We Tried Taco Bell's New Rattlesnake Fries (and Burrito!). Here's Our Full Report.

Courtesy of Taco Bell
Courtesy of Taco Bell

Taco Bell changes their menus with such frequency that it’s hard to keep up with what’s new, popular, and in this month’s $5 meal deal (today there’s a Nacho Fries box, double cheesy gordita crunch, and chalupa cravings box). That being said, I honestly can’t complain; Taco Bell -- regardless of what’s currently on their menu -- always provides the beefy, melty, cheesy meals I crave incessantly. This is why I was excited to try their new Rattlesnake Fries: a loaded, spiced fry plate topped with steak, nacho cheese, a creamy jalapeño sauce, and a bunch of sliced up jalapeños. It’s a combination of all things I love neatly packaged into a perfect little platter.

The Rattlesnake Fries also come wrapped up in a Rattlesnake Burrito -- vaguely reminiscent of the California burritos I get at home, stuffed with french fries and cheese -- if you’re into carrying your fry platter to go.

So what was my take on the new Rattlesnake options, which allegedly don’t play when it comes to spice levels?

The Fries

Opening up this little box of loaded fries was a bit… underwhelming. The steak definitely didn’t look as succulent as the pictures (do they ever?) and the platter overall wasn’t as “loaded” as I had hoped. But alas, we eat with our taste buds more than our eyes and the only way to truly gauge the Rattlesnake Fries was to dig in.

And dig in, I did! The fries weren’t exactly crispy, and the fact that they were doused in cheese and sauce didn’t make them any less mushy. That being said, they still tasted…  good? Certainly passable. I mean, it’s hard to go wrong with meat, cheese, steak, cream sauce, and jalapeños lobbed together over french fries.

The steak was definitely a bit rubbery and didn’t have any grill marks, but it’s Taco Bell; I wasn’t expecting a carefully seared filet mignon or anything. I liked the jalapeños cream sauce, which had a mild heat, but it sometimes got lost in the nacho cheese sauce. It wasn’t as spicy as I had anticipated, what with the name being Rattlesnake Fries (but honestly, I’m not sure what that name is even supposed to suggest, which Thrillist noted back in 2018, saying, “the hilarious names of these seasoned starch sticks tell you absolutely nothing about what they are”).

The Burrito

The Rattlesnake Burrito did not end up being an improvement on the Rattlesnake Fries. The burrito is genuinely the fry platter stuffed into a tortilla, which sounds like it’d be awesome, but you’re sometimes just biting into big mouthfuls of jalapeños. And I love jalapeños as much as the next person, but I don’t generally like eating just a plain bite of jalapeños.

I think the burrito could be improved if it also had rice and beans in it -- something to make it a bit more substantial so you’re not just eating steak, french fries, and jalapeños with a light bathing of melted cheese and creamy jalapeño sauce. If you don’t like spicy food or peppers, I would definitely not recommend this to you; it’s full of jalapeños and you will, without a doubt, get at least one jalapeño per bite.

The Conclusion

If I had to choose between the two, I’d rather go for the Rattlesnake Fries. You can control the amount of jalapeños you get in each bite so you’re not just downing pickled jalapeños left and right. The fries in the platter also aren’t as soggy as the ones in the burrito -- perhaps because they have a bit more room to breathe and aren’t being squashed in a tortilla doused in creamy sauce and cheese. By the end of my meal, I had finished all the fries, steak, and burrito, but left behind a couple jalapeños because it got to be a bit too much.

Would I personally order these again? Probably not. For the price to flavor ratio (each item rings in at $2.99), I’d rather go for my longtime favorite, a Crunchwrap Supreme, or see what other options are available through the $5 meal deal.
But if you love eating jalapeños smothered with cheese, a gentle sprinkling of steak, and french fries, then by all means scamper out to a Taco Bell and try the Rattlesnake offerings out. Like much of Taco Bell’s menu, they’re only available for a limited time -- so hurry!

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Kat Thompson is a staff food writer at Thrillist. She thinks the most reliable foods at Taco Bell are the Crunchwrap Supreme and caramel apple empanada. Tweet her your favorite Taco Bell order @katthompsonn