Rejoice! Taco Bell Is Bringing Back Potatoes

Last summer, Taco Bell made a decision that just added to the overall awfulness of the entire year, by opting to remove a dozen items from its menu. In addition to cutting a breakfast bowl and two kinds of nachos, the chain also pulled three of its potato products: the Spicy Potato Soft Taco, Cheesy Potato Loaded Grillers, and Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes.

"[W]hile change is hard, a simplified menu and innovation process will leave room for new fan favorites, continued progress in categories such as plant-based diets, and even opportunities for the return of some classics on a limited time basis," Taco Bell said at the time.

Change is hard, especially when change means that the Spicy Potato Soft Tacos are just a spicy, starchy memory. Potato-lovers—and those who appreciated the availability of some other non-meat items—responded by creating Twitter accounts with to-the-point names like "bring back spicy potato soft tacos" and launching a Change.org petition encouraging the chain to put All Things Potato back on their menu.

Taco Bell seems to have gotten the message: on Thursday, it posted a weirdly endearing video from CEO Mark King, announcing that potatoes are coming back, baby! And, in keeping with the theme, he appeared as, um, a talking potato. "We have some big news today," King said. "As you might've guessed, it has to do with potatoes."

He explained that last year, the dining rooms in all of its restaurants were closed, and the shift to drive-thru-only ordering put some additional pressure on its employees. "In order to create a better experience for both you and our teams, we had to simplify our menu," he said. "Unfortunately, removing potatoes was part of that. But it's a new year with new possibilities, and we're bringing them back."

All three of those temporarily discontinued potato options will make their triumphant return to "most restaurants" on March 11. (That's a Thursday, in case you need to ask for the day off to commemorate this blessed occasion.)

"Give us a minute to get them back to most restaurants, but know that we're working hard to make things right," King continued—before hinting that Beyond Meat products could be added to the menu later this year.

As of this writing, more than 20,000 potato-lovers have liked Taco Bell's tweet, and the responses have been enthusiastically positive. Some people have taken this opportunity to ask the company to bring back the Mexican Pizza—which was also removed from the menu last year—but it's trying to keep the focus on its edible starchy tubers right now.

"Can we just let potatoes have their moment?" @TacoBell asked.

Sure … for today. Tomorrow, we'll be mentioning the pizza again.