What Font Does Taco Bell Use? Logo Font, History & Free Alternatives

July 14, 2023 by admin

The current Taco Bell logo, introduced in November 2016, uses a simple all-caps sans serif wordmark that Creative Bloq identified as a plain black version of Gotham, a commercial geometric typeface from the type foundry Hoefler&Co. Taco Bell itself has never named the font, and there’s no publicly documented custom “Taco Bell font.” The best free alternative is Montserrat (Google Fonts), a popular open-source substitute for Gotham, followed by Poppins and Nunito Sans.

Below you’ll find the story of the 2016 logo, a verified timeline of Taco Bell’s history and branding, what we know about its colors, and the best free fonts for taco-night flyers, menus, food truck signs and Cricut projects.

Taco Bell font: quick facts

Logo font	All-caps sans serif; identified by Creative Bloq as Gotham (not confirmed by Taco Bell)
Logo designed by	Lippincott, with Taco Bell’s in-house design group (TBD)
Current logo since	Announced November 14, 2016
Previous logo	Mid-1990s bell logo (Taco Bell says it debuted in 1995)
Brand color	Purple. Taco Bell hasn’t published official HEX codes
Slogan	“Live Más” (since February 2012)
Is the font free?	Gotham is a paid font. Montserrat is a free (OFL) alternative

The font behind the Taco Bell logo

On November 14, 2016, Taco Bell revealed its first logo update in more than 20 years, together with its first flagship restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. The company called the change “evolution, not revolution.” The new logo was created by brand consultancy Lippincott working with TBD, Taco Bell’s in-house design team.

The change was mostly about simplification:

The bell lost its 3D shading and became a flat, simple shape. Taco Bell said the new icon can be filled with different colors, patterns and textures, so it works on packaging, digital ads and merchandise.
The wordmark moved from the old, playful lettering (with curves and irregular slants) to clean, evenly spaced capital letters. Creative Bloq described it as “a plain black version of Gotham.”
The colors switched from the old blue, pink and yellow palette to a regal purple, with gradient shading in some uses.

Gotham was designed by Tobias Frere-Jones and released in 2000. It’s inspired by mid-century American building signage and became one of the most widely used fonts in U.S. branding. It’s a commercial font licensed by Hoefler&Co., so it isn’t free to download.

Two notes on accuracy. First, Taco Bell’s own announcement doesn’t name the typeface, and we didn’t find a Fonts In Use entry confirming it, so “Gotham” is an identification by design press rather than an official statement. Second, the Brand New review of the logo (UnderConsideration) is behind a paywall. Its public tags only say “sans serif” and “uppercase.”

Taco Bell logo history

Plenty of logo sites list exact years for every old Taco Bell logo, but most of those dates aren’t backed by reliable sources. Here is what we could confirm:

1948: Glen Bell opens Bell’s Drive-In, a hot dog stand in San Bernardino, California.
1950s: Bell starts selling tacos, then runs the Taco Tia and El Taco restaurants.
July 6, 1962: The first Taco Bell opens at 7112 Firestone Blvd. in Downey, California. Early restaurants used Mexican mission-style architecture and a bell in the branding.
1978: PepsiCo acquires Taco Bell.
1984: According to Wikipedia, Taco Bell drops much of its Mexican-themed imagery for a more mainstream fast-food look.
Mid-1990s: The colorful bell logo arrives. Taco Bell’s newsroom dates it to 1995. Some fan-run logo wikis say 1994, so you’ll see both years online.
1997: PepsiCo spins off its restaurant chains as Tricon Global Restaurants, which is renamed Yum! Brands in May 2002.
2001: The “Think Outside the Bun” slogan launches, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. (Many sites say 1997, but we couldn’t verify that.)
February 25, 2012: “Live Más” replaces “Think Outside the Bun,” debuting during NBA All-Star Saturday Night as part of Taco Bell’s 50th anniversary.
November 14, 2016: The current flat bell and sans serif wordmark by Lippincott and TBD.

