Is this why everyone gets into fights at Taco Bell?

The citizenry is mad at Taco Bell.

What started as a meme has morphed into a social commentary on the economy and corporate greed.

‘Prices for almost every major fast-food chain had exceeded inflation.’

Bean counters

What started as a meme has morphed into a small economic referendum after a 20-year comparison of Taco Bell menu prices began circulating on social media.

The post contrasted purported 2006 prices with what customers pay today. A crunchy taco, according to the graphic, went from 69 cents to $1.99. A Crunchwrap Supreme went from $1.89 to $6.49.

“This doesn’t even take into account the shrinkflation factor,” one user complained. “All these items are smaller, have less filling, or just flat out taste worse than they used to.”

Another remembered getting two double-decker tacos and a medium soda for $2.99.

In the end, the fast-food industry in the United States has become predominantly known for two things: fights and overpriced food.

For the latter, the prices are outpacing inflation. A 2024 analysis by FinanceBuzz looked at 10 longstanding menu items at a dozen major fast-food chains and compared their prices with a decade earlier. Every chain it studied had raised prices faster than overall inflation over that period, which was roughly 32.5%, with Taco Bell being one of the biggest culprits at 81%.

Fast food, in other words, really did get expensive unusually fast.

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Marcin Golba/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Big Mac attack

Historically, brands have blamed “increased commodity costs” and labor costs on the spike in food prices.

Economists Orley Ashenfelter and Štěpán Jurajda studied wage rates and Big Mac prices at nearly every McDonald’s in the United States between 2016 and 2020. They found that increases in minimum wages were passed almost entirely into higher restaurant prices.

Their estimate suggests that a 10% increase in the minimum wage raises the price of a Big Mac by about 1.4%.

The president of McDonald’s USA said in 2024 that salaries, food, and paper had increased about 40% in the past five years, as did the average price of McDonald’s menu items.

Portillo’s CEO said that same year that prices in each market have to go up to cover the cost of labor commiserate with minimum wage increases, while Chipotle’s CEO made similar claims too.

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Taco Bell in 1994. Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images

Border run

Some have related the prices to a shift in company priorities. An article from Medium alleged that fast-food chains are more akin to tech companies now, scraping app data or being more like real estate developers. The latter is essentially the plot of the McDonald’s-themed movie “The Founder.”

Are prices still going up?

Yes, but they haven’t gone over inflation. In March, Grocery Trade News noted restaurant prices had gone up 3.8%, while groceries had only risen 1.9%.

The current inflation estimate for 2026 is 3.4%.

Will we ever reach the prices of the purple and green Taco Bell era again? Outlook not so good.