menu. Both feature sour cream, hashbrown type potatoes and cheese. Yet the Grande Scrambler adds scrambled eggs, pico de gallo and your choice of sausage, bacon or steak, I went with steak. The flavors all combine well together and actually drown out the flavor of the steak a bit, but in all it was very tasty and in combination with the AM Country Crunch Wrap I was stuffed.

In all I have to say this second wave of Taco Bell Breakfast Items clearly surpasses the 1st wave in both quality, and value. Taco Bell has done a good job meshing their breakfast and lunch food items together, something other chains have not done (pancakes are available all day at select McDonald's locations). Most locations begin serving breakfast at 7:30 am, along with lunch at 9:30 am, who wouldn't want a coffee and a Doritos Locos Taco at the crack a dawn!. Breakfast and lunch are then served continuously till 11:30 am, a full hour after most chains stop serving breakfast. If Taco Bell starts churning out more consistent quality items like these in the future they have a legitimate shot to be huge breakfast fast food players in the future.

Adam Evans