Enchirito () is the

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

ed name of

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

's menu item of the Tex-Mex food similar to an enchilada. It is composed of a

flour tortilla A flour tortilla (, ) or wheat tortilla is a type of soft, thin flatbread made from finely ground wheat flour. It was originally inspired by the corn tortilla of Mexican cuisine, a flatbread of maize which predates the arrival of Europeans to ...

filled with seasoned

ground beef Ground beef, minced beef or beef mince is beef that has been finely chopped with a knife, meat grinder (American English), mincer or mincing machine (British English). It is used in many recipes including hamburgers, bolognese sauce, meatloaf, ...

taco

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

(with options to substitute steak or chicken), beans, diced onions, cheddar cheese, and "red sauce".

History

There is an unsubstantiated claim that the Enchirito was invented in 1967 by a high school student in

Montebello, California Montebello (Italian for "Beautiful Mountain") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located just east of East Los Angeles and southwest of San Gabriel Valley. It is an independent city. east of downtown Los Angeles. It is ...

. However, a 2008 article published in the Long Beach Press-Telegram claimed that a Cerritos, California, franchise owner named Dan Jones had created the Enchirito. In an article published in a

Corsicana Daily Sun The ''Corsicana Daily Sun'' is a morning daily newspaper published in Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 a ...

in 1971, there is a third claim that a Taco Bell franchise owner in Texas was the actual inventor.Alternate Link
via

NewspaperArchive.com Heritage Microfilm, Inc. (est. 1997) is a preservation microfilm and microfilm digitization business located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. History The company began in 1996 when the microfilm division of Cedar Rapids-based Crest Information Technolo ...

. The original Enchirito of the 1970s was advertised as a ''special tortilla'' filled with ground beef, pinto beans, and onions; topped with red sauce, cheese and olives. It was served in a reheatable aluminum foil tray. One of the earliest print references to the Enchirito is an August 1967 Taco Bell ad in an

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, newspaper for a meal consisting of a taco, Enchirito, and soft drink for $0.89.Alternate Link
via

. Taco Bell registered the name with the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...

as a service mark in May 1970. In its application, Taco Bell described the item as a ''[ Combination Enchilada And Burrito Prepared As Part Of ] Restaurant Services'' and that ''"Enchirito" Is Merely A Fanciful Combination Of "Enchilada" And "Burrito."''

Name

The coining of the name Enchirito (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsenchilada and burrito) for this item was a peculiar action by Taco Bell. It was the only item on the menu, at the time, to not use the common Mexican food nomenclature for that item. Whereas a burrito is typically a flour tortilla filled with beans, and an enchilada is typically a corn tortilla filled with meat and smothered in chile sauce, the name Enchirito communicates the combination of these elements. On the other hand, it appears the unusual name was not to help Americans unfamiliar with the Spanish names of the food items; indeed, for many years Taco Bell menu boards featured a system of phonetic pronunciation guides next to each item.

Reappearance

Even after the Enchirito was officially discontinued in 1993, some customers still ordered them, and word spread through the Internet that many restaurants would still make them with the ingredients they had available.Alternate Link
via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

. Due to this underground popularity, it was decided to bring it back, and commercials, featuring the

Taco Bell chihuahua Gidget (February 7, 1994 – July 21, 2009), nicknamed the "Taco Bell Chihuahua", was an advertising figure and mascot for Taco Bell from September 1997 to July 2000. She was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui, and developed by TBWA. The Chihuahua is a ...

promoting the Enchirito, began airing on December 26, 1999, with later commercials in mid-2000 featuring the rapping or singing styles of the "five guys with no talent". However, some things about the item had changed. The serving container had become a coated pressed-paper oblong bowl when dining in, or a black plastic bowl with a clear plastic lid if ordering from the drive-thru. Most significantly, the character of the dish was altered by changing the yellow corn masa tortilla to a white wheat flour tortilla. The sliced olives were omitted. The chicken Enchirito and the steak Enchirito, which respectively substitute chicken or steak for the ground beef, were also introduced as options. The Enchirito is served with a plastic spork. The Enchirito was once again discontinued when Taco Bell introduced the Smothered Burrito on July 25, 2013. While it may not be currently seen on the menu, it can be requested when ordering. A typical ground beef Enchirito contains 209 calories, 17 grams of fat (8 grams saturated), 45 milligrams cholesterol, and 1110 milligrams of sodium.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Picture of a 1973 Taco Bell menu board
Taco Bell Products introduced in 1968