Craig Welch wrote:

> "For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
> failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
> Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
> fast food is definitely not on the menu.


If I'm in a bind and desperately needing food I'll take Taco Bell over
McDonald's any day... Three crunchy Tacos and one Bean Burrito w/extra
Red Sauce sure beats the hell out of a Big Mac with Fries... Burger King
ain't so bad by Fast Food Standards (well the Burgers anyway - the fries
still suck) but they seem to be disappearing all over town...

~john!


--
Say hello to the rug's topography...It holds quite a lot of interest
with your face down on it...

Craig Welch wrote:

> Different strokes ... you wouldn't find me at any of these chains.


As a broke college student I've eaten *much* worse... and honestly some
of the best fried chicken I've ever tried was purchased from a small gas
station in the ghetto... It's known as Kentucky Fried Texaco around
campus... some definite good eats...

~john!

--
Say hello to the rug's topography...It holds quite a lot of interest
with your face down on it...

"Craig Welch" > wrote in message
...
> From today's AFR:
>
> "For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
> failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
> Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
> fast food is definitely not on the menu.


Did they try beer tacos?


--
The generation that used acid to escape reality
Is now using antacid to deal with reality
http://www.dwacon.com

Craig Welch > wrote:
>"For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
>failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
>Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
>fast food is definitely not on the menu.

Taco Bell is successful in Mexico City.

>"Yum worked hard to make Taco Bell a success, regularly rejigging
>its menu, adding new products and running ad campaigns imported from
>the United States. Nothing worked. Sales were weak and p8urchase
>frequency - a key measure of success in the fast-food industry - was
>low."

Nachos Bellgrande' with Koala.

--Blair
"Third time's a charm."

"Craig Welch" > wrote in message
...
> From today's AFR:
>
> "For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
> failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
> Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
> fast food is definitely not on the menu.
>
> "Yum Restaurants, the second-bigges fast-food company in the world
> and owner of chains such as KFC and Pizza Hut, is dismantling its
> 14-store Taco Bell chain in Sydney.
>
> "Taco Bell first arrived in Australia in 1981, under the TAco Amigo
> brand (TAco Bell was already registered here). Sales were sluggish
> and the chain was closed in 1987. It was revived in 1998.
>
> <snip>
>
> "Yum worked hard to make Taco Bell a success, regularly rejigging
> its menu, adding new products and running ad campaigns imported from
> the United States. Nothing worked. Sales were weak and p8urchase
> frequency - a key measure of success in the fast-food industry - was
> low."
>
> ======================================
>
> Good riddance, says I!
>
> --
> Craig

Score 1 for the good guys.

Jack Repulse

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 14:01:19 +1000, Craig Welch >
wrote:

>From today's AFR:
>
>"For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
>failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
>Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
>fast food is definitely not on the menu.
>
>"Yum Restaurants, the second-bigges fast-food company in the world
>and owner of chains such as KFC and Pizza Hut, is dismantling its
>14-store Taco Bell chain in Sydney.

I thought PepsiCo owned KFC, Taco Hell, and Pizza Hut?

......Alan.

--
Curiosity killed the cat -
lack of it is killing mankind.

A.T. Hagan wrote:

> I thought PepsiCo owned KFC, Taco Hell, and Pizza Hut?

Yeah... that's what I've always thought too... It explains why Taco Hell
and Pizza Hut never serve Coke...

~john!

--
Say hello to the rug's topography...It holds quite a lot of interest
with your face down on it...

"levelwave" > wrote in message
...
> Craig Welch wrote:
>
> > Different strokes ... you wouldn't find me at any of these chains.
>
>
> As a broke college student I've eaten *much* worse... and honestly some
> of the best fried chicken I've ever tried was purchased from a small gas
> station in the ghetto... It's known as Kentucky Fried Texaco around
> campus... some definite good eats...
>
> ~john!
>
> --
> Say hello to the rug's topography...It holds quite a lot of interest
> with your face down on it...
>

I dont do a lo of fast food at all.. but when it comes down to it
there is NO burger better than those at Carl's Jr! FOr what its worth, I am
in the states and I think Taco Bell tastes like ass!

Hark! I heard levelwave > say:
> Craig Welch wrote:

> > Different strokes ... you wouldn't find me at any of these chains.

I try to avoid fast food, but I confess to eating my share at Arby's
and Taco Time (not Taco Bell).

> As a broke college student I've eaten *much* worse...

Microwaved Texaco burritos! Cheap and filling, but the day I
found a big hunk of paper in one, I decided they weren't worth
the dollar.

