IAmA Taco Bell employee that works the drive-thru. AMA

How often do you get stoned teenagers/adults really late at night?

All the time. I usually never work past 10 (laws for minors and all that) but they will come through so high that they just kind of sit there, not taking their food or their change, just staring at me.

How do you feel about the fight for $15 movement for fast food workers? Do you discuss it with your coworkers at all?

We don't really discuss it. To be honest I would say $15 is too much. I work my ass off every day, but I am also 16, with my first job, and am just trying to save up for a car and to have spending money. A lot of the older workers don't work as hard as the younger ones, because a lot of the younger ones are very smart and hard working, but very few jobs that are above minimum wage will hire teenagers. The older workers are typically there because they screwed up somewhere along the way and fast food is all they have.

I would love to make more than minimum wage, I work damn hard and make next to nothing, but I can't complain. I have a job, which is a step above most people my age, and this isn't my career. It's just a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

I always try to ask fast food workers this: have you ever, or seen a co-worker, messed with someone's food (spit in it, purposefully made their order wrong, etc.)

Story behind it?

I've never seen anyone do that before, me included. The worst i've ever done is get a very rude customer who needs to order tons of things at the window and is incredibly rude about it, treats me with zero respect, doesn't answer me when I ask if they want sauce, and then at the end when I am giving them their food they tell me "give me tons of mild sauce" and I only throw a few packets in.

Wow. Remind me never to fuck with you.

Sarcasm?

If you need something else petty to do, have their tacos made a little extra sloppy, don't give them any napkins.

I don't make a taco so I couldn't do that.

I'm British and I have never encountered a taco in my life. Or most Mexican food, really. If I were to go to Taco Bell, what item from the menu should I pick to introduce myself to the world of tacos? And what item would I actually pick (and regret) in my ignorance?

To introduce yourself, possibly just a quesadilla. It's just a tortilla and cheese with a jalapeno sauce inside of it (it isn't spicy, just has the flavour). or just a plain soft taco. You would probably pick like a quesarito or something, which tastes delicious, but it's very....bold for a first-timer.

How's it going?

Pretty good.

What is the most unusual food request you gotten?

A bean burrito with no beans, onions, or red sauce, and added beef. A salad with no shell and no lettuce. Nacho supreme/bell grande without cheese or meat. I've seen tons of people make very odd substitutions that can make a menu item way more expensive than it needs to be (like the bean burrito). I usually tell them "But if you do it this way, it will cost a lot less" but people can be stubborn.

I thought my request for a bean burrito with nacho cheese no onion and with extra red sauce was weird.

Another question. When is it the best time to get "fresh" food?

All of the food is reasonably fresh at any time. My taco bell is extremely busy, so pretty much nothing sits out on the line for more than an hour at dinner time, and more than an hour and a half at lunch time. Except ingredients that aren't used often, like bacon and jalapenos.

Do you like tacos?

Yes I do.

But do you like TACO BELL tacos?

I do, actually. I do live right by a mexican community, though, so it's not like I haven't had "real" tacos. They are both good in their own ways. When i'm craving Taco Bell, i'm not craving mexican food, and vice versa. They aren't the same thing.

Is there much verbal abuse thrown at you as you work at the drive through?

Honestly, quite a bit. But i've also gotten a lot of nice people. People will just be people, i'm sure anyone who works a job with customer service can understand that.

What is the weirdest thing you have ever seen while working the drive through?

Actually, I change my mind. The weirdest is this one time as a lady was driving off after I gave her her food she quickly gave me a pamphlet about how Jesus can save my life and then sped away. I was so confused, but thought it was hilarious.

Obviously all Taco Bell workers are dancing with the devil....

Naw, but as an atheist I thought it was pretty funny.

The other night a guy fell asleep as he was waiting in line. We had to send a worker out to wake him up in his car because we, and everyone else in line, were worried he was dead.

Do you happen to know that Taco Bell is stoner capital?

Considering I talk to the customers all day long, yes I do.

What's your favorite sauce to put on your chalupas?

I only eat Fire sauce.

I use fire for pretty much everything, but I like a fire/hot combo on quesadillas. It adds some more flavour. Mild is just stupid, I sometimes use verde.

I don't understand why people even eat mild. I think mild and hot taste the same, but hot is just barely spicier.

I just went to Taco Bell yesterday and my girlfriend just surprised me by saying I could have some of her leftovers. I just had a $1 cheese wrap with 2 packets of Fire sauce.