Some sources list a further logo change in 2023, but we found no official announcement of a new logo after 2016, so we don’t include one.

What font does Taco Bell use on its menu, ads and website?

Taco Bell hasn’t published its brand typography, and we found no documented custom typeface (there’s no reliable source for a “Taco Bell Sans,” for example). The 2016 identity leans on bold all-caps sans serif type, purple color and the flexible bell icon. Menus, packaging and ad campaigns change often and frequently use extra display fonts for specific promotions, so there isn’t one single “Taco Bell menu font.” If you need to identify a font from a specific ad or menu photo, the tools in our guide to identifying fonts (WhatTheFont, Font Squirrel Matcherator and others) are the fastest route.

Taco Bell’s colors

Purple is the core Taco Bell color since the 2016 refresh, which Creative Bloq described as a regal purple, often with a gradient. Taco Bell has not published official HEX or RGB values. The codes you’ll see on “brand color” websites are sampled from logo files, so treat them as approximations. The older 1990s logo used a mix of purple, pink, blue and yellow.

Is the Taco Bell font free?

No. Gotham is a commercial font sold by Hoefler&Co. (typography.com), and even if you buy it, the Taco Bell name and bell logo are trademarks of Taco Bell Corp. That means:

For personal projects like a taco-night party invite, a school project or a costume, you can use a free Gotham-style font and your own text.
Don’t sell items with the Taco Bell name, bell icon or slogans. A free font doesn’t change trademark rules.
If you sell designs, choose fonts whose license clearly allows commercial use. See our personal vs. commercial font license guide.

A fun trademark footnote: in May 2023 Taco Bell asked regulators to cancel the “Taco Tuesday” trademark, and on July 18, 2023, Taco John’s gave up the phrase it had held for more than 40 years in 49 states. (A New Jersey restaurant, Gregory’s, held the rights there.)

Free fonts similar to the Taco Bell font

1. Montserrat (Google Fonts)

Montserrat by Julieta Ulanovsky was inspired by old signs in Buenos Aires’ Montserrat neighborhood, and it’s widely recommended as a free alternative to Gotham. Use the ExtraBold or Black weight in all caps for the closest match to the Taco Bell wordmark.

License: SIL Open Font License (OFL), free for personal and commercial use. Get Montserrat on Google Fonts

2. Poppins (Google Fonts)

Poppins is a geometric sans with round letters and a friendly feel. It’s a little softer than Gotham but great for menus, labels and social posts.

License: SIL Open Font License (OFL). Get Poppins on Google Fonts

3. Nunito Sans (Google Fonts)

Nunito Sans is a clean sans with slightly rounded details, excellent for menu boards and price lists where you need many weights and good readability.

License: SIL Open Font License (OFL). Get Nunito Sans on Google Fonts

4. Mexcellent 3D (fun alternative)

Not a look-alike, but if you want a festive “taco night” mood instead of a clean corporate look, Mexcellent 3D by Ray Larabie has layered, striped letters inspired by vintage Mexican lettering. It’s fun for party signs, food truck graphics and T-shirts.

License: the read-me says the font is freeware and commercial use is allowed (“Commercial use? Sure”), with a donation appreciated.

Download Mexcellent 3D on WeFonts →

Want more bold display options? See our free headline fonts and free T-shirt fonts with commercial-use licenses.

How to recreate the Taco Bell look

Font: Montserrat ExtraBold or Black, all caps, with slightly wider letter spacing (tracking).
Color: white text on a deep purple background, or purple on white. Add a purple-to-pink gradient for a more modern feel.
Icon: draw your own simple flat icon (a pepper, a taco, a star) instead of the bell, which is a trademark.
Layout: keep it minimal: one icon above a short all-caps word.

In Canva

Montserrat and Poppins are usually available directly in Canva’s font menu. Search by name.
Use the letter spacing slider (in the Spacing menu) to open up the caps. Our kerning basics guide explains spacing in Canva, Cricut, Word and Photoshop.
For gradients, add a rectