Taco Bell, when they have their junk together, is actually not that bad. Unfortunately, this was just another letdown in a long string of Madison T-Bell visits. My BF and I stopped by this location in hopes of a quick and cheap lunch because I was under the weather and too tired to make anything.
The biggest issue is that it took nearly 20 minutes to get through the drive-thru with only one car ahead of us (and no one behind). The person ahead was already in the process of ordering when we pulled up so it should have been pretty quick. For how long we sat before being able to pull up the window we figured they must have ordered for a frat house, but alas, they were handed one small bag. We still ended up sitting for several minutes after we pulled up to the window.
Next issue was the price. I haven't been to Taco Bell in a couple of years but you used to be able to get a ridiculous amount of food for not a lot of money. Our five items ended up coming in at $18. The combination of how long we waited + how much we paid could have easily translated into a sit-down fast casual meal at many places around town.
Lastly, my boyfriend ordered his items without lettuce and ended up with piles of it on his gordita. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme, but I go back to waiting twenty minutes with only one order ahead. You'd think with that amount of time and no slam of customers they could double-check the order before handing it out.
I considered giving one star but they are the first TB in Madison to actually give me my item of choice without meat as requested - that alone is enough to bump up to two.
I have fond memories of Taco Bell, but the quality of the food has declined since my last visit. The seven-layer burrito had no flavor and was assembled a little too literally - I got each ingredient individually as I ate my way down. Tortilla and sour cream, tortilla and rice, tortilla and guac - it's like they applied each item in horizontal stripes and then rolled it up. I love sour cream but it shouldn't be the highlight of the dish.
I want to like you, Taco Bell, but I think that's probably my last visit for a long while.