SLO’s first Taco Bell was a late-night haven for students — and this famous rock band
Outdoor dining is popular these days.
In the late 20th century, the most popular outdoor dining spot in San Luis Obispo was the Taco Bell on Santa Rosa Street.
For a time, the faux Alamo brick building housed the highest grossing Taco Bell location in the nation.
Located near student housing for Cal Poly and Cuesta Cuesta, San Luis Obispo’s first Taco Bell offered cheap, fast Mexican food and uncomfortable concrete benches — as well as a chance to see and be seen on one of the city’s main drags. It didn’t hurt that the eatery was on the way to Highway 1 and Big Sur.
There weren’t many all-night hangouts in San Luis Obispo when Taco Bell opened on Santa Rosa Street in the late 1960s. The city practically rolled up sidewalks at night, which perhaps accounts for the anagram of the restaurant’s name — Late Bloc.
There’s an often shared photo of the classic rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival eating at the Taco Bell on Aug, 2, 1968, attributed to Gerald Gaxiola.
The old Taco Bell building is still there but the business moved around the time the Bell Beefer fell off the menu.
Dan Parker wrote this story, published in the Telegram-Tribune on Feb 6, 1990.
Taco Bell tolls for a Poly hangout
When Dave Hauxhurst recalls his most cherished college experiences, he will picture himself shivering in the cold beneath a big, glowing sombrero at 3 a.m., chomping on fast food.
For Hauxhurst and others, Taco Bell at 281 Santa Rosa St. isn’t just a place where tostadas are slapped together. It’s a tradition, a florescent, light-bathed haven for a generation of late-night student partiers.
But, in a few weeks, the eatery will notch its last nacho. It will close for good in favor of a new building opening the same day, just 100 yards down the street.
“A lot of my memories from the dorms — the late-night snack runs — will be taken away,” Hauxhurst lamented. “I think a lot of the students will miss that.”
The old Taco Bell has grossed more money than any other Taco Bell restaurant in the nation, according to its owner. But that isn’t what matters to the restaurant’s regular customers.
Ever since it opened in 1967, the Taco Bell has been one of only a few all-night restaurants near Cal Poly. It has developed into THE rendezvous point for worn-out, late-night students.
“Everyone meets at Taco Bell,” said Frank Warren, who graduated Cal Poly in December. “If you’ve ever been there at 3 a.m. on a Saturday night, then you know.”
The Taco Bell has become so entrenched in campus life that it is a stop on the tours for new students.
Students like Warren doesn’t seem to mind the cold nights and limited seating — a few cold stone benches.
For many, munching enchiritos in the breeze is part of the allure.
“Outside, it just seems so much more relaxed,” said Hauxhurst, a 22-year-old Cal Poly student. “It’s more of a college lifestyle.”
“It’s more casual,” said Susan Veazey, a Cal Poly graduate who also doesn’t want the old place to close. “I can bring my dog.”
For former students like Veazey, it is a source of nostalgia. Last August, Taco Bell was part of a “mini-reunion” she had with some former classmates.
“Even when we were eating dinner that night, we knew we were going to Taco Bell at 2 a.m.,” said Veazey, who graduated in 1983.
Of course, not all of its customers are ready to enshrine the restaurant in the fast-food hall of fame.
In fact, some see it as “Taco Hell” — a place where their burritos get rained on before they can get to their car.
Graduate student Julie Hansen is looking forward to the day the old place refries its last bean.
Interviewed Monday as she sat on a bench outside the Taco Bell, Hansen said eating in an enclosed dining room will be far more bearable on winter days.
“I’d rather have the convenience,” Hansen said, shivering as she sipped on a soft drink.
Hansen’s companion, graduate student Chris Castillo, agreed. He said he won’t care if the place is demolished.
“This isn’t any great piece of architecture,” Castillo said, glancing at the brick building.
The building won’t come down though, said Tom Stenovec, co-owner of the franchise. Negotiations are underway with representatives of three or four different businesses that might go into the old building, he said.
Two Taco Bells couldn’t survive in the same block, said Stenovec.
He said he decided to build the new Taco Bell mainly to provide indoor seating.
“We’ve done some research,” he said, and consumer preference is something more convenient —a dining room. We’re losing a lot of business because people want a place to eat their lunch.”
When it rained Saturday night, the old Taco Bell got only 75% of the business it normally gets, Stenovec added.
But the new restaurant might set new records because it is expected to be able to serve twice as many people as the old one.
Stenovec has some consolation for those saddened to see the old Taco Bell close. The new one will have lower prices.