> and honestly some
> of the best fried chicken I've ever tried was purchased from a small gas
> station in the ghetto... It's known as Kentucky Fried Texaco around
> campus... some definite good eats...

Reminds me of a place in Lock Haven, PA called Suder's -- very good
fried chicken, also a gas station...


--
j.j. ~ mom, gamer, novice cook ~
...fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!

Hark! I heard say:
> On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 14:01:19 +1000, Craig Welch >
> wrote:
>
> >From today's AFR:
> >
> >"For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
> >failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
> >Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
> >fast food is definitely not on the menu.
> >
> >"Yum Restaurants, the second-bigges fast-food company in the world
> >and owner of chains such as KFC and Pizza Hut, is dismantling its
> >14-store Taco Bell chain in Sydney.
>
> I thought PepsiCo owned KFC, Taco Hell, and Pizza Hut?

I thought so too, so I started looking. If you go to Yum's website:

http://www.yum.com/investors/overview.htm

"History: Yum! Brands, Inc., became Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc.,
an independent, publicly owned company October 7, 1997, as a result of
a spin-off from PepsiCo, who owned, and franchised the KFC, Pizza Hut,
and Taco Bell brands worldwide. "

Still, according to Pepsi's 2000 Annual Report:

http://www.pepsico.com/investors/ann...00/pepsi.shtml

"In fountain beverages, Tricon Global Restaurants, our largest fountain
customer, signed a multi-year agreement to make Pepsi-Cola the preferred
beverage supplier for its system of 20,000 Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC
restaurants in the United States. "

So there you have it. And I really should be spending my time more
productively this morning... ;-)


--
j.j. ~ mom, gamer, novice cook ~
...fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!

"Blair P. Houghton" wrote:
>
> Craig Welch > wrote:
> >"For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
> >failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
> >Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
> >fast food is definitely not on the menu.
>
> Taco Bell is successful in Mexico City.

That doesn't suprise me one bit. American fast food would be interesting
to the locals.

>

Craig Welch wrote:
>
> From today's AFR:
>
> "For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
> failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
> Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
> fast food is definitely not on the menu.
>
>

It didn't last very long in the UK either, despite being placed in areas
with the highest number of American tourists.

On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 23:39:16 -0500, levelwave
> wrote:

> Craig Welch wrote:
>
> > "For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
> > failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
> > Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
> > fast food is definitely not on the menu.
>

Craig... can you inform me exactly WHAT Taco Bell has to do
with regular Mexican food? I've tried it, didn't like it...
can't cry over it failing in Australia. In fact the food
must be worse over there than here... that's the way fast
foods work. The farther they are from "home base", the
ickier they are.

Arri London > wrote:
>Craig Welch wrote:
>>
>> From today's AFR:
>>
>> "For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
>> failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
>> Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
>> fast food is definitely not on the menu.
>>
>>
>
>It didn't last very long in the UK either, despite being placed in areas
>with the highest number of American tourists.

They should have added Chicken Tikka Masala Grilled Stuffed Burritos.

--Blair
"Woulda killed."

Dan > wrote:

> I dont do a lo of fast food at all.. but when it comes down to it
> there is NO burger better than those at Carl's Jr! FOr what its worth, I am
> in the states and I think Taco Bell tastes like ass!

Carl's Jr seems to be mainly based in California though. As far as I know,
there aren't any Carl's Jr. restaurants here in the Philly area where I live.

sf > wrote:

> Craig... can you inform me exactly WHAT Taco Bell has to do
> with regular Mexican food? I've tried it, didn't like it...
> can't cry over it failing in Australia. In fact the food
> must be worse over there than here... that's the way fast
> foods work. The farther they are from "home base", the
> ickier they are.

For fast food, that's not always true. As far as I know, McDonalds
is based in the midwest somewhere, but I have tried McDonalds in
twice foreign countries (just to compare it to home) and in Finland
and Italy, they were the same, except maybe for a extra menu item
or two for regional variation. The biggest difference was in Italy,
the McDonalds I went into served breakfast all day, not just until
10:00 or 11:00am. The burgers and fries tasted identical to the
stuff McDonalds sells here in the states when I tried them in those
two countries.

A.T. Hagan -this> wrote:

> I thought PepsiCo owned KFC, Taco Hell, and Pizza Hut?

That was true some years ago. I believe about five years ago,
PepsiCo sold off its restaurant division and spun it off into
a company called Tricon Global Industries, which was later
renamed "Yum! Brands" to match its stock trading symbol. The
restaurants that operate under this company include Pizza Hut,
Taco Bell, and KFC, but also include Long John Silver's and
the A&W chain. See http://www.yum.com for details.