Honestly nearly 75% of the people who come through get mild sauce. My friends and I call it stupid sauce, and I always repeat what sauce they want to clarify and so I remember...well you get the idea how that went.

I don't get sauce, how does this make you feel?

Pretty content, actually.

Is anyone sober at Taco Bell at night?

Yes.

Does it matter to you at all if people ordering ask 'how are you?' prior to ordering their food?

I always take the time to ask folks who work in the fast food drive-thru or the cashier taking the order in the restaurant how they are doing. I find that most of the time I catch them off guard and get a smile out of them, generally better service and hopefully the people on the line making the food hear and decide to not fuck with my food.

I've heard/seen some of the pretentious pricks that are rude, demanding and in my mind I hope they are getting that little extra 'something' to spice up their meal. The 'something' can equate to: dandruff, roach legs, dust off the top of the drink machine, eye crust, etc. You get idea here.

I don't know why people always think that fast food people mess with your food if you are a jerk. 9 times out of 10, the people making your food don't hear the jerk being jerky, and i'm not going to mess with an asshole's food because I wouldn't want to stoop to their level. And yes, it does make me feel better when someone asks how I am, but it also makes me feel like a jerk because the first thing I say when you come up to the window is your total, because every order is timed and I need to get it out as fast as possible, and I hate that I don't have time to make small talk with the really nice customers. Thank you for doing that, though.

How's the breakfast menu?

Waffle Taco is just kind of eh, very bland. The AM Crunchwrap, in my opinion, is even better than the normal crunchwrap, and I really like the normal crunchwrap. I haven't tried any of the burritos or breakfast tacos.

I'm planning on having Taco Bell for lunch. What should I order?

I got this idea from someone on the /r/tacobell forum but made it my own, and I get it every time for my employee meal, which has to be under $4. Get a fritos burrito or a cheesy bean and rice burrito, grill it, a mini quesadilla and another dollar menu item. Unroll the burrito, put the mini quesadilla inside of it, and there you go, a quesarito for cheaper than a normal quesarito. The other dollar menu item is just for more food.

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Way too many to narrow it down to one. People who will come through and say "I want that green drink." I will ask if it is baja blast and they will ask me "Is that it?" like I have any clue what they are talking about. Or people will ask for "that burrito with meat and cheese."

Why do you guys always forget at least 1 item from my order...? I want thos cheesy fiesta potatoes!!!

I help with bagging and we always count the items in the order to make sure it matches. Your Taco Bell employees must not do that.

What is the funniest story you have from working the drive-thru at Taco Bell?

A guy fell asleep in the line in his car. He wouldn't wake up and the whole line was just driving around him. After about 10 minutes we sent someone to go wake him up.

Where did the lava sauce go? :(

RIP lava sauce :(

Your most awkward situation ?

I've gotten hit on a few times. One time it was this middle aged man and that made me pretty uncomfortable.

I think reddit community wants to know how the conversation went with this gorgeous,fabulous and interesting middle aged man

In case you are wondering, I am a girl, so if you are insinuating the middle aged man was gay he probably wasn't. There was just a lot of "accidental" hand touching, innuendos, and a wink as he drove off.

What is the scariest thing that has happened while you were working the drive through?

A car pulled really close to the window and while I was taking the money, I failed to see the giant great dane in the back seat, and he barked right in my ear. that ear was ringing for the next hour or so, I wasn't prepared for it.

One time, my friends and I got really high and went through a combo Taco Bell/KFC drive thru. There was this homeless guy rummaging through the trashcan near the ordering station that all my friends and I kind of ignored as we were waiting in line in the drive-thru. I was the one driving so I took everyone's orders and told them to the drive-thru worker. All my friends ordered some Taco Bell food item, but I decided to be the odd one out and order a box of boneless chicken wings. As I was about to speak my order, the homeless guy from earlier rips a fart and I start laughing uncontrollably in my high-state. As my embarrassment and laughter subsided just long enough to finish the order, I accidently say, "Can I also have a box of homeless chicken wings." The homeless guy immediately turns out, all my friends laugh UNCONTROLLABLY, and I am there in complete shock of what I just said. Trying to salvage the situation, I just drive off in pure embarrassment and laughter.

So my question is, can you ever forgive me making an order and dipping? I had good cause!

I can forgive you, but i'm sure the person who took your order cannot. Deleting orders flags our drawer of money and we can get in trouble for too many of them, and a whole order most certainly flagged that order-taker's drawer.

