Every Taco Bell, Ranked

The best Taco Bell in America is on a beach.

Most alleged upstanding citizens have an affinity for Taco Bell. It is inspired in its concept, transplanting that to its customers. No fast food is as innovative and takes as well scoped risks. It is not fine dining, but it will find you when you need it to. Thank you, Taco Bell.

How's yours? Look it up.

The Pacifica Taco Bell, a wood-sided building on the sand at Linda Mar Beach, with surfboards in the foreground and the ocean behind it
No. 1 of 8,128. 5200 Coast Highway, Pacifica, California. 4.45 stars from 4,696 reviews.Photo: Adam Isserlis, CC BY 2.0
Taco Bells
8,128
States and D.C.
51
Average stars
3.53
Reviews
6.9M

Updated September 2026Ratings from Google

Is it better in California?

It's up there, but Arizona wins.

Taco Bell was born in Downey, California, in 1962. Its home state still eats well.

California's 874 stores average 3.74 stars, against 3.51 everywhere else. By score, it's fourth of 51. Arizona, New Jersey, and Hawaii score higher.

  1. 1Arizona3.647
  2. 2New Jersey3.645
  3. 3Hawaii3.639
  4. 4California3.632
  5. 5West Virginia3.621

By score: stars, adjusted so a place with only a few reviews can't top the list on a lucky streak.

Is Taco Bell better when it's also a KFC?

Unsurprisingly, no.

The 396 stores that share a roof with KFC average 3.30 stars. Plain Taco Bells average 3.54.

We compared each combo with ordinary Taco Bells in its own state, so the gap isn't about where they are. They land in the bottom tenth more than twice as often as you'd expect.

  • Regular7,611 stores3.54 stars
  • KFC combo396 stores3.30 stars
  • Cantina54 stores3.62 stars
  • Live Más Café39 stores3.73 stars
  • Pizza Hut combo28 stores3.71 stars

Average stars by kind of store, all states together. The scale starts at 3 stars.

Halftone portrait of Colonel Harland Sanders in glasses, a goatee and a string tie
Col. Harland Sanders, from his business card, Corbin, Kentucky, late 1940s. Public domain.

The standings.

Top 10 states by score
RankStateStoresScoreReviews
1
Arizona177,771 reviews · 200 stores
2003.647177,771
2
New Jersey103,322 reviews · 123 stores
1233.645103,322
3
Hawaii14,683 reviews · 29 stores
293.63914,683
4
California630,680 reviews · 874 stores
8743.632630,680
5
West Virginia41,597 reviews · 73 stores
733.62141,597
6
Minnesota98,929 reviews · 101 stores
1013.61998,929
7
Nevada78,048 reviews · 86 stores
863.60378,048
8
Tennessee233,155 reviews · 261 stores
2613.591233,155
9
Maryland80,488 reviews · 102 stores
1023.59080,488
10
Wyoming10,833 reviews · 14 stores
143.58510,833
See all 51 states

Ties go to the state with more reviews per person (2020 Census).

Some places are farther from a chalupa than others.

The loneliest Taco Bell
133 miles

Presque Isle, Maine.

The store farthest from its nearest neighbor, in Bangor. It also sells fried chicken.

The closest pair
1,300 feet

New York, New York.

18 E. 14th Street and 545 6th Ave, as the crow flies.

The farthest point
193 miles

Montana.

Nowhere else in the lower 48 is farther from a Taco Bell. The nearest one is in Williston, North Dakota.

How's the one near you?

Your ZIP code and location stay in your browser. Distances from a ZIP code start at its center.