Arri London > wrote:
> Craig Welch wrote:
>>
>> From today's AFR:
>>
>> "For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
>> failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
>> Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
>> fast food is definitely not on the menu.
>>
>>

> It didn't last very long in the UK either, despite being placed in areas
> with the highest number of American tourists.

I don't understand why anyone would travel far from home for business
or personal purposes and eat at all the same restaurants they could when
they're at home. Sometimes, just to compare, I will eat at a chain restaurant
such as McDonalds or TGI Friday's when I am away from home, but it is not
the norm. My general rule of thumb when I travel is to do, see, and eat
things that I can't ordinarily do when I am at home since that's the entire
point of traveling, at least for personal reasons.

wrote:

> I don't understand why anyone would travel far from home for business
> or personal purposes and eat at all the same restaurants they could when
> they're at home.

It was kind of chilling to drive a third of the way across the
country, and all the same restaurants were around, and the mall had
all the same stores as the one near me.

> Sometimes, just to compare, I will eat at a chain restaurant
> such as McDonalds or TGI Friday's when I am away from home, but it is not
> the norm.

Actually came in handy when I was in Michigan, the first restaurant
I tried was some Mongolian Barbecue place and I hated it. Wound up
in TGIF and, to be honest, had a very decent meal. Sometimes a
familiar face, so to speak, comes in handy.

nancy

> wrote in message
...
: Dan > wrote:
:
: > I dont do a lo of fast food at all.. but when it
comes down to it
: > there is NO burger better than those at Carl's Jr! FOr what
its worth, I am
: > in the states and I think Taco Bell tastes like ass!
:
: Carl's Jr seems to be mainly based in California though. As far
as I know,
: there aren't any Carl's Jr. restaurants here in the Philly area
where I live.
========

In the midwest (at least) Carl Jr's was supposed to replace ALL
of the Hardee's. Within about a year, however, the names and the
menus went back to Hardee's. I don't remember why it switched
back... maybe money, management, 'messy' advertising... dunno.

--
Cyndi
<Remove a "b" to reply>

Nancy Young wrote:

> wrote:
>
> > I don't understand why anyone would travel far from home for business
> > or personal purposes and eat at all the same restaurants they could when
> > they're at home.

Basically, I agree with the above, but will, occasionally, eat at one of
the chain restaurants the first night I'm in a new place (and am tired
after the trip) so I don't have the additional job of making a dining
decision.

>
>
> It was kind of chilling to drive a third of the way across the
> country, and all the same restaurants were around, and the mall had
> all the same stores as the one near me.
>
> > Sometimes, just to compare, I will eat at a chain restaurant
> > such as McDonalds or TGI Friday's when I am away from home, but it is not
> > the norm.

I collect McDonalds around the world. When I'm out of the country,
I'll eat in a McDonalds once just to see what they've done to
accommodate the local culture.

I collect Chinese restaurants, too.

I've eaten in McDonalds and Chinese restaurants in London, Paris,
Copenhagen, Rome, Venice (not McDonalds), Brussels, Sydney,
Melbourne, and Wellington.

The best Chinese restaurant I've ever eaten at was in Rome.

>
>
> Actually came in handy when I was in Michigan, the first restaurant
> I tried was some Mongolian Barbecue place and I hated it. Wound up
> in TGIF and, to be honest, had a very decent meal. Sometimes a
> familiar face, so to speak, comes in handy.
>
> nancy

--
Tom Royer
Lead Engineer, Software Test
The MITRE Corporation
202 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730
Voice: (781) 271-8399
Cell: (978) 290-2086
FAX: (781) 271-8500


"If you're not free to fail, you're not free." --Gene Burns

On 3 Dec 2003 14:24:30 GMT, wrote:

>I don't understand why anyone would travel far from home for business
>or personal purposes and eat at all the same restaurants they could when
>they're at home. Sometimes, just to compare, I will eat at a chain restaurant
>such as McDonalds or TGI Friday's when I am away from home, but it is not
>the norm. My general rule of thumb when I travel is to do, see, and eat
>things that I can't ordinarily do when I am at home since that's the entire
>point of traveling, at least for personal reasons.

Consistency. Familiarity. Particularly if you travel with kids, I
imagine. You know what's available and what it tastes (or doesn't)
like. And not all people are foodies. A colleague of mine visited the
part of the Bay area I was most familiar with, and I loaded him up
with recommendations, from fish'n'chips to the best Chinese to a
Hungarian deli to a little French bistro. You know what he did? Went
to the grocery store and bought fruit and crackers he could eat in his
room!

wrote:

> Carl's Jr seems to be mainly based in California though. As far as I know,
> there aren't any Carl's Jr. restaurants here in the Philly area where I live.


