A division of fast-food behemoth YUM! Brands, Taco Bell is the #1 Mexican fast-food chain in the US, with more than 5,500 locations. The restaurants feature a wide range of Mexican-style menu items including tacos, burritos, gorditas, quesadillas, and nachos. Taco Bell units can be found operating as free-standing units and as quick-service kiosks in such places as shopping malls and airports. Taco Bell also has about 240 locations outside the US. More than 20% of the restaurants are company-operated, while the rest are franchised or licensed.
Glen Bell, a former Marine, began the chain with his first restaurant in San Bernardino, California. He named it Bell's Drive-in. Glen Bell was 23 when he left the Marine Corps in 1946. He was an avid Mexican food take-out customer.Glen Bell sold the El Tacos to his partners and built the first Taco Bell in Downey in 1962.
Kermit Becky, a former Los Angeles police officer, bought the first Taco Bell franchise in 1964 on Western near Carson Avenue. It may have been the first with an adobe brick facade. Dane Stephenson established the first Taco Bell in New Jersey in 1964. Bell passed away on January 17, 2010 at 86 years old.