What's your favorite taco??

Chalupa, if I can count that as a taco.

Do you eat at Taco Bell still? Or does serving the food all day turn you off to it?

I still eat it. Honestly working at Taco Bell has made me have more respect for the company because I learned good things about it, such as the fact that everything is made to order. I used to think that there were tacos pre-made and wrapped back there, ready for someone to order them. Whenever I give someone their food that has potatoes in it or cinnabons the smell is amazing, especially when I haven't eaten in over 6 hours sometimes. Honestly it's the only fast food I will eat now aside from like Subway.

What's the worst/most disgusting thing you've seen or done to someone's food??

I've seen a person on the line accidentally put beef in the tortilla for a double decker taco, scrape the beef off of the tortilla, and then put beans on it instead of getting a new one. That's the worse I have ever seen.

That is some really heavy shit right there.

Nothing ever happens, i'm just saying that we don't do weird shit like other people do. No one is licking taco shells at my taco bell. Don't know why people assume all fast food workers are assholes who are going to mess with your food.

Are there any classic jokes that people keep telling?

I'm sorry, but I don't understand your question.

Like the annoying jokes that people say all the time.

Like is there a Taco Bell equivalent to the old grocery store "It won't ring up? Must be free!"

Ugh, yes. When I give people their total tons of people will say "well, I guess I have to pay now!" or if an order is screwed up and we need the messed up order back, they will say "it's okay, I can just keep both!"

If the order is messed up and has to be taken back what do you do with it? If its throwing it away whats wrong with letting them take it?

No idea, not my policy. And then most of the time they won't even let the workers have it and just throw it away, which is painful to see when it would take you an hour of work to pay for that meal.

Are they keeping the Quesarito around permanently? Please say yes.

As far as I aware, yes it will.

Any set amount of sauces you are supposed to hand out when some requests it? Sometime I will have 5 tacos and be given 2 hot sauces, other times 2 tacos and 10 packets of sauce.

One sauce packet per item. If you ask for "a lot of sauce" I give you two packets per item. Unless you order like one xxl stuffed burrito, or a quesarito, I typically give 2-3 for that one item.

How do I get more than that? I've found that saying "a lot" or "a ton" is so subjective that I just start asking for a specific amount (e.g. "15 Hot sauces please"). Is that cool with you? I use 6-7 on a bean burrito alone, a stuffed burrito might be 8-9.

Asking for a specific number is better, but then it puts me in a lose/lose situation. I don't give out handfuls of sauce packets because i'm not allowed to. If you ask for 15 packets for 2 items, I either do and I get in trouble if someone sees me, or I don't and then I didn't make the customer happy, or they think I'm an idiot who can't count. But if you do want tons of sauce packets, and don't want to just come in and order inside the store and grab your own, giving a specific number is the best option and it does help me out a lot.

Not all stores have the sauce available inside, sometime they have it behind the counter, which puts you in the same situation.

The way I see it is, they set a certain amount per item (i.e. 1 or 2) and if the customer wants additional they should be able to ask for it. If they specifically ask for it they should be allowed, but you don't hand that much out to everyone because it would be a waste. Charge me for it, I don't care, I just want it.

I agree with you completely. I would be happy to give the customers as many sauces as they want, as long as they aren't a complete ass to me. Which is why I just give however many you want to most people.

The last time I went to Taco bell, I got stuck in a drive though that you cannot exit until you get your food. The wait was over 20 minutes with 2 cars in front of me. Why would it take that long?

the orders could have been really big with lots of items that need grilling, an important item like beef could have ran out so they needed to cook more, there could have been an issue with paying or lots of additions at the window, understaffed, slow workers, or some combo of all of that.

In my experience I have a 90% chance that my drive through order will be wrong. Does this happen a lot? I just order normal items off the menu.

I hear all the time that people always get the wrong order at Taco Bell. I don't understand that. yes, we screw up orders sometimes, but no more often than any other fast food place.

What is your favorite menu item?

Off of the breakfast menu, AM crunchwrap, no competition. Off of the normal menu, either a chalupa, any kind of nachos, or the shredded chicken mini quesadillas.

Why is Taco Bell awesome?

'cause all of the reasons.

What's the most you've seen one car of drunk people spend on an order?

around $50. I think there were 3 people in the car.

Do you ever give your friends more than what they ordered?

I'll give them a few extra sauce packets. I never give them free food or anything, though. I can't even get free food myself outside of my employee meal.

