We visited NC’s only Del Taco. Here’s a list of what we ate, from best to worst
The one and only Del Taco in North Carolina opened last month in Durham. The next closest is nearly 200 miles away.
Ostensibly a fast food joint aimed at the heart of Taco Bell, we found something more than that.
The Del Taco menu is a vast, sometimes confusing, often appealing slice of America’s favorite things.
There are tacos, of course — starting with the middle school style of beef, lettuce and cheese in a crunch hard shell. And burritos, quesadillas, massive plates of nachos. But also cheeseburgers and doughnuts and award-winning crinkle cut fries.
In Durham, there’s the Del Taco that is and the Del Taco that will soon be. Meaning a notable breakfast menu of tacos and burritos is still on the way. When we went, the doors closed at 10 p.m., not the bleary (future) late-night hours of 3 and 4 a.m.
We joined the many curious Del Taco diners this week, stopping by to find out how far we could stretch $25 at North Carolina’s newest fast food chain.
How it works
In the On a Budget column, we try to make the most of a meal with $25 out the door, inclusive of taxes and tip.
At Del Taco, $25 goes a long way. I managed to cobble together seven different items for $24.11 and somehow still left hungry. Not for food, I was hurting by the end. But for the bites I left behind. (Menu FOMO is chronic for me.)
Here’s what I managed to get, ranked from best to worst.
What to get at Del Taco
1. Beer-battered crispy fish taco ($3.19): After chatting with an employee in the parking lot, I was told the fish tacos are Del Taco’s very best thing — and I’m here to affirm that is true. Crispy and light batter, clean-tasting fish, pleasant crunch from the cabbage. Pico and the “special sauce” don’t do a lot of work here, but overall a solid fish taco.
2. Queso loaded nachos ($6.89): This is a giant, bar-worthy spread of nachos, assembled in a tower and layered with seasoned ground beef, queso, tomatoes and studded with pickled jalapenos. Somewhat oddly, Del Taco doesn’t offer their tortilla chips as a side, only as plates of nachos. But let’s be honest, nachos are the best.
. Steak street taco ($2.99): The combination of grilled marinated meat, chopped white onions and cilantro remains undefeated. The eponymous “Del Taco” is the other kind, the hard shell filled with ground beef, lettuce, tomato and shredded cheese. That Del Taco offers street tacos at all should be applauded, and these are fine. The steak is flavorful if chewy, the salsa verde adds a bright punch. But it wouldn’t be hard to find a far better steak street taco for less money along NC-55.
4. Mini-Churros ($1.99): I love the feeling of coarse sugar and cinnamon coating my fingertips, and these churros are absolutely covered in sugar and spice. Light and crispy, these churros are pleasantly fried, but a little dry. A chocolate or caramel dipping sauce would go a long way.
5. Chrunchtada ($2.09): I think this is where I started to go wrong. In form, this tostada is excellent, a flat crispy tortilla topped with beans, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. I should have gone with chicken here, I should have added guacamole, which a Del Taco employee said is made in the restaurant. But I became flustered by the ordering kiosk and the many customizable options and instead ordered the most basic tostada, pushing ever closer to our $25 threshold.
6. Crinkle cut fries ($3.09): Fries are ephemeral. The moments out of the fryer, still glistening with oil and sprinkled with salt, those are crucial seconds. The crinks already have a reputation, often falling short of their crispy ideal, but still I wave the banner for them as tops among fry shapes. Maybe it was our fault, maybe we waited too long to reach for the fries after trying tacos. But it was too late, I’m afraid. The fries had gone soggy. To be fair, the seasoning was right on, but the eating experience was like well-seasoned potato wedges.
7. Bean and cheese burrito with green sauce ($2.19): My final mistake. Del Taco has a line of Epic Burritos, truly large burritos that compete with the likes of chipotle. These are also expensive. I was happily building a burrito meal with a side of fries and a drink and noticed that it was $14. In finding a new burrito I went with beans and cheese. The flavors are fine, even better dotted with hot sauce. But bean and cheese burritos suffer from textural nothingness. There is no crunch or chew, there is only softness.
Del Taco vs. Taco Bell
In North Carolina, as the only similar fast food option, Taco Bell is the obvious comparison for Del Taco. But they end up being quite different, Taco Bell leaning into cartoonish-level spectacle (hey, I’m here for it) like the iconic Crunchwrap Supreme and Cheesy Gordita Crunch.
Del Taco is more straightforward. The tacos are more traditional, and the flavors are even a bit cleaner. I just need to get back and try those fries again.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 4:15 PM with the headline "We visited NC’s only Del Taco. Here’s a list of what we ate, from best to worst."
