Enter Black Jack Taco

Despite a population that would qualify as the fourth most-populous city in America, Brooklyn is a barren wasteland when it comes to Taco Bell. According to Google Maps, there are but nine Taco Bell locations in the entire borough, or roughly one Taco Bell for every 278,000 residents. That figure is reduced even further when taking into account rogue outfits such as Taco Bell Express or daytime-only stores such as the fake-ass Taco Bell on 3^rd Ave., where the Dunkin Donuts and Pizza Hut factions of the store stay open all night, while the Taco Bell part closes at 10:00; What, people just stop wanting tacos at 10:00 at night? Bullshit.

During a recent jaunt into the big city, which boasts no fewer than 20 Taco Bell locations, I was able to sample a variety of the new and innovative products that I’ve been missing out on over the course of my self-imposed exile in King’s County.

As Taco Bell’s newest item and the focal point of most active TB media, the Black Jack Taco was the priority item during this particular visit. After all, “Black is the new taco,” and while the words in that order make no sense, I understood completely. As Ted Berg pointed out in a recent column, the only new ingredient in the Black Jack Taco is the black taco shell, a minor innovation that follows comfortably in the tradition of the red taco shell that first appeared in last year’s Volcano Taco. It should be noted, however, that red tortilla source material had already been present for several years prior to the emergence of Volcano Taco in the form of Crunchy Red Strips, which had previously surfaced in the Big Taste Taco and Zesty Chicken Border Bowl, among others. Black tortilla matter, on the other hand, is a completely original concept on the Taco Bell menu as far as I know.

But I digress. Found within the confines of said black taco shell are all of the ingredients that make up your typical Taco Bell taco – ground beef, lettuce and shredded cheddar cheese – along with Zesty Pepperjack Sauce, which has previously made appearances in the Cheesy Gordita Crunch and other such delicia, but had yet to be coupled with the typical taco ensemble. The symphony of Taco Bell flavors is outstanding, making Black Jack Taco a wonderful, if only temporary addition of the Taco Bell oeuvre.