What was the most pleasant experience you had? And I would like an express taco salad with chips please. Which sauces do you have?

Express taco and chips? Never heard of that.

And just like with the bad experiences, i've had plenty of good experiences. Some people can be very kind.

And we have creamy jalapeno, chipotle, avocado ranch, baja sauce, mild, hot, fire and verde.

when i say my order, does everyone in the back hear it? like does it go threw to everyones headphones/a speaker in the back..? hah

Everyone who is wearing a headset can hear it. People on the line and managers often wear a headset. Most of the time I don't actually take the person's order, because our taco bell is so busy we have one person order taking and one at the window and I do window, but I still wear a headset.

Has anyone performed any of those drive-thru pranks that you see on YouTube?

Nope. I always panic when someone just orders a drink though.

What seems to be the item that sells the best?

Outside of just the normal hard shell taco, probably quesaritos. Mexican pizzas are really popular too.

How do you know when someone is at the order section? Is there a bell, camera, or something?

There is a little "ding" sound on the headset. If you didn't hear it, there is a black box by the window with a little car logo, and if the car logo is lit up then there is a car waiting.

What is the largest order you had to take?

One was around 70 items.

What's the largest order you've ever served?

I've answered this a few times, but 70 items.

What's the best taco in your opinion?

a chalupa.

What is your favorite shift to work and why? Also do you get free food at the end of the shift?

I get $4 worth of free food at the end of my shift. I can't go over $4 or I have to pay.

And I pretty much always get the dinner shift (sometime around 4-10), and it's extremely busy then, but I like constantly being busy. It makes the work day go faster.

Have someone did a Fire in the hole?

No.

I get to have Taco Bell for the first time in 5 years this week. What would recommend?

get a combo with a cheesy gordita crunch and a chalupa. Any kind of nachos. Get a cheesy bean and rice, shredded chicken mini quesadilla, and triple layer nachos from the dollar menu. Get the quesarito box. All good options.

Do you ever see people go through who aren't in cars? If so, is it just normal business, or do laughs ensue?

It's never happened to me before, honestly.

Are the chips and tortillas still made fresh in the store? I assume they ship in the doritos shells?

The chips are made in store, but the tortillas are in bags. So are the doritos shells.

Has anyone ever asked for another fast food place's food? Like Big Macs or McNuggets or Whoppers?

I worked KFC drive-thru for two years and I got that once every shift..

Not really. I mean it would be kind of weird though for someone to order a hamburger at TACO bell. Kinda hard to get the two confused.

What's the deal with moving the hot sauce packets from over the counter by the straws and drinks, to behind the counter so I have to beg for them?

That's your own store's choice. Mine still has it out front.

Imma have a talk with Guillermo.

I have another question: Is there anything a customer can do to a fast food employee that might get them better service or something free every once in awhile?

Be nice. Be respectful. And for christ's sake, do the surveys on the back of the receipt. It won't get you free food, but those surveys are so important for employees. This one time a lady immediately handing the receipt to her daughter in the passenger seat and her daughter went on her phone and did the survey right then and there. It made me so happy. Please, do those surveys.

Can you elaborate as to why we should do the survery? How does it help you guys? You should really put the memo out there.

Sorry, I've never done the surveys before.

My managers tell me that the surveys are important, and employees get rewarded for getting recognized in them.

I think they're "important" because Taco Bell and the franchise owner want to know that Taco Bell is doing a good job, or what they need to improve on or what their customers are thinking. I hope you guys do get rewarded if we do the surveys. I'm sure they'll reprimand you if we give a bad survey, but hopefully they treat you better or promote you with many good surveys. I'm going to start doing them from now on.

The managers told me that we do get rewarded for good surveys when I was hired. I'm not sure how, though. I really appreciate you doing it, though.

Do you ever, at your Taco Bell location , run out of product such as beef, chicken or steak during the day or busy weekend ? I have encountered this happening a few times when I order food on the weekend. Is there a certain meat/chicken food amount/ration for the day/week?

I've never encountered that before, no. And i'm not sure if there are a certain amount of meat rations for the day/week, that's more something that a store manager would know.

What's the largest order you've ever gotten?

70 items.

Why has Taco Bell food gotten so gross ?

Not sure...Everything seems to be pretty normal here.

Do you care that I order double decker tacos made with the nacho doritos locos shells? Because they are AMAZING.

Not at all. That's an easy substitution.