Indians want their Taco Bell
Praful Desai celebrated his 65th birthday last weekend by doing something special with his family.
Mr. Desai, a retired chemical engineer and an avowed vegetarian, took his two brothers-in-law, their wives, children and grandchildren to Bangalore’s latest hotspot — the country’s first Taco Bell. “I’m trying Mexican food for the first time in my life,” he said, adding, “Never too old to try something new.”
Like the Desai family who spread themselves across three tables, half of those who came into Bangalore’s only Taco Bell that evening couldn’t tell the difference between a taco and a burrito.
Nearby, groups of teenagers, middle-class families dressed in traditional Indian attire and couples clothed in their weekend best stood in snaking lines to try India’s latest fast-food sensation, pronouncing each syllable phonetically, “tor-til-a” and “fa-jee-ta.”
“It’s kay-suh-dee-ya,” Taco Bell staffer Jagruthi, 19, explained patiently to a bespectacled, bindi-sporting woman in a sari. Then she politely asked, “Do you like cheese?”
The woman shook her head and chose the potato taco instead.
Several other employees scattered across the restaurant were doing the same thing: explaining ingredients and sounding out unfamiliar words.
So far, so good. Indians haven’t shown this much enthusiasm for American fast food since McDonald’s came to New Delhi and Mumbai more than a decade ago.
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