How many times have you sat around late at night eating either Taco Bell, Doritos or both and thought how amazing it would be to combine the two? I know I have. So when Taco Bell first started testing their new Doritos Locos in Fresno and Bakersfield last year, I was almost tempted to pay one of those cities a visit. Thankfully, I did not make the mistake of setting foot in one of those cities, and the testing was obviously a success, because at midnight this morning Taco Bell rolled out their Doritos Locos Tacos for the nation. If you’re unfamiliar with the Doritos Locos, they are essentially your regular or supreme tacos, but with a giant Nacho Cheese Dorito as the shell. Usually I can wait to try Taco Bell’s new products, but for this I had to be there right at midnight.
When we pulled into the drive-thru, we were shocked to find the place deserted. The clock had just struck midnight and I had expected a throng of people to be eagerly anticipating the launch of their glorious new tacos. Confused, we asked if they were doing the Doritos tacos thing and they replied by asking us if it was midnight yet. Hell yes it was (wait, were we one about to be one of the first few people to get our mitts on these things on the West Coast?), so we proceeded to order our tacos, mine without lettuce of course.
Before going any further, I should mention here that the shell (at least on opening night) could only be used for regular or supreme tacos. There was no room for chicken tacos or gordita crunches because apparently the shell isn’t equipped to handle them. This was sad, but I can only hope that in time the same engineering geniuses that made a Dorito into a taco shell will be able to make the taco shell strong enough to handle other meats and/or cheese dousings.
But back to the tacos.
These guys were so special that not only did they come in a regular wrapper, but also a sort of Doritos Locos Tacos envelope sleeve. This struck me as a potential waste of packaging, but it also occurred to me that these sleeves were likely there to preserve the shell and prevent it from cracking under pressure like hard shells often do.
Finally, I bit in and came face-to-face with glory. This shell was everything I had ever wanted it to be and nothing more. How could there be anything more? My expectations were so astronomically high that they couldn’t possibly be exceeded, but they were met. The combination of that perfect Doritos taste combined with the Taco Bell meat flavoring that simply can’t be reproduced (even when you buy the Taco Bell branded seasoning at the store) joined each other in perfect harmony. It was a match made in fake Mexican food heaven, and it was all mine. Really, the only downside was the saltiness, which should be expected when you eat such things, so be sure to keep water on hand if you are going Locos.
I really hope this thing gets big and stays big, because I know more than a few people who would love to see the Doritos Locos expand into Cool Ranch and Spicy Nacho. Hey, if Taco Bell could pull off something of this magnitude with Doritos, I’m pretty sure they could do anything.
