Retro Scottsdale Taco Bell closing this week, marks end of an era

Kathy Casey ate her first taco at a Taco Bell in Scottsdale. Her family had moved from Wisconsin to the Valley and, as a Coronado High School student in the mid-1970s, Taco Bell was one of the hangouts.

This week, 50 years after that first, crunchy bite, Kathy made a special visit to the fast taco joint with her now-husband Tim Casey, the man who took her there in the first place.

“That’s why she married me,” Tim quips.

The couple made the drive from Chandler for two reasons. First, they wanted to say goodbye to the nearly 60-year-old restaurant, which will close on Friday. They also went to celebrate some news they learned earlier in the day: after a second bout with cancer, Kathy is cancer-free.

They headed straight to their old high school hangout, the 24/7 Taco Bell that sits on McDowell Road near Hayden Road.

“Where else would you go to celebrate something like that but Taco Bell?” Tim says, and the pair breaks into laughter.

The restaurant is special, and not just because it’s played host to countless life events. The Scottsdale Taco Bell is store No. 31. It is the last vintage cantina in Arizona and one of less than 10 nationwide that serves architectural nostalgia with its Crunchwrap Supremes.
The brick building is painted sunset orange and beige. It boasts a Spanish tile roof, and at the top is a curved belfry, though there’s no bell inside. Out front, a patio faces the street, along with a sign featuring the 1980s-era yellow bell logo. Tables inside and out have a 1970s color palette – rich brown with a trio of blue, orange and red stripes cutting through.

Sitting on the restaurant’s patio, as slits of light shine through the pergola, Tim paints a picture of the surrounding area in decades past. Dairy farms were on the north side of McDowell Road, with Taco Bell and other fast food restaurants like A&W and some industrial businesses on the south side. The Los Arcos Mall, which was demolished in 2000, was just half a mile away.

“I spent a lot of time here,” Tim says. “This is where we grew up.”

Since those early high school visits, the Caseys have watched the Valley evolve.

“Over time, all this stuff has changed, or grown or been replaced, but this stayed the same,” Tim says, seated in one of the patio’s vibrant teal metal swivel chairs.

The Caseys weren’t the only people there to say goodbye to the rare decades-old building.

A steady stream of people walked into the small restaurant, ordering from digital kiosks and tucking into the few nooks and crannies around the three indoor tables, waiting for their orders. Outside, people took photos and videos in front of the Taco Bell sign.
Andrew Chi and his husband Andrew Spokes rode their electric bikes from their Scottsdale home to have lunch at the retro Taco Bell. They like the staff and enjoy indulging in a craving a few times a month. Spokes shared his surprise at how bustling it was on Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s crazy to see so many people here today,” he says.

As customers enjoyed lunch at the retro Taco Bell, on the east side of 79th Street, a crew was working on the sparkling new Taco Bell. It will replace its aging kin. The new-build is a sleek, modern “millennial gray” edifice, as described by the X account itsallphoenix. There’s a patio, more parking and certainly more room inside.

Chi and Spokes acknowledge that the newer, bigger Taco Bell will be better for the folks who work at the restaurant. There will be more places to sit inside during the hot summer months and the bathrooms will be inside, too, not around the side of the building as the are at store No. 31.

“It’s kind of sad to see it go, but I understand why new buildings are needed,” Spokes says.

Customers traded stories and speculated what may happen with the building. The fate of the cantina is unclear. Desert De Oro Foods – which operates the restaurant, along with more than 350 Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants across nine states – did not comment on the future of the space.

Taco Bell shared a statement confirming the closure and explaining the staff from the Scottsdale location will all move to the new building.

"While it's bittersweet to say goodbye, it’s also a chance to say thank you," the statement said. "Thank you to generations of people who helped make this spot more than just a place to grab tacos."


Chi says he knew the new Taco Bell was coming, but now that it’s happening, he’ll miss the character of the vintage space.

“Taco Bell should have cashed in on the nostalgia and went with it,” Chi says. “The charm, the nostalgia, the architecture for a building like this, it has a lot of unique features.”

Customers like Tim Casey and Chi noted that the end of this Taco Bell era is perhaps just another sign of an ever-changing city.

One thing that hasn’t changed much? The Caseys’ orders. Tim ordered a Crunchy Taco and a Burrito Supreme, while Kathy got a Crunchy Taco with a Bean Burrito – the same order she placed on her first visit.

“This was such a part of our personal history,” Tim says, noting that after they moved to the East Valley, they took their two children to a Taco Bell that cropped up there.

“Wow," Kathy says, "it has been a real thread through our lives.”

Taco Bell

Closes Friday
7847 E. McDowell Road, Scottsdale