Taco Bell

In the name of full-disclosure: this is a post-Katrina Taco Bell, but I think the principle impression remains.

Until two years ago, I was a lifelong resident of the great Keystone state, one of the oldest and resultantly least cultured commonwealths in the union.  Any kind of Latin American food was in short supply- we would have to take a Spanish class field trip to find an actual Mexican restaurant.

That brings me to Taco Bell- scourge of the fast food chains, peddlers of Grade F meat delivered in trash bags, one third of the Pepsico triumvirate of often conglomerated chow outlets, and veritable shithole- a dining establishment I craved with a cultish devotion.  And I wasn't alone.  My group of friends, while collectively in recognizance of the elementary grossness of the food, shared this sentiment.  Perhaps it was the fact that (after an unsightly cockroach infestation close our local branch) the nearest location was thirty minutes up the least-maintained highway under the jurisdiction of PennDOT that made the food of Taco Bell so tantalizing.  Whatever it was, we were lured by the toasty crunch of the less-than-Mexican "crunchy tacos" and the smushy comfort of a bean burrito and we didn't give a damn.  In comparison to the WASP-induced relative banality of the selection of fast food in Pennsylvania, Southern California is brimming with fast food options Mexican and otherwise.  Even with the added freshness and slight authenticity of the popular Chipotle or the experience-complete satisfaction of buying tacos from an actual Mexican taco stand, I sentimentally stand by the Bell.  

If you aren't lucky enough to live in the Socal/Southwest area thus having a nearby In-N-Out Burger, then all fast food is essentially garbage so you might as well enjoy the places you like.  Just as a general rule in corporate and capitalist America, if something seems too good to be true, then it is.  Cheap food comes with a price, and unless said grub comes from a do-gooding Christian family owned business (as In-N-Out is), then that usually means your short and long-term health.