Tacos from Jack in the Box: Are they Wack in the Box?

Reported by Rashad Smith

Greetings, readers of The Crescent. I’m residential quirk-food enthusiast Rashad Smith, and my mission is to inform you all of what wacky edible items to give a shot or stay as far away from as possible! Today’s inaugural cuisine is none other than a well-known C-tier fast food establishment, Jack in the Box. 

What could warrant a visit besides their option of curly fries? Tacos, as it turns out. Yup, I was just as skeptical as you are. But I wouldn’t be the best at what I do if I didn’t give it a shot. Right off the bat, they hook the broke college student with the standard offer of not one but two tacos for the modest price of $1.29.

As with many fast food endeavors, you get what you pay for. The tacos themselves could use a little work on presentation, but it’s quantity over quality here, folks. They are average taco size as one might guess, although the shells themselves have a mangled look that might give some customers the wrong idea. It was a bit of a yellow flag when not even a minute after pulling a taco out of its sleeve, grease seeped through the shell and onto the napkin in little spots. 

But if we judged everything based on appearance, then I wouldn’t believe that alpacas were real. I mean c’mon, those are just llamas, bro. You can’t fool me. Anywho, the first bite packed a lot of crunch from the get-go and honestly took a while to finish chewing. As you make your way down the taco, the hardness and crunchiness of the shell dissipate in favor of the soft cheese, meat and thinly-cut lettuce combo that blends together nicely. 

Unfortunately the base flavor of just cooked, processed, whatever is causing those grease stains, is present throughout. The tacos also contain some hot sauce that does exactly what you expect: it’s mild, maybe a tad bland, but adds a nice touch. To be honest, I got tired of eating these because they took so long to chew and I’m pretty sure those grease spots had more of an effect on me than I had anticipated.

However, the tacos weren’t terrible! They’re formulaic, but for an eatery that doesn't specialize in tacos, they could've been a lot worse. Now would I recommend this over Taco Bell right across the street? Over their crunchy tacos, yes, just because their hard shells tend to fall apart so easily and Jack in the Box offers two of them for the price of one of Taco Bell’s! Take that for what you will. I’m giving these tacos a solid 6 outta 10. 

Keep it crispy, Newberg.