How Glen Bell Learned the Taco Business and Built Taco Bell
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, before Taco Bell became one of America’s biggest fast-food chains, founder Glen Bell was searching for a way to stand out in Southern California’s crowded burger market. While running a hamburger stand in San Bernardino, Bell noticed long lines forming outside Mitla Cafe across the street and became fascinated by the tacos the restaurant was serving. Simon Whistler of the Today I Found Out YouTube channel and the Brain Food Show podcast shares how Bell learned taco-making techniques from the family behind Mitla Cafe and helped turn hard-shell tacos into an American fast-food phenomenon.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:13.9 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. |
| 0:18.6 | Have you ever wondered where the bell comes from in Taco Bell? |
| 0:22.6 | Here to tell the story is Simon Whistler from the Today I Found Out YouTube channel |
| 0:27.7 | and its sister, The Brain Food Show Podcast. |
| 0:31.5 | Also contributing to this story is Gustavo Aralano. |
| 0:34.8 | He's the author of Ask a Mexican and Taco USA, How Mexican Food Conquered America. |
| 0:42.0 | Let's take a listen. |
| 0:44.9 | In 1946, Glenn Bell left the Marine Corps at the age of 23. |
| 0:49.4 | Like many of his comrades, he was looking forward to post-war activities and settling into a career when he returned home. |
| 0:55.5 | Lucky for him, the fast food business was booming, and Bell had an idea, a hot dog stand. |
| 1:00.8 | It was called Bell's Drive-In, and it was set up in San Bernardino, an agricultural |
| 1:04.8 | town in California. |
| 1:06.5 | Bell didn't know the first thing about running a hot dog stand, but that didn't matter. |
| 1:10.8 | He learned as he went along. |
| 1:12.6 | The first stand did well, and when Bell sold it in 1952, he was able to go on to make |
| 1:17.1 | a bigger, better stand that sold both hot dogs and hamburgers. |
| 1:21.4 | At this point, Bell wasn't exactly thinking outside of the bun. |
| 1:25.2 | He did manage to start his second stand before the McDonald's brothers announced their fast |
| 1:29.3 | food venture, also in San Bernardino. |
| 1:32.0 | You can probably guess how it went, since McDonald's is still selling burgers and Bell's |
... |
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