It’s been seven long years since Taco Bell discontinued the fan-favorite Volcano Menu and now, for a limited time, it’s back at Taco Bell restaurants nationwide. This is big news for Taco Bell fans, so far this year we’ve been treated to the return of the Enchirito, the California Crunchwrap, and wings, and it doesn’t seem like Taco Bell is stopping anytime soon as next month the Beefy Crunch Burrito returns.
Any of these returning favorites have the chance to become a permanent menu option if they’re popular enough (like the Mexican Pizza) but they’re only available for a limited time as of now. So if you ride hard for that Volcano Menu, jump on it!
If you’re less familiar with what’s on the Volcano Menu let us fill you in. The full menu consists of three different options, the Volcano Burrito, Volcano Taco, and an order of Lava Sauce for extra dipping. We picked up the full menu — which is conveniently available as a combo option — and taste-tested the whole thing to help break down what to order and what to skip. Let’s dive in starting with the lesser of the two.
The Volcano Burrito
Thoughts and Tasting Notes
I recognize that it’s not normal to rank a burrito above a taco, but this is Taco Bell baby, the burritos are barely passable. The Volcano Burrito is loaded up with double beef, sour cream, tortilla strips, Taco Bell’s three cheese blend, and a healthy injection of Lava Sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla.
The tortilla is soft and sweaty with a gummy undercooked texture. The rice is dry, the beef is zesty-yet-greasy-as-hell, the sour cream is more wet mouth texture than flavor. In short, the creamy nutty cheese and spicy salty Lava Sauce do all the heavy lifting.
The Lava Sauce is the real star of the show here, it’s an alternate take on Taco Bell’s nacho cheese sauce with a spicy component that provides a slowly building heat that starts to radiate off your palate as you make your way through the burrito. It gives the illusion that this burrito is better than it is because it’s addicting to eat, but the individual parts of it are seriously lacking.
The Bottom Line:
Skip the Volcano Burrito entirely. If you like Taco Bell burritos, you’ll probably like this, but if you have good taste in burritos this will seem like an insult to the very concept.
The Volcano Taco
Thoughts and Tasting Notes
Now this is where it’s at! We’ve ranked Taco Bell’s menu in the past and without a doubt, the taco is the best thing on the menu, so this takes Taco Bell’s best food and elevates it to new heights. I say all of this even after I received a broken ass taco, which means as I ate this thing I got Lava Sauce all over my hands. That made me mad, but not mad enough to slight this delicious dish.
The OG Taco, the Doritos Locos, the Double Decker, and any other variation Taco Bell has ever done to its taco… none of them top the Volcano Taco. This is hands down, the best taco and therefore the best single menu item on the entire Taco Bell menu.
The meat is zesty and flavorful and the cheesy mild spice of the Lava Sauce helps to make the meat come across as substantially more savory. The lettuce and cheese are throwaway elements, they don’t really factor into the flavor too much, but they add a nice textural element that compliments the crunchy shell.
Yes, the shell is red, but that’s just for show as far as I can tell. It works, I think it adds a nice appeal to the taco that sets it apart from Taco Bell’s OG shell.
The Bottom Line:
A can’t-miss Taco Bell menu item and the best current dish on the menu. The Volcano Taco is absolutely worth a trip to Taco Bell this month, get it while you can!