Taco Bell said on Monday that it is bringing back its Mexican Pizza this May, following nearly two years of clamoring from fans including a Change.org petition, thousands of social media comments and even a request from legendary musician Dolly Parton.
The Irvine, Calif.-based chain said it would officially bring back the Mexican Pizza on May 19. Members of the Taco Bell Rewards loyalty program can order the product two days earlier. Some customers who earned a mystery gift during the company’s Super Bowl promotion will also score a free Mexican Pizza on opening day.
The 7,800-unit fast-food concept has strongly hinted at its return. In February it announced a partnership with the musician Doja Cat—who one month later wrote a song about the Mexican Pizza.
Doja Cat helped announced the return. And the company also worked with some of the customers who had pushed for the product’s return—including Krish Jagirdar, who organized a Change.org petition asking Taco Bell to bring back the Mexican Pizza. It had more than 200,000 signatures.
“Like many Indian-Americans who grew up vegetarian, we had limited access to the ‘fun’ fast food, so Taco Bell became a bridge to belonging in American culture for many kids like me who grew up in immigrant households,” Jagirdar said in a statement. “That’s what made it especially devastating when the Mexican Pizza was pulled from the menus in 2020, but fast forward two years later and I found myself in a conference call with the Taco Bell team as they shared news of the return of the Mexican Pizza.”
Taco Bell removed the item, among several others, in 2020 when the company was focused on improving speed and operations. At the time it said that it was also making room for other, new products.
Two menu cuts appeared to generate particularly strong feelings among customers: Potatoes, which many vegetarians loved, and the Mexican Pizza, which is made with two crispy flour shells layered with beans, pizza sauce, seasoned beef, tomatoes and melted cheese. Vegetarian customers often asked for theirs’ to be made without beef.
Taco Bell brought back the potatoes last year, which appeared to pave the way for the latter item’s inevitable return.
Companies will often remove items for operational purposes only to bring them back later when customers demand it---which in the process generates publicity and demand for the product and boosts sales upon its return.
The Mexican Pizza, however, took on a life of its own. Customers routinely asked Taco Bell about it on various social channels. More recently, Parton told Business Insider that she was a fan of Taco Bell and wanted the Mexican Pizza back. Taco Bell did work to streamline operations and ingredient sourcing before it could bring the product back.
The company plans to roll the product out with various offers early on, including an offer for members of the DoorDash DashPass subscription program, who can get $2 off with a minimum order of $12 with the promo code MEXPIZZA.
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