Reminiscing with colleagues whose roots lay in big cities like New York and Boston, Alex Finkel spoke with excessive fondness toward his childhood spent in and around Delphos, Ohio’s Taco Bell.
“Some of my best days were spent hanging out with my best friends, slurping down Burrito Supremes at that particular Taco Bell,” said Finkel, countering Charlie Stone’s stories of days spent watching the Red Sox at Fenway Park with his father.
One small piece of the Taco Bell franchise, with its generic pink and purple color scheme, lay on the perimeter of small-town Delphos while Finkel was in his early teens. “I used to walk there almost every day after school with my friends, and when we could drive we would sometimes go there at lunch hours and just hang out without ordering anything,” said Finkel.
“I remember the first time I went in there with my dad, it had just been built, and they were running this deal where with the purchase of a three-piece meal you got a stuffed Chihuahua,” Finkel said. “It was one of the most joyful times we spent together.”
After Stone explained his longing for an aquarium that could compete with New England’s, Finkel replied that he understood the desire, having been unable to find a Taco Bell that could rival his “hometown’s pride and joy.” Finkel said, “Even after they built new neighborhoods, and planted trees exactly three feet apart in every lawn, that Taco Bell remained the same. I called her ‘Old Faithful.’”
“My first kiss happened in a Buick outside that Taco Bell—I wrote my college application essay in a booth there,” said Finkel. “I hope one day I can take my kids there, God willing the franchise stays afloat.”
