For over 80 years, San Bernardino’s Mitla Cafe has been serving hot Mexican comfort food to anyone and everyone who swings by. Mitla’s deliciously simple traditional tacos and sauced-up burritos served under melted cheese are the kind of food that fills you up, yet leaves you craving more within the hour. And it was here at Mitla Cafe where Glenn Bell of Taco Bell fame got the idea of a lifetime: he wanted to bring Mitla’s beloved home-cooking to the masses, yet wanted to leave Mitla out of the venture.
Before founding his first-ever Taco Bell restaurant in 1962, Bell became a regular at Mitla Cafe. He owned a hot dog and burger stand across the street, and would often watch in envy as Mitla customers would form a line out the door for ten-cent tacos dorados.
According to Gustavo Arellano, journalist and author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, Bell became friendly with Mitla’s owners, Lucia and Salvador Rodriguez. He schmoozed his way into the kitchen where Lucia showed him how she made her famous hard-shell tacos.
Bell wasn’t just curious about the cuisine. He realized that he could profit from Mitla’s recipes and in 1951, after learning Lucia’s tricks of the trade, Bell sold his first taco.
In 1964, with just two years of taco-making experience under his belt, Bell began franchising. And as of 2014, there were 5,604 Taco Bell restaurants in the United States alone.
And yet, it wasn’t until Arellano published his deep-dive into the American history of the taco in 2013 did Mitla gain the recognition it deserved.
Mitla is still a fan favorite in the San Bernardino area and continues to be revered for its tacos. The Rodriguez family never harbored any bad feelings toward Bell and have continued to use the same taco recipe despite a similarity to the “original” Taco Bell crunchy taco.
Glen Bell may have snubbed Mitla back in the day, but now that we know the true hero behind the Taco Bell empire, we’re sending kudos to Mitla Cafe and adding their restaurant to our must-eat bucket list.
