[alt text: two images stacked vertically. The first image shows a young Ryan Gosling smiling next to an advertisement photo of a Taco Bell Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, which states the burrito is 89 cents. The second image shows an adult Ryan Gosling from the movie Drive, where his character is beat up with a bandage on his nose. Next to adult Ryan Gosling is a screenshot of the Taco Bell app, showing the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito selling for $5.36.]
5 layer burritos got me through some tough times eons ago when I was a young adult. I could get a drink and a couple of those burritos for just over $3 - $5 USD (prices rose over the years and different locations charged different prices). And it would be enough to stave off hunger for the rest of the day.
Back in 2022, I was traveling and decided to stop at a Taco Bell for the first time in close to a decade for old times' sake. That same drink and 2 burrito order now costs over $12. Three of those five layers were spread microscopically thin. The tortilla wrap wasn't even warmed or steamed, so it was dry and crumbly. They couldn't even roll it properly. Yuck. It's not an exaggeration to say that I could have gone to a sit down Mexican place and gotten more, better food plus table service for the same price. So, lesson learned.
Needless to say, I haven't been back since. With the descent into madness of Taco Bell and Subway, I'm afraid to try my other young adult fast food savior, Wendy's, in case that's totally been ruined, too.