Glen Bell was inspired to open Taco Bell after eating a traditionally made hard shell taco at Mitla Cafe in San Bernardino (still open today). Mitla Cafe opened on Route 66 in 1937. Taco Bell opened in 1962 in San Bernardino only a few blocks away from the first McDonald’s which opened in 1940. 

Taco Bell offered burritos, tacos, chili burgers, tostados and frijoles for 19 cents each. I worked at Taco Bell in California in the late 1990s and the taco was 29 cents and bean burrito was 39 cents. Today, the location I worked at sells tacos for $1.99 and bean burritos for $2.69. Minimum wage in California in 1962 was $1. In the mid 1990s it was $4.25, then they scheduled a raise up to $5.75, raising it to $4.75 in 1996 and ending at $5.75 in 1998. Currently California has a unique fast food minimum wage of $20, with minimum wage for all other jobs being $16.