August 02, 2016
Fast-food companies love the $5 box. So do their customers. After all, it’s a bunch of food in a box and it only costs $5. And this may well be the Summer of $5 Boxes, as multiple franchises are offering their own versions at the same time.
It’s a race to see who can give the most for less, with the restaurants all trying to one-up each other. Popeye’s box has your choice of chicken or strips, a biscuit and two sides. KFC’s comes with your choice of chicken, a biscuit, a side and a drink — and a cookie. Sonic’s box comes with a hot dog, cheeseburger, fries or tots, and a drink, plus their employees will actually chew the food up for you and spit it into your mouth like a bird.
While that may be hard to top, Taco Bell’s new $5 deal comes close. To herald the arrival of the Triple Double Crunchwrap, Taco Bell's new limited-time offer includes a now-legendary Doritos Locos taco, along with a regular, not as loco, taco. The Triple Double Crunchwrap is an expanded version of its Crunchwrap, a tostada in the middle of nacho cheese, beef, lettuce, tomato and sour cream wrapped up and grilled in a tortilla. This time, Taco Bell added another layer of tostada, ground beef and cheese.
Taco Bell's Triple Double Crunchwrap.
Before the Doritos Locos tacos debuted in 2012, the Crunchwrap was Taco Bell’s best-selling invention. Part of the magic of the Crunchwrap is that the tortilla keeps all the ingredients intact, so there’s virtually no mess. Also, it tastes like junk-food heaven. It’s an almost-perfect combination of ingredients that all complement the work as a whole. It’s basically a mouth fiesta, a phrase you should never Google.
I taste tested the Triple Double Crunchwrap side-by-side with a regular, one-layer Crunchwrap Supreme, which gave me a better understanding of this new venture. The most important distinction between the two is that the Triple Double Crunchwrap has more. Instead of just some ground beef and cheese, it has a lot of ground beef and cheese. This makes it better.
In a size comparison, the Triple Double Crunchwrap is noticeably bigger than a regular Crunchwrap, girth-wise. You have to open your mouth more than you would with a regular Crunchwrap to bite into it. Perhaps this is a deal-breaker for those who don’t want to open their mouth more than they already do. Taco Bell is no doubt hard at work trying to come up with a solution for these people.
The real shocker is that it took Taco Bell this long to do this. It must have been an easy pitch meeting:
“Uhh, how ’bout we make a new Crunchwrap that’s better than the first one.”
“By ‘better,’ do you mean more meat and cheese?”
“Yes.”
“Great work, Johnson. You’re getting a raise. We’re all getting raises.”
Verdict: The Triple Double Crunchwrap is bigger and has more stuff, which means it’s better and it was already great. I honestly wish I was eating one right now.
Warning: Don't try to cut and stack the Triple Double Crunchwrap!
