<p class="ingestion featured-caption">Taco Bell has a new Decades menu, celebrating fan-favorite items from the past.Courtesy of Taco Bell</p><ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trying-all-taco-bell-burritos-best-and-worst-review-photos">Taco Bell</a> is reviving five menu items from past decades for a limited time.</li><li>The nostalgic menu includes items like the Tostada, Meximelt, and Gordita Supreme.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taco-bell-superfan-getaway-cantinas-2024-9">Taco Bell</a> is the latest fast-food brand to bank on nostalgia, with a new limited-time menu featuring five fan-favorite items from the past.</p><p>When the <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-restaurants-then-and-now-2016-1">first Taco Bell restaurant opened</a> in Downey, California, in 1962, it offered just five menu items: frijoles, tostadas, burritos, tacos, and a chili burger. The menu has undergone multiple changes since, often removing and re-releasing fan-favorites like Mexican Pizza.</p><p>Now, Taco Bell is hoping to evoke a sense of nostalgia in customers with its new "Decades" menu that features five of its previously <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-menu-items-cut-pandemic-havent-come-back-2024-8">discontinued items</a>.</p><p>The menu, which was released on Thursday, includes the Tostada from the original 1960s menu, the Green Sauce Burrito from the '70s, the Meximelt from the '80s, the '90s-era Gordita Supreme, and the Caramel Apple Empanada of the 2000s.</p><p>This isn't the first time a fast-food chain has leaned into nostalgia in a bid to win over customers.</p><p>Wendy's recently launched a collaboration with Paramount, which owns Nickelodeon, and "SpongeBob SquarePants," to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary with a <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/review-wendys-spongebob-squarepants-krabby-patty-burger-and-shake-2024-10">limited-edition burger inspired by the Krabby Patty</a> and a pineapple-flavored milkshake.</p><p>It came on the heels of McDonald's launching limited-edition cups inspired by iconic Happy Meal toys and its <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-grimace-milkshake-review-flavor-2023-6">viral Grimace-themed shake</a>, which paid homage to the character that was first introduced in the 1970s.</p><p>Additionally, in 2021, Burger King <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-redesigned-logo-and-signs-with-whopper-2021-1">rebranded for the first time in 20 years</a>, returning to a design reminiscent of its '70s and '80s branding.</p><p><a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brands-like-chips-ahoy-burger-king-are-leaning-on-nostalgia-2020-10">Nostalgia can pay off</a>. In July 2023, McDonald's reported the Grimace shake helped boost sales by more than 10% during the quarter the campaign launched, while <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90665634/burger-king-rebrand-innovation-by-design-2021">Fast Company</a> reported that in the days after Burger King's rebrand, customer visits increased by 39%.</p><p>We tried four items on Taco Bell's new Decades menu (the Caramel Apple Empanada will be released on November 21) and ranked them from our least favorite to our favorite.</p>