Taco Bell History: From Downey to Yum! Brands
The Taco Bell story: Glen Bell's first stand in Downey (1962), the PepsiCo sale (1978), the Tricon/Yum! Brands years, and the menu milestones — dated and sourced.
From a hot-dog stand in San Bernardino to 8,212 restaurants: Glen Bell, PepsiCo, Yum! Brands and the menu milestones, dated and sourced.
From a hot-dog stand in San Bernardino to 8,212 restaurants: the Taco Bell story, dated and sourced — Glen Bell, PepsiCo, Yum! Brands and the menu milestones in between.
The founder: Glen Bell
Glen Bell ran a hot-dog stand, Bell's Drive-In, in San Bernardino, California, in the late 1940s — and watched the long lines at the Mitla Cafe across the street, a Mexican restaurant famous for its hard-shelled tacos. Bell learned the taco from the Mitla's kitchen, opened a taco stand of his own in 1951, and ran a series of stands — Taco-Tia, then El Taco — through the 1950s before settling on the name that stuck.
1962: the first Taco Bell
On March 21, 1962, Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell in Downey, California — a 400-square-foot stand serving tacos, burritos, frijoles and tostadas. The first franchise followed in 1964, in Torrance, and the 100th location opened in 1967. The chain went public in the late 1960s and had grown to 270 restaurants within six years of the first stand.
1978: PepsiCo buys the chain
In 1978, Bell sold Taco Bell to PepsiCo. Under PepsiCo the chain grew from 868 restaurants into an international brand, and its identity was set by the slogans and mascots of the era: "Make a Run for the Border" in 1989, and the Chihuahua campaign — "¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!" — in the late 1990s.
1997–2002: Tricon becomes Yum! Brands
In October 1997, PepsiCo spun off its restaurant division — Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut — as Tricon Global Restaurants. In May 2002, Tricon changed its name to Yum! Brands, Inc., which remains Taco Bell's parent company today, headquartered in Irvine, California. As of 2023 the chain serves over two billion customers a year at 8,212 restaurants, more than 94 percent of them owned and operated by independent franchisees and licensees.
The menu milestones
The modern menu was built in stages: the Crunchwrap Supreme arrived in 2005, Doritos Locos Tacos in 2012, breakfast nationwide in 2014, and the first alcohol-serving Cantina in 2015. The value line followed the same rhythm — Dollar Cravings in 2014, the Cravings Value Menu in 2018, the Luxe Value Menu in January 2026 — and the throwback programme now brings retired items back for a few weeks a year. The full value-menu timeline is the value menu history; the throwback returns are the Decades menus guide; the Cantina concept is the Cantina explainer.
Sources
Dates and figures on this page are from the published histories of the chain — Wikipedia's Taco Bell history and the Taco Bell Wiki timeline — cross-checked where the two disagree (the hot-dog stand's opening year and the IPO date differ between sources, so this page gives the decade rather than a contested year). Menu dates are from the chain's own newsroom record and the research behind this site's item pages.
About this guide's data
Every figure in this guide comes from one dataset: sampled Taco Bell prices and published nutrition, compiled and verified in October 2026 (prices are re-checked monthly, and every data page carries its verification stamp). Rankings state their rule in the open and are computed from those rows — never voted on, never estimated. Where a value is missing it is shown as missing, and each named item links to its own page, where the full label, allergen record and sampled price range can be checked. Prices vary by location; nutrition values are the published figures for the standard build.
Frequently asked questions
When was Taco Bell founded?
March 21, 1962 — Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell in Downey, California, after running hot-dog and taco stands in San Bernardino through the 1950s.
Who owns Taco Bell?
Yum! Brands, Inc. — PepsiCo bought Taco Bell in 1978 and spun off its restaurants as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997; Tricon became Yum! Brands in 2002. KFC and Pizza Hut are sister brands.
How many Taco Bell restaurants are there?
8,212 as of 2023, serving over two billion customers a year — more than 94 percent of them owned and operated by independent franchisees and licensees.