Bueno

Three or five years ago I first saw the logo for fast food franchise Taco Bueno. I became kind of obsessed with it. The word bubble with "bueno" in it looks like something that anyone could have (and might have) whipped up in a pinch on MS Paint. It fascinated me because it looks so unpolished. Surely something like that would never pass muster with test market groups.

Yet that logo is what had me wanting to go to the restaurant and determined to get to one this time while down here in the Dallas-Fort Worth. Readers, today was that day.

Basically Taco Bueno appears to be similar too but a step up from Taco Bell. (Granted, I don't know how many years it's been since I last set foot in a Taco Bell.) I went with a simple and straightforward order--three beef tacos and a drink--and was able to sample one of my brothers' orders of monkey bread. Yes, monkey bread!

The food was fine for the kind of place that it is. The meat wasn't greasy, especially when compared to what I recall Taco Bell's offerings being. (This is a big plus.) Some extra fixings--jalapenos and a few different kinds of salsa--are a nice touch. I didn't peruse the menu too closely, but it seems like they have a wider variety than their Mexican fast food competitors.

The closest Taco Buenos to my home are in Columbia and Blue Springs, Missouri and Conway, Arkansas. So not very. Dumb as it sounds, I was legitimately excited to be able to get to one of these restaurants today. (I figured my mom would not be too keen on the idea.) I'm surely more fixated on this franchise because it's inaccessible to me on a daily basis but that's okay. I can order a t-shirt from their online store, and if I'm ever in the vicinity of one, I can know that it's worth a visit.

And it's all because of that crazy logo.