A 2012 receipt from Taco Bell went viral and sparked a national debate about fast food inflation among customers and employees.
A TikTok user named “LovelyOcean” shared the find on Tuesday, showing a faded receipt listing two “Beef 5-Layer Burritos” for just $2.59.
Now, just one of our popular burritos costs $3.59.
“Can you buy something from Taco Bell for $2.59?” the TikToker asked in the video, which had about 640,000 views as of Saturday afternoon.
@yo_lovelyocean I'm too upset.I can't even justify going to # Taco Bell already. #inflation
“I'm so upset. I can't even justify going to #tacobell anymore. #inflation,” she wrote in the caption.
“I was loyal to this brand when I was a teenager,” LovelyOcean says at the end of the clip, posing the question, “Where did I go wrong?”
Thousands of commenters expressed similar sentiments.
“I remember feeling a little greedy when I spent more than $10 there because that meant I had to have a ridiculous amount of Taco Bell,” said one TikTok user.
“When I was in high school, a 7-layer burrito was $0.79 and a taco was $0.50,” said another. “Changes can make you feel full.”
Multiple commenters vowed to quit fast food chains, with one saying, “Now that my and my family's regular order is $40 at Taco Bell, I think it might be time to quit.'' “It was,” he wrote.
Even Taco Bell employees expressed concern about price hikes.
“As someone who works at Taco Bell, I think the prices are insane. One person bought 10 items for almost $60 and those were cheaper options,” one person commented .
