I stopped at the local taco shop for some fast food tonight. I had just gotten done at the High School where I was working with the robotics team. It was about 7pm and I just didn’t feel like cooking.
I’ve always been a Mighty Taco fan. They’re a local institution known since the ’70s for their funky commercials and cartoonish artwork in their ads.
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I’ve always liked them better than say, Taco Bell, because they were a.) locally owned, b.) had decent portions and c.) had really cool advertising. Besides, they’ve given thousands of high school kids part-time jobs over the years. If you live in WNY, you probably know someone who once worked at one.
They’re not the greatest tacos (or burritos. I prefer a burrito.) but they are good. About as good as you can make a bunch of hamburger and sauce taste. They really hit the spot after a late night in the bar and they are always open late. They’re not bad the rest of the day, either, whenever you’re not in the mood for the usual fast food burger.
But today, I was disappointed. I always get the “Super Mighty” which is a large burrito with tomato, lettuce and whatever other stuff they throw in it. It’s always good and used to be quite a handful. But today, what I got was noticeably smaller than I was used to.
I know. I haven’t been out eating fast food much lately. Partly because I try to eat healthier, part because I haven’t been driving around much lately. You pretty much need a car to eat fast food.
But the size change wasn’t so much what disappointed me. I know they try to keep the price down and cut size before they raise their prices. What got my ire was that they reduced the ingredients, but didn’t reduce the size of the shell. It was still full sized, but wrapped around more, leaving extra thicknesses of the shell to chew through. It wasn’t a Mighty Taco, it was a Doughy Taco.
You could have cut the tortilla shell in half and made two of these reduced-size Mightys.
The final straw was, they forgot the sour cream I had ordered. Bummer.
I absolutely love Mighty Taco’s radio commercial for ‘Placeba’. I remember the first time I heard it, I couldn’t stop laughing for at least ten minutes. I still laugh every time it’s on. If you haven’t heard it, you can listen here: http://www.paragonadvertising.com/portfolio_radio.php
Hi Jill,
All the ads are great, but the ones back in the 70’s and 80’s were the best. They were really counter-culture gems and we used to hear them on great radio stations of the past like WUWU and WPHD.
The tray liners were awesome as well. Real works of “art” and you could spend your whole lunch reading them.
I am not familiar with Mighty Taco as I left the WNY area in the 70’s. (One of the popular local fast food chains at the time was Henry’s Hamburgers. Remember them?) I will say that I love a wacky commercial. They must be doing a good business to afford TV advertising.
After reading this, I just had to get tacos the other day. Will have to try out Mighty Taco next time I’m in WNY.