What I Did This Weekend: Thinking Way Outside the Bun
Despite the abundance of 24-hour food service operations in New York, at 2:30am on a Saturday night, options for food dramatically decrease here. In addition, considering the lack of sobriety among the hungry at 2:30 am on a Saturday night, the perception of the quality of these options for food becomes dramatically warped.
The result? A visit to Taco Bell at 2:30am on Saturday night with Amish and his friend Rishi. In my drunken stupor, I went for the Grilled Stuft Burrito, much like Carmen Electra.
(Side note: is anyone else surprised that she actually took a bite of that thing in the ad? I don’t think the ad does a very good job at the “sex sells” approach. I mean, the thought of Carmen Electra eating a 720-calorie burrito from Taco Bell is honestly a turn-off, especially when you start to consider the digestive consequences.)
As we were ordering, Rishi drunkenly asked the cashier, “do you guys have any beer?” We all had more than our fair share already that night, so Amish and I shrugged off the question and laughed. After ordering our food, Amish and I sat down. Rishi, however, remained up at the counter talking with the cashier.
“What is he doing,” Amish asked me.
“I have no idea,” I replied. “But whatever it is, it can’t be good.”
I chose to stay out of the conversation between Rishi and the cashier. From our perspective, it didn’t exactly seem heated, but there was definitely a consipiratorial aspect to the exchange. Our number was called for our food, and I picked it up and brought it back to the table - but Rishi stayed at the counter. As Amish and I dug in to our food, Rishi pulled out his wallet at the counter for some sort of transaction. The cashier gave him a large Duane Reade bag from behind the counter, and he lugged the bag back over to our table with a grin on his face.
I was creeped out. “Uh, what just happened there?”
Rishi reached into the bag, fumbled around, and proudly pulled out 3 bottles of Heineken for the table. He promptly spilled one of them all over the table and all over himself, drawing the ire of the other late-night employees. While the sale pretty much happened entirely under the table, the cashier later came over to instruct us to also drink our beers under the table.
So, yes, in the wee hours of the morning, you can apparently buy beer at this particular Taco Bell, and off the cashier no less. Obviously, we weren’t the first people to ask for beer at this location. When the transaction was complete, the cashier left the store and returned a minute later with another six-pack of beer from the 24-hour drugstore next door, presumably for the next customers willing to throw down cash for some beer - with a wink and a nod.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007 at 10:30 am and is filed under What I Did This Weekend, Food and Booze, As Seen On Gawker. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:06 am
says:Two more points of note:
1. After you left, we chatted outside with the worker who hooked us up. He informed us that the only reason we got the beers was because we were ‘his people’ (Indians), and were therefore friends. Anyone else, and he would not have done it.
2. His name was Kumar. Seriously.
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:11 pm
says:Taco Bell has gone crazy ever since the E. Coli business. I went there last week and while eating my taco came across a hard chewy bit. I spit it into my hand for closer examination and promptly regretted my decision as it was unidentifiable but still gross.
Moral of the Story: You must be drunk to enjoy Taco Bell and it is better to keep drinking as you do. Kudos!
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:11 pm
says:In that Taco Bell commercial, did the guy who was going on a date with Carmen Electra buy the burritos for everyone?
Cause that guy and that girl don’t believe that the burritos were $1.99. Not in the sense of, “Man, this burrito was cheap. I can’t believe it was only $1.99.” But more in the sense of, “Our friend was nice enought to buy us all these burritos, but he lies all the time, so there is no way I believe he paid $1.99 for them.”
January 24th, 2007 at 12:42 am
says:Guess I was not the only one to fall in for the burrito after seeing Carmen Electra….I too happened to take a dig at the burrito late in the night somewhere around 1 a.m after a movie and couple of beers down my belly………
January 24th, 2007 at 10:17 am
says:When you are next in Cape Town, South Africa, I’ll take you guy’s round to this great place called Saul’s Saloon.
I used to go there when I was still working as a barman. It’s open 24hrs and the burgers are the BEST you will ever eat!
You even get to sit next to some interesting people!
January 24th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
says:Good story, reminds me of sort of the movie Harold and Kumar go to White Castle but you got beer instead.
January 24th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
says:The beer was probably the healthiest thing sold at that restaurant.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:14 am
says:See, herein lie the benefits of a college town. In Boulder, even at that hour, you could’ve gone to Illegal Pete’s. You would’ve gotten something healthier, better-tasting, and still gotten the beer.
January 25th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
says:[…] What I Did This Weekend: Thinking Way Outside the Bun […]
October 8th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Saturday Night Sayings | Amish In The City says:[…] Taco Bell, 3am- Kumar (worker):- Hey man, where’s your other friend today? Amish - Oh, Rishi? We got separated tonight. He didn’t make it. Kumar - Haha…That guy loves to come in and ask for beer. […]