Haute-N-Ready: Boss Wraps

Taco Bell adds steak, antiquated slang to Crunchwrap menu.

It's hard to believe Crunchwraps have been on the Taco Bell menu for 10 years. With its hexagonal fold, crunchy tostada shell center and mystery cheese sauce, the Crunchwrap Supreme was the Taco Bell menu item that made us say, "what the heck?" It was the moment when the chain evolved from inexpensive Mexican food into a cuisine all its own. And the Crunchwap has undergone a renaissance of sorts over the past two years with the release of the AM Crunchwraps and Crunchwrap Sliders (may they RIP). Just recently, Taco Bell unleashed its newest twist, the Boss Wrap.

These new additions to the Crunchwrap canon come in two variants: the Fully Loaded Boss Wrap and the Steak & Potato Boss Wrap. While the name is likely an unintentional throwback to the mid-aughts—who even says "boss" anymore?—the addition of steak to a pre-existing menu item is very much in the vein of Taco Bell from that era. The Boss Wraps are the Grilled Stuft Burritos of the Crunchwrap line. I ventured to the nearest Taco Bell to see if these proved as solid an improvement.

These new steak-filled crunchwraps are $4.99 per with an option to add a soft drink for a dollar. The Crunchwrap Supreme is priced at $2.99. By replacing the ground beef with steak and adding a heftier layer of other goodies, Taco Bell is treating the Boss Wraps as a self-contained meal. But there is a less pronounced difference in size between the original and the Boss Wraps than one would expect—and it goes without saying that these were significantly smaller than the Crunchwrap made by Mi Mero Mole's Nick Zukin earlier this year.

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The Fully Loaded Boss Wrap sounds like a series of words that tested well in target demographics. It's also somehow good in spite of its silly name. "Fully Loaded" is a vague descriptor that I've seen mean "covered in mystery cheese" and "sour cream, bacon and mystery cheese," among other things. It mostly means covered in creamy goop I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole (That is, if I wasn't being paid to test these things out for you, the loyal readers). But on this Boss Wrap, it means cheese, sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo and mystery creamy sauce on the steak. You'd undoubtedly be able to notice the deficiencies of these ingredients on their own, but they all blend together in the Crunchwrap. It all comes together to form this satisfying, refreshing melange of Mexican-ish flavors.

Between the bacon and mexi-potatoes, the Steak & Potato Boss Wrap is much more focused. The steak oddly enough mostly disappears in this savory recipe. Potatoes and bacon impart a breakfast-y vibe to this wrap, which was nearly bursting at the seams. The Steak & Potato Boss Wrap is both heartier and more substantial than its counterpart. It is closer to being a complete meal than the Fully Loaded Boss Wrap.

I also purchased and consumed a Crunchwrap Supreme as a control. Creamy, crunchy and reliable as ever, the paterfamilias of the Crunchwrap family remains its perfectly cromulent self. I rated it the second worst back during my Crunchwrap taste test, but that was more due to praise for the others than any criticism of the Crunchwrap Supreme.

Having consumed all three in one sitting—not recommended—I'm left wondering if the steak made any significant difference. It takes a back seat in both of the Boss Wraps. The other ingredients make these newer Crunchwraps better than the original. But are they two dollars better than the Crunchwrap Supreme? I don't know. They're right at the Taco Bell price point, which is that Taco Bell is delicious partly because it is so inexpensive. Once you're paying $5 for a single item, you start to expect something better than Taco Bell. The Boss Wraps are good, but I'm not sure they're that good. I'd rather just have the $1 crunchwrap sliders brought back to the menu.

Fully Loaded Boss Wrap with the house fire sauce Fully Loaded Boss Wrap with the house fire sauce

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