One Taco Bell, To Go
November 19, 2015 5:09 PM Subscribe
The original Taco Bell location opened in Downey, CA in 1962, closed in 1986 and passed through several other hands before the property owners decided to lose the tiny take-out stand. That's when Conservation Groups and Taco Bell's management decided to save the building by physically moving it 45 miles to TB's corporate HQ in Irvine.
AND YOU CAN WATCH IT HAPPEN LIVE HERE TONIGHT!
A webcam pointed at the building started broadcasting on Nov. 3. Following the Calendar function in the upper-left, you can see when it was lifted off its foundation at about 3PM on the 12th and when they put up temporary signage with the old logo at about 3PM on the 16th. But tonight is the night it will be moved (and Taco Bell assures us the webcam will move with it) starting its journey at 10:30PM, Pacific Standard Time (because you don't want to have a slow-moving truck with a large load of Fast Food History on the L.A. streets during the daytime). Enjoy the show as theyRun Crawl For The Border Orange County!
AND YOU CAN WATCH IT HAPPEN LIVE HERE TONIGHT!
A webcam pointed at the building started broadcasting on Nov. 3. Following the Calendar function in the upper-left, you can see when it was lifted off its foundation at about 3PM on the 12th and when they put up temporary signage with the old logo at about 3PM on the 16th. But tonight is the night it will be moved (and Taco Bell assures us the webcam will move with it) starting its journey at 10:30PM, Pacific Standard Time (because you don't want to have a slow-moving truck with a large load of Fast Food History on the L.A. streets during the daytime). Enjoy the show as they
Don't worry. If the building crashes into a Pizza Hut or KFC that's also being moved, the company has a plan for that.
posted by schmod at 5:30 PM on November 19, 2015 [13 favorites]
posted by schmod at 5:30 PM on November 19, 2015 [13 favorites]
Do they? My local KenTacoHut lost its Hut years ago, not that it ever sold anything remotely pizza-like to begin with.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:48 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:48 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
...and a Starbucks drive-thru just sprouted up in the empty space!
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:08 PM on November 19, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:08 PM on November 19, 2015 [5 favorites]
TOO SOON! TOOO SOOON!!!
And where's the "en route camera"??? This is as disappointing as... as... a meal from Taco Bell.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:15 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
And where's the "en route camera"??? This is as disappointing as... as... a meal from Taco Bell.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:15 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
How did they lift up the house like that? Somehow they just slip a forklift underneath and lift like an egg with a spatula? I don't get it.
posted by oceanjesse at 6:35 PM on November 19, 2015
posted by oceanjesse at 6:35 PM on November 19, 2015
Unfortunately, the every-four-minutes snapshots on the 12th when they lifted it just had one 'before' and one 'after'. Still, it's still visible on the original property, in the far left, waiting for the Big Truck after 10PM.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:39 PM on November 19, 2015
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:39 PM on November 19, 2015
This is not the first time something from Taco Bell took 29 years to move.
posted by CynicalKnight at 6:43 PM on November 19, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by CynicalKnight at 6:43 PM on November 19, 2015 [10 favorites]
Don't ask for whom the Taco Bell tolls... Or is it plastic?
posted by uraniumwilly at 6:46 PM on November 19, 2015
posted by uraniumwilly at 6:46 PM on November 19, 2015
not quite the same flair as trucking a space shuttle through Los Angeles...
posted by casarkos at 7:33 PM on November 19, 2015
posted by casarkos at 7:33 PM on November 19, 2015
I'll have a pepperoni pizza to go and no anchovies.
No anchovies?
I spell my name, Danger.
posted by valkane at 7:43 PM on November 19, 2015
No anchovies?
I spell my name, Danger.
posted by valkane at 7:43 PM on November 19, 2015
Okay, so the article claims that Taco Bell popularized Mexican food in the United States, and I was incredulous, so I searched for verification, and then I found this excerpt from Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America:
posted by compartment at 7:45 PM on November 19, 2015 [19 favorites]
"[Taco Bell founder Glen] Bell wanted to sell tacos but didn’t know how to make them."Never has one sentence explained so much.
posted by compartment at 7:45 PM on November 19, 2015 [19 favorites]
Fun Fact: Del Taco opened a restaurant a few blocks away from the Taco Bell corporate headquarters. The opening had a bunch of corporate execs in suits visiting because of the proximity.
posted by truex at 8:02 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by truex at 8:02 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oceanjesse:
First, they cut it loose from its foundation, which looks like a concrete slab to me, and then slide boards or beams under the walls. Then, they use jacks (that can lift a lot) to lift the beams higher than the boards that are already there, and insert more beams. Move the jacks up a level, and repeat. Eventually its standing high enough from the ground that you can slide a trailer or trailers under it, lower the beam "raft" onto the trailer, and away you go. I'm really oversimplifying the process, but it's actually a common thing to do with an old building. Search YouTube for lots of examples, including some huuuge buildings.
