“When will they crunch-wrap-up the construction?” asked one eager student.
Photo by Dylan Schmidt
According to Kay Sadilla, manager of the Taco Bell at UC San Diego’s Price Center — the only taco restaurant UCSD has hosted in its 65 years of establishment — students will “have to find a new restaurant to spend their Tuesdays at.” This comes after an announcement that the location will be closing for “significant renovations” starting Fall 2026 in order to add “absolutely crucial amenities to the site.”
According to Price Center Director Owta Tuch, “Students should be grateful that we are working so hard to improve one of their favorite spaces on campus.” The franchise is scheduled to reopen in Winter 2027.
Students had split opinions on the decision. Second-year Korpo Boutlikker commented, “It sucks, but at least I’ll get to play in the ball pit before I graduate.” Others shared similar excitement for the new developments, which will include a ‘make-your-own’ tortilla press, a wood-fired Mexican Pizza oven, and a life-sized statue of company founder, Glen Bell. An anonymous religious studies student claimed that he would “likely bust” upon seeing the new multicolored stained glass dome on the roof, “meant to cast perfect beams of sunlight which would hit each tortilla as orders are served to hungry students.”
Other students report being less optimistic about the renovations. “I just don’t see why a taco joint needs to install gold-plated ionic columns,” stated Peter Renthai, professor of art history. “Corinthian would be much more period-appropriate.” In response to backlash about the “modest” planned displays of taco-wealth, officials have claimed that “students are just too afraid of any meaningful deviation from the status quo.”
Public opinion remains split, and according to a recent poll, is likely to stay that way until construction is completed in Spring 2028. “Why does the only place I trust to make authentic tacos have to go under construction? And why the hell are people saying it isn’t real Mexican food?” lamented Jacob Chiis, a first-year Chicanx and Latinx studies minor.
More controversially, in order to make space for the new AI-powered seating area, the renovations will require the removal of the concept of a dedicated office space for a campus organization. Construction director John Muir (no relation) holds that “UCSD is constantly looking for better ways to serve our students, and sometimes that means we need to make some teeny-tiny, metaphysical sacrifices.” In response to several other grievances about the projected restaurant updates, a group of students were seen picketing outside of the construction for two hours last Tuesday, with signs that read “Taco Villains!”, and “Stop the Waste!” A Price Center representative responded to these demands by promising to “move the production timeline up one month by cutting unnecessary additions.” Reportedly a “nuclear fusion electricity generator” and “Taco Teleporter” were among the scrapped ideas.
Tuch concluded her statement by adding that a new brass bell addition to adorn the roof will “finally solve the fundamental contradiction of being a student at UCSD, the fact that the hourly bell rings from Geisel Library, and not Taco Bell.” Students can anticipate a new, yet familiar, hourly sound in Summer 2029, sure to spark “salivation” in passerby.
Kay Sadilla affirmed that “only the most pressing and urgent renovations are being made in order to prevent unnecessary spending. Price Center and UCSD’s focus is always on the students first.” Preliminary estimates predict that construction will cost about $20.4 million, or the equivalent of $6.8 billion when the renovations are completed in 2030.
