Nick Cooper’s Review of Taco Bell’s Breakfast Waffle Taco

As the fast food breakfast wars heat up, Taco Bell has jumped in with an offering of breakfast foods themed around the almighty taco and burrito. Among those offerings is a concoction called a waffle taco. The ingredients all sound tasty, so how are they combined into a breakfast taco?

First, I should clarify that Taco Bell offers three types of waffle tacos, all of which consist of a waffle "shell" containing scrambled eggs and cheese. The three types are a plain egg and cheese taco, sausage taco, and bacon taco. I ordered the bacon taco, and I got what looked and tasted like diced steak. Not sure whether this was an error at my local store or not, but I'll review it nonetheless. My guess is that it was an error, but it goes to show that you may be able to order a breakfast steak waffle taco, even though it isn't on the menu.

Presentation/First Impressions

After I got past the whole "this isn't bacon, it's steak" confusion, I gave the waffle taco the once over. The waffle looks reminiscent of an Eggo waffle, and there is an ample portion of egg, cheese and meat filling it up.

Rating: 4/5

Taste

All of the waffle tacos are offered with a container of maple syrup to play the role of "taco sauce" in this breakfast taco charade. I wanted to try it with and without the syrup, so my first bite was sans syrup. The taste factor is pretty much exactly what you would expect. Taco Bell steak, fast food eggs, cheese, and a slightly soggy instant waffle. The flavor is by no means bold, but the ever-so-slightly sweet waffle and the flavors of the cheese, eggs, and steak blended well.

Adding the maple syrup is the next level of this taste test. I was a little leery about the idea of syrup on my eggs and steak, but I gave it a chance. I have to say that the syrup is a positive addition, providing a little moisture to the otherwise dry ingredients and adding some extra sweetness that didn't detract from the overall experience.

While the steak wasn't a bad meat choice, I feel like bacon or sausage would be a better option as it tends to have a more bold flavor.

Rating: 3/5

Waffle

I don't hold any fast food restaurant to a high standard when it comes to things like quality of waffles. With that being said, it's a sliding scale of what is good for fast food standards, rather than what is good for a waffle overall. The flavor of the waffle was decent, but the way the dish is packaged for consumers (inside a poorly-vented cardboard box) leads to some condensation in the package that makes the waffle soggy. I ate mine within a few minutes of hitting the drive through, and while the soggy factor wasn't bad, it was noticeable.

Rating: 2/5

Health

Ok, so a fast food waffle taco doesn't sound like a healthy option - and it isn't really. I'm sure everyone is well aware of that, but here are some of the key nutritional details from the Taco Bell website for the bacon waffle taco:

• Calories: 320
• Calories From Fat: 160
• Saturated Fat: 5 g
• Total Fat: 18 g
• Cholesterol: 110 mg
• Sodium: 670 mg

Overall

On the fast food breakfast playing field, Taco Bell is making an attempt at joining the game. Is it the best option out there? No. Is it a contender? I suppose so. The flagship product behind their launch into breakfast is marginal at best. While the taste was good, there was nothing about it that made me excited to try one again. I don't know what the answer is on improving the waffle taco, but there isn't much that is memorable about the food beyond the fact it has a waffle shell. Once that wears off, there isn't much to set this out from the field of morning fast food options.

Rating: 3/5