posted by disclaimer at 8:11 PM on November 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
First, they cut it loose from its foundation, which looks like a concrete slab to me, and then slide boards or beams under the walls. Then, they use jacks (that can lift a lot) to lift the beams higher than the boards that are already there, and insert more beams. Move the jacks up a level, and repeat. Eventually its standing high enough from the ground that you can slide a trailer or trailers under it, lower the beam "raft" onto the trailer, and away you go. I'm really oversimplifying the process, but it's actually a common thing to do with an old building. Search YouTube for lots of examples, including some huuuge buildings.
posted by disclaimer at 8:11 PM on November 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
Okay, so the article claims that Taco Bell popularized Mexican food in the United States
I just can't hate on Taco Bell - it's the basis of some of my earliest nutrition. As my mom told it she was so hungry being 6 months and more pregnant and working a full day, so before she went home and cooked dinner for my dad (yes, this was the '60s, but forget my dad helping out - at all), she stopped and got a taco every night. Weirdly after not having eaten Taco Bell in more than a year or two, we decided to eat it tonight, serendipity of sorts. I was older when she told me that story and in addition to being a nice memory for me, it was odd as somehow I hadn't realized how long Taco Bell had been around, it feels like an '80s invention to me.
posted by dawg-proud at 8:12 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
I just can't hate on Taco Bell - it's the basis of some of my earliest nutrition. As my mom told it she was so hungry being 6 months and more pregnant and working a full day, so before she went home and cooked dinner for my dad (yes, this was the '60s, but forget my dad helping out - at all), she stopped and got a taco every night. Weirdly after not having eaten Taco Bell in more than a year or two, we decided to eat it tonight, serendipity of sorts. I was older when she told me that story and in addition to being a nice memory for me, it was odd as somehow I hadn't realized how long Taco Bell had been around, it feels like an '80s invention to me.
posted by dawg-proud at 8:12 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Fun Fact: Del Taco opened a restaurant a few blocks away from the Taco Bell corporate headquarters. The opening had a bunch of corporate execs in suits visiting because of the proximity.
That's easily the nicest Del Taco I've ever been to. I keep going back because not only is it REALLY NICE inside, with Coke Freestyle machines and a salsa bar (not just packets!) and everything, but the people working there tend to be nicer and more likely to acquiesce to my requests for BOLD everything.
A couple of my friends are planning to go watch Taco Bell Numero Uno arrive at HQ this evening.
posted by sleeping bear at 8:30 PM on November 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
That's easily the nicest Del Taco I've ever been to. I keep going back because not only is it REALLY NICE inside, with Coke Freestyle machines and a salsa bar (not just packets!) and everything, but the people working there tend to be nicer and more likely to acquiesce to my requests for BOLD everything.
A couple of my friends are planning to go watch Taco Bell Numero Uno arrive at HQ this evening.
posted by sleeping bear at 8:30 PM on November 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
That sounds awesome sleeping bear! I'd go up to a workman and ask how soon we could order.
posted by JHarris at 9:14 PM on November 19, 2015
posted by JHarris at 9:14 PM on November 19, 2015
"Taco Bell Numero Uno" is officially On the Road (as of 10:15PM), with updates every few minutes. The vehicle with the webcam following the building on the truck seems to be having trouble keeping up, so it could make it to Irvine before Midnight local time.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:36 PM on November 19, 2015
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:36 PM on November 19, 2015
Lowest video frame rate ever!
posted by mantecol at 10:36 PM on November 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by mantecol at 10:36 PM on November 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
The Chalupa has landed!
Taco Bell Numero Uno has arrived at its new home. And it looks so small next to the HQ building.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:42 AM on November 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Taco Bell Numero Uno has arrived at its new home. And it looks so small next to the HQ building.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:42 AM on November 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
> Okay, so the article claims that Taco Bell popularized Mexican food in the United States, and I was incredulous
Not only was Taco Bell the first Mexican-ish-themed restaurant in the small rust belt town I grew up in, I distinctly recall that during the eighties the taco wrappers included non-ironic instructions on how to eat a taco.
posted by ardgedee at 4:30 AM on November 20, 2015
Not only was Taco Bell the first Mexican-ish-themed restaurant in the small rust belt town I grew up in, I distinctly recall that during the eighties the taco wrappers included non-ironic instructions on how to eat a taco.
posted by ardgedee at 4:30 AM on November 20, 2015
somehow I hadn't realized how long Taco Bell had been around, it feels like an '80s invention to me
Indeed. I had no idea they'd been around since 1962.
My mother works with an elderly woman who, she says, has never had Mexican or Chinese food. She won't try them—she thinks they sound exotic and weird. It boggles the mind.
It reminds me of Frowner's comment about a 1950s cookbook which felt it necessary to explain an exotic Italian dish known as pizzicare—sometimes also called pizza—to UK and US readers.
