Taco Bell Launches Salvo With Its New $1.99 Menu

IRVINE — It’s summer, so it must be time for fast-food price wars.

Taco Bell on Thursday began offering three tacos and all you can drink or two bean burritos and all you can drink for $1.99. That’s about a dollar less than “combo meals” at national hamburger chains, Taco Bell Chairman John E. Martin said.

The Mexican fast-food chain is combining the roll out of its new $1.99 menu with a contest that gives new meaning to brand promotion: the winner gets a 20-year franchise agreement to operate a Taco Bell restaurant in the vicinity of the winner’s home.

The campaign is aimed at winning over customers who have been drawn to competitors’ flashy ad campaigns and low prices. The special offers come after McDonald’s staged a huge promotion to push its new Arch Deluxe burger and Burger King offered its Whopper for 99 cents.

Taco Bell, a subsidiary of PepsiCo Inc., started a fast-food trend in 1989 by dropping prices, and competition has remained fierce. Summer is prime time for the youngsters most likely to chow down on fast food.