The Waffle Taco: Taco Bell tests new breakfast item

Taco Bell just unveiled its newest breakfast concept: The Waffle Taco.

Consisting of a sausage patty and scrambled eggs folded into a waffle — with a packet of syrup on the side — the 89-cent option is currently only available at three Southern California locations.

Thankfully, because the waffle is folded like a taco, customers can eat it on the go.

"We're pleased with the initial reaction from our customers and if the Waffle Taco does well in testing, we’ll roll it out to all our restaurants that serve breakfast," Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch writes in an e-mail to Businessweek.

Taco Bell has only been offering breakfast foods since last year, trying to compete with breakfast king McDonald's.

Also see: Next at McDonald's: All day breakfast?

Fast food restaurants are all fighting for a piece of the breakfast pie. From breakfast sodas — Taco Bell already has Mountain Dew A.M to wake up its groggy customers — to "Egg White Delight" McMuffins, it seems every chain is pushing something "new." McDonald's is even toying with the ideas of all-day breakfast and delivery.

Wendy's year-long attempt at introducing breakfast was deemed a failure. The chain no longer offers a breakfast menu at any of its locations.

While Taco Bell might be "pleased" with the initial reaction to its Waffle Taco from its customers, the critics aren't too excited about the new menu item.

"The waffle part of the taco is mushy, and the meat has a slight rubbery texture that is not uncommon with fast-food items," writes the Los Angeles Times' Anh Do.

Others are quick to point out that there's nothing "taco" about the Waffle Taco.

"It's really just breakfast with a taco name," culinary historian Andrew Smith tells USA Today. "What's so taco-ish about that?"

Also see: Is this breakfast doughnut gross or amazing?

Still, he adds, "In California, anything named 'taco' would probably sell better at breakfast than anything not named 'taco.'"

The Waffle Taco follows the wildly popular Doritos Locos Taco.

(Side note: an inmate is currently suing the chain for allegedly stealing his Doritos-shell taco idea.)

Complex Mag lists the 20 greatest Taco Bell menu items of all time.

To further boost its competitiveness in the fast-food world, Taco Bell says a new value menu will be going national in the coming months. The chain tested a 12-item "$1 Cravings" menu to great success.

If it makes it north of the border, will you be trying the Waffle Taco?