The moral of the story, I suppose, is that things change, and we quickly forget that they ever used to be different. It's hard to imagine three more quintessentially American meals than tacos, pizza, and Chinese takeout.
What I want to know is, who's responsible for popularizing crunchy, American-style taco shells? In and of themselves, they're fine—not "authentic", for whatever that's worth, but fine. But any Mexican restaurant which offers crunchy tacos as the default (or, worse, doesn't even offer soft tortillas as an option) is a Mexican restaurant to be scrupulously avoided.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:25 AM on November 20, 2015
Indeed. I had no idea they'd been around since 1962.
My mother works with an elderly woman who, she says, has never had Mexican or Chinese food. She won't try them—she thinks they sound exotic and weird. It boggles the mind.
It reminds me of Frowner's comment about a 1950s cookbook which felt it necessary to explain an exotic Italian dish known as pizzicare—sometimes also called pizza—to UK and US readers.
The moral of the story, I suppose, is that things change, and we quickly forget that they ever used to be different. It's hard to imagine three more quintessentially American meals than tacos, pizza, and Chinese takeout.
What I want to know is, who's responsible for popularizing crunchy, American-style taco shells? In and of themselves, they're fine—not "authentic", for whatever that's worth, but fine. But any Mexican restaurant which offers crunchy tacos as the default (or, worse, doesn't even offer soft tortillas as an option) is a Mexican restaurant to be scrupulously avoided.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:25 AM on November 20, 2015
My mother works with an elderly woman who, she says, has never had Mexican or Chinese food. She won't try them—she thinks they sound exotic and weird. It boggles the mind.
I've been noticing a pattern on my Facebook recently, where acquaintances of mine in their late 30s or older are only just now getting around to trying Indian food. I can't even imagine.
(I realize that the availability of Indian food might not necessarily be universal in the US, but I figure if I can get good/inexpensive Indian food here in the suburbs of Cincinnati, OH without going too far out of my way, then it must be fairly easy to get elsewhere.)
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:50 AM on November 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
I've been noticing a pattern on my Facebook recently, where acquaintances of mine in their late 30s or older are only just now getting around to trying Indian food. I can't even imagine.
(I realize that the availability of Indian food might not necessarily be universal in the US, but I figure if I can get good/inexpensive Indian food here in the suburbs of Cincinnati, OH without going too far out of my way, then it must be fairly easy to get elsewhere.)
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:50 AM on November 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
As the article I linked to mentioned, Taco Bell is one of many fast food institutions with roots in Southern California (most of them serving hamburgers). But I grew up in L.A. just a couple miles from the first location of the El Torito chain of 'gringo-friendly' sit-down Mexican restaurants where the tacos were also in pre-fried taco shells. And my family occasionally visited the 'Mexican heritage' tourist trap known as Olvera Street where the early 'street tacos' had a filling of Mystery Meat that was deep-fried in the corn tortilla shells while you watched, which became the method used by So.Cal.-based Jack in the Box for their "2 for 99 cents" tacos (which haven't changed price in nearly 50 years).
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:12 AM on November 20, 2015
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:12 AM on November 20, 2015
Update from last night: my pals hung out in the Taco Bell HQ parking lot until past 1 am. They said that there were other pilgrims there, most of whom stopped by and then left again rather than waiting. When Numero Uno arrived, there was a big caravan of cars after it who had followed it from Downey (or spotted it on the freeway and decided to see where it was headed). Taco Bell didn't seem to do anything special with it after it arrived, but lots of selfies were taken.
posted by sleeping bear at 8:44 AM on November 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by sleeping bear at 8:44 AM on November 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Having personally struggled to get ConocoPhillips to recognize how much consumers love the 76 Ball, I think it's great that a huge corporation like Taco Bell recognizes the promotional value in the historic preservation of a property it doesn't even own and has spent the money to move Numero Uno... although it's kind of sad that this fast food landmark is leaving its neighboring golden arches and the restored cruising destination Harvey's Broiler for the planned blandness of Irvine. Hopefully, the structure will head out on the road to more lively destinations.
One of the most interesting things about this story is that We Are The Next, which facilitated the move, is not a conservation or preservation group, but a business dedicated to helping small municipalities recognize and take advantage of the economic benefits of saving historic places. It's a very interesting model, and one I hope will spread. They're currently working to turn a groovy little coffee pot-shaped building in Long Beach back into a coffee shop.
posted by Scram at 1:45 PM on November 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
One of the most interesting things about this story is that We Are The Next, which facilitated the move, is not a conservation or preservation group, but a business dedicated to helping small municipalities recognize and take advantage of the economic benefits of saving historic places. It's a very interesting model, and one I hope will spread. They're currently working to turn a groovy little coffee pot-shaped building in Long Beach back into a coffee shop.
posted by Scram at 1:45 PM on November 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
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posted by JoeZydeco at 5:28 PM on November 19, 2015 [6 favorites]