Taco Bell Times Three

Yikes! Our friends at Taco Bell have managed to sneak a few new menu items past me. Time for some short-form food reviews…

Chili Cheese Nachos Bell Grande - Taco Bell's ubiquitous take on nachos (chips, cheese goo, ground beef, beans, green onions, tomatoes and sour cream) is hit with a ladle of chili. The chili isn't anything more than re-heated Hormel, but it doesn't drag down the sum of the other ingredients. After two or three bites, I could barely tell it was there. Edible, but average…save the calories and live chili-free. Grade: 3 (out of 5)

Steak Fajita Ulti-Melt - The first of two new "upgrades" to their Cheesy Beefy Melt, this one replaces the ground beef with a bland, generic fajita steak n' peppers approach. Mine was pretty much cheese-free until the final few bites, when all the cheese came oozing out of the back. Hit it with a couple of packets of their "Fire" sauce to give it some actual taste. Grade: 2

Jalapeño Chicken Ulti-Melt - Generally not known for anything with real heat, Taco Bell tries, but falls short here. Jalapeños aren't the hottest of peppers, but TB overdoes it by loading about a dozen pepper slices into this wrap. The chicken/rice combination is completely overwhelmed by the peppers-in-a-jar flavor. Grade: 1