Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza Finally Returns to Menus – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

(CNN) — Taco Bell’s highly-anticipated Mexican pizza finally returns to the menu Thursday after a roughly two-year hiatus.

The popular menu item was eliminated in November 2020 as part of a wider selection from Taco Bell’s menu during the height of the pandemic. This helped Taco Bell reduce complexity and costs. But now the $4.49 menu item is back — permanently — after fans have been demanding it.

Mexican pizza consists of a pizza sauce filled with tortilla shells and either beans or ground beef. It’s topped with another tortilla shell, topped with more sauce, cheese, and chopped tomatoes. Taco Bell introduced the product in 1985 and originally called it “Pizzazz Pizza”.

The removal of the Mexican pizza sparked outrage among loyal Taco Bell fans: an online petition calling for the pizza’s return garnered nearly 200,000 signatures. Vegetarians, who saw the menu item as one of the few “fun” meatless options, were particularly outraged.

In return, Taco Bell improved the packaging of the pizza. Mexican pizza sends more than 7 million pounds of cardboard to landfill each year, the company said. This time, Taco Bell has “worked to streamline operations and ingredient sourcing while leaving a smaller footprint,” the company said in a statement.

To build anticipation for the pizza, the chain hired Dolly Parton and Doja Cat to create a music set to be streamed on TikTok on May 26.

Fast food chains must constantly compete for money and customer attention, and special offers are one way to quiet the noise. Taco Bell, in particular, is regularly experimenting with its menu, adding limited-time offers to capture customer interest.

The brand is a strong performer for its parent company, Yum! Brands. In its most recent earnings report, the company reported same-store sales growth of 5%, beating expectations.

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