Those looking to make a run for the border without leaving the city of Laguna Beach will have to redraw their plans — after 54 years, the city’s lone Taco Bell restaurant, the oldest in Orange County, has closed.
The franchise business, located at 699 South Coast Highway since the establishment debuted as a walk-up taco stand in 1967, on Tuesday bid farewell to customers and fans citywide.
Franchisee Steve Smith broke the news of the closure last week in a post made to a local Facebook group, in which he explained his Taco Bell, the third oldest in the world, would sling its last taco.
Smith, who did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday, didn’t explicitly state a reason for the closure but criticized the Laguna Beach City Council for not embracing “national chains that bring value to middle-class citizens that live in Laguna Beach along with city workers and tourists [who] need value priced meals.”
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