Taco Matters
Taco is typical Mexican food consisting of corn or wheat-based tortilla topped with fillings. The tortilla is folded around the filling so people can easily consume it by hand. Traditionally those tacos are served as soft-shell. They were cooked to a soft state by a grill or steam.
Beginning of the 20th century, various tacos became popular in the United States, especially in the Taxes and California area. The crunchy (hard-shell) tacos we are familiar with now are developed here in the States. These hard shell tacos are also known as “Taco Dorados” (golden Tacos in Spanish; and the 1950s was the golden era that kicked off such Taco inventions.
In 1950, Juvencio Maldonado received a patent for the world’s first mechanical taco fryer. In the same decade, Glen Bell, the founder of Taco Bell, also started selling tacos at a taco stand called Taco Tia at 19 cents each from a side window. Back then, the trending food that serves in such manners were burgers, fries, and shakes. Yet Mr. Bell’s entrepreneurial spirit did not stop him there. He asked a manufacturer to make him a wired mode to keep those tortillas in place when frying in batches.
Bell’s fast crunchy tacos and side-window point of the sales were a predecessor of nowadays drive-through. This carryout service allows customers to purchase meals without leaving their cars: they fetch their meals when parked by a side window or let the restaurant bring the food out to the carhop.
Several years ago, a business article about redesigning the taco fast-food franchise drew our attention. Their refreshed designs kept the wide counter and installed more self-order kiosks. The dining tables transformed from small, individual cubical seating to larger, luminous tables and chic lounge-style seating. The traditional “eat-and-go” fast food vibe seems to have disappeared entirely, and the restaurant has become a mindful eating place. While amazed by their beautiful interior shots, a WELL feature came to mind.
“All dedicated eating spaces and points of sale contain at least two different instances of messaging that promote one of the following: a. the consumption of fruits and vegetables. b. the consumption of drinking water.”— WELL N04 Food Advertising.
On this special Taco Day, we dedicate this card to taco franchise owners and franchise planners; thanks for their love for tacos so we can enjoy deluxe tacos and deluxe eating places all at once.
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By the way …
Fast food usually has a seating area allowing customers to eat on-site. The restaurant has minimal table service because most fast food orders are designed to be taken away. Orders are generally handled by the customers and paid at a wide counter.
Our existing impression of Taco Bell: the teal, pink and purple stripes with bold geometries reflected the fast food dining experience around the 1980s when the postmodern reached its fruition.
The rise of Postmodernism partially reacted against Modernism’s simple or sometime overly-dull aesthetics. Therefore Postmodern works were often eclectic, witty, and often dramatically interpreted the past. Interior-wise, they like to use neo-color palettes, playful geometric patterns, and asymmetrical forms. The Memphis group is representative of Postmodernism. The group was founded in Italy but deeply impacted designers worldwide. Architectural-wise, postmodernists tend to use exuberant colors and exaggerated architectural vocabulary. Architects such as Michael Graves and Philip Johnson are known for such a trend. Their works, for example, 550 Madison Ave (by Philip Johnson) and Portland Building (by Michael Graves), speak to most postmodernism-lovers at the time.