I've heard "In-N-Out Burger" out of California is supposed to be the
Holy Grail of Fast Food... never eaten there though...

~john!


--
What was it like to see - the face of your own stability - suddenly look
away...

levelwave wrote:
>
> wrote:
>
> > Carl's Jr seems to be mainly based in California though. As far as I know,
> > there aren't any Carl's Jr. restaurants here in the Philly area where I live.
>
> I've heard "In-N-Out Burger" out of California is supposed to be the
> Holy Grail of Fast Food... never eaten there though...

I've made their burgers, check out http://www.topsecretrecipes.com
(I hope I spelled that correctly). Not too shabby, indeed.

nancy

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 17:07:18 GMT, "Rick & Cyndi"
> wrote:

> wrote in message
...
>: Dan > wrote:
>:
>: > I dont do a lo of fast food at all.. but when it
>comes down to it
>: > there is NO burger better than those at Carl's Jr! FOr what
>its worth, I am
>: > in the states and I think Taco Bell tastes like ass!
>:
>: Carl's Jr seems to be mainly based in California though. As far
>as I know,
>: there aren't any Carl's Jr. restaurants here in the Philly area
>where I live.
>========
>
>In the midwest (at least) Carl Jr's was supposed to replace ALL
>of the Hardee's. Within about a year, however, the names and the
>menus went back to Hardee's. I don't remember why it switched
>back... maybe money, management, 'messy' advertising... dunno.

Can't say about the Midwest, but here in the South Hardees has been
around a long time and they're known quantity. Carl Jr.'s would be an
unknown and that would work against them. Most especially since
Hardees is often the first (many times only) chain restaurant to open
in a small town. Except for their chicken biscuits I don't care for
them myself, but I've eaten at many a Hardees since they were the only
game in town often enough.

......Alan.

--
Curiosity killed the cat -
lack of it is killing mankind.

A.T. Hagan wrote:

> Can't say about the Midwest, but here in the South Hardees has been
> around a long time and they're known quantity. Carl Jr.'s would be an
> unknown and that would work against them. Most especially since
> Hardees is often the first (many times only) chain restaurant to open
> in a small town. Except for their chicken biscuits I don't care for
> them myself, but I've eaten at many a Hardees since they were the only
> game in town often enough.


How annoying are those new commercials they've been running for the new
"Thick Burger"?... I actually get angry when I see these...

"Ray"
I said, "Yes Boss?"
he said, "Well your gettin' lunch all week"

~john!

--
What was it like to see - the face of your own stability - suddenly look
away...

wrote:
>
> Arri London > wrote:
> > Craig Welch wrote:
> >>
> >> From today's AFR:
> >>
> >> "For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
> >> failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
> >> Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
> >> fast food is definitely not on the menu.
> >>
> >>
>
> > It didn't last very long in the UK either, despite being placed in areas
> > with the highest number of American tourists.
>
> I don't understand why anyone would travel far from home for business
> or personal purposes and eat at all the same restaurants they could when
> they're at home. Sometimes, just to compare, I will eat at a chain restaurant
> such as McDonalds or TGI Friday's when I am away from home, but it is not
> the norm. My general rule of thumb when I travel is to do, see, and eat
> things that I can't ordinarily do when I am at home since that's the entire
> point of traveling, at least for personal reasons.

That's you though. The majority of American fast-food places in London
are heavily used by Americn tourists. If the tourists didn't patronise
those places, the trade would be very much lower. Dunkin Donuts also
failed in a heavily-touristed part of London, as did Arby's.

Frogleg wrote:

> On 3 Dec 2003 14:24:30 GMT, wrote:
>
> >I don't understand why anyone would travel far from home for business
> >or personal purposes and eat at all the same restaurants they could when
> >they're at home. Sometimes, just to compare, I will eat at a chain restaurant
> >such as McDonalds or TGI Friday's when I am away from home, but it is not
> >the norm. My general rule of thumb when I travel is to do, see, and eat
> >things that I can't ordinarily do when I am at home since that's the entire
> >point of traveling, at least for personal reasons.
>
> Consistency. Familiarity. Particularly if you travel with kids, I
> imagine. You know what's available and what it tastes (or doesn't)
> like. And not all people are foodies.

It is amazing how people flock to the familiar. Personally, I don't get it. I have
eaten at MacDonalds, Burger King and most of the other franchises, and I know what
to expect. IMO, it is low quality food that tests my intestinal fortitude.

