These days, he’ll hawk “ Crunchwrap Cubanos” at the Southeast Portland bar on special.Ī post shared by Ricky Bella high-brow, low-brow thing has always been something people have done,” Bella says. He’s made his own Crunchwrap Supremes at every restaurant he’s worked since: fried chicken and queso Crunchwraps at Bullard, kalua pig and mac salad Crunchwraps at Ate-Oh-Ate. A cook - “super talented, super stoner bro,” in Bella’s words - made a version with the taco supplies set aside for the bar’s food menu, and Bella was hooked. Inexpensive, satisfyingly messy, and easy to access, the drive-thru is a stoner culture trope for a reason, so it’s no surprise that other fast food homages - like Matta’s Filet-O-Fish variant with catfish and a pandan bun - do well here.Ĭhef Ricky Bella, a Bullard alum who runs the kitchen at Cuban cocktail lounge Palomar, first ate a chef-made Crunchwrap Supreme while working at Bit House Saloon. This is a city that popularized duck fat gravy-smothered pancakes, fried mozzarella shot glasses full of marinara, and the bacon maple bar. In Portland, a city known for its cannabis culture and hypebeast dining, that “stoner mindset” goes a long way. “The things that they do, they speak to the stoner mindset. “Somebody in the department at Taco Bell is a genius,” Brown says. His Crunch Wraps bring him back to growing up in Los Angeles, and late-night Taco Bell runs with friends. Chef Anthony Brown rarely keeps his menu stagnant, so many other variations have appeared on his menu, stuffed with crawfish or cheeseburger components.

Its lasting popularity is a testament to the foods that excite us now, and how nostalgia, the internet, and Portland’s ethos shape the local restaurant world.Ī post shared by UnicornCreationz (What unicorns would create) based within the Southeast Portland bar Swan Dive, has served fried-chicken-stuffed “Crunch Wraps” since it opened its cart in March 2020. In September 2022, the pop-up Street Disco tackled the Taco Bell menu with an emphasis on discontinued dishes, like a Mexican “pizzette” and enchiritos.īut no other Taco Bell menu item has more copycats than the Crunchwrap, from food carts to pop-ups to specials. On Halloween, the teams at downtown Korean restaurant Toki and pop-up Astral teamed up to serve a “Toki Bell” menu, with dishes like a “Chee$y Gordita Crunch” with Sichuan-spiced ground beef. Years after restaurants shut down in the spring of 2020, the Taco Bell hack remains a trope for chefs. Considering its handheld nature, it made sense as an early pandemic option: It was exciting enough to draw crowds out, and it would survive the drive home.

In Portland, Gabriel Rucker stuffed one with duck and marionberry hoisin Birrieria PDX sold a version stuffed with braised beef. It’s so popular that in cities across the U.S., several chefs took their own cracks at them, particularly in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Crunchwrap Supreme has earned its spot in the fast food hall of fame, alongside the Whopper and McNugget. It was such a hit, it became a menu staple - and Taco Bell’s most-ordered item. The hexagonal shape and griddled seal added structural support to the gargantuan quesadilla so toppings won’t spill out when devoured at 11 p.m.

In the summer of 2005, Taco Bell introduced a limited-time menu item to its lineup of hard-shell tacos, burritos, and nachos: A quesadilla-esque dish with a layer of seasoned ground beef, nacho cheese, a tostada, and typical Taco Bell toppings like sour cream and shredded lettuce, all wrapped in tortillas.

Gordita crunch wrap recipe