I have only eaten at Taco Bell once. I was on the way home from an afternoon shift
and had not eaten any dinner. I stopped in and got a beef burrito then went home
to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with horrible stomach cramps. I was
never inspired to go back to that place again.

When I travel, I prefer to try something new, especially when travelling in
different countries. I see no point in going a long way just to sit in a fast food
that is a clone to the one I can go to at home and to eat the same wretched food.


> A colleague of mine visited the
> part of the Bay area I was most familiar with, and I loaded him up
> with recommendations, from fish'n'chips to the best Chinese to a
> Hungarian deli to a little French bistro. You know what he did? Went
> to the grocery store and bought fruit and crackers he could eat in his
> room!

He sounds thrifty. That may or may not be a good thing.

In article >,
levelwave > wrote:

> > Carl's Jr seems to be mainly based in California though. As far as I know,
> > there aren't any Carl's Jr. restaurants here in the Philly area where I
> > live.
>
>
> I've heard "In-N-Out Burger" out of California is supposed to be the
> Holy Grail of Fast Food... never eaten there though...

I have ... and "In-N-Out" beats Carl's Jr. by a mile. Or two. Much
better taste, much better execution. Carl's Jr. reminds me of Hardee's
(for good reason); In-N-Out is an original.

sd

On 3 Dec 2003 14:14:17 GMT, wrote:

> Dan > wrote:
>
> > I dont do a lo of fast food at all.. but when it comes down to it
> > there is NO burger better than those at Carl's Jr! FOr what its worth, I am
> > in the states and I think Taco Bell tastes like ass!
>
> Carl's Jr seems to be mainly based in California though. As far as I know,
> there aren't any Carl's Jr. restaurants here in the Philly area where I live.

I'm shocked. Really!

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 19:37:56 -0500, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>Frogleg wrote:
>
>> On 3 Dec 2003 14:24:30 GMT, wrote:

>> A colleague of mine visited the
>> part of the Bay area I was most familiar with, and I loaded him up
>> with recommendations, from fish'n'chips to the best Chinese to a
>> Hungarian deli to a little French bistro. You know what he did? Went
>> to the grocery store and bought fruit and crackers he could eat in his
>> room!
>
>He sounds thrifty. That may or may not be a good thing.

Forgot to mention it was a business trip with expenses or a meal
allowance.. Although perhaps he *was* trying to save a little extra.
But I really think it was a total lack of interest in food
opportunities. The places I'd mentioned were mostly quite modestly
priced.

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 17:46:48 -0500, levelwave >
wrote:

>A.T. Hagan wrote:
>
>> Can't say about the Midwest, but here in the South Hardees has been
>> around a long time and they're known quantity. Carl Jr.'s would be an
>> unknown and that would work against them. Most especially since
>> Hardees is often the first (many times only) chain restaurant to open
>> in a small town. Except for their chicken biscuits I don't care for
>> them myself, but I've eaten at many a Hardees since they were the only
>> game in town often enough.
>
>
>How annoying are those new commercials they've been running for the new
>"Thick Burger"?... I actually get angry when I see these...
>
>"Ray"
>I said, "Yes Boss?"
>he said, "Well your gettin' lunch all week"
>
>~john!

One of the prime advantages of NOT watching television is that I don't
have to see the television commercials.

......Alan.

--
Curiosity killed the cat -
lack of it is killing mankind.

Frogleg wrote:

>
> >He sounds thrifty. That may or may not be a good thing.
>
> Forgot to mention it was a business trip with expenses or a meal
> allowance.. Although perhaps he *was* trying to save a little extra.
> But I really think it was a total lack of interest in food
> opportunities. The places I'd mentioned were mostly quite modestly
> priced.

He was on an expense account and ate fruit and crackers instead of going out
for meals? Thrifty, yes, but not the good kind. When I travel for work I am
on a limited expense account. It would not cover meals in most hotels, since
most of them are outrageously inflated, but I can eat quite well at
moderately priced places. And since I would have to pay for the food I eat at
home anyway, I often splurge and pay the difference.

You friend sounds like he would fit in the same category as a former
co-worker I posted about earlier who goes out with others but forgets his
wallet, gets them to pay, collects the expense account and fails to pay them
back. Such cheapness is a fault for which I have zero tolerance.

> Craig Welch wrote:
>
> > "For the second time in 22 years, the American Taco Bell chain has
> > failed in Australia, showing that Australians might like eating in
> > Mexican restaurants and cooking Mexican meals at home, but Mexican
> > fast food is definitely not on the menu.
>
They should have put beetroot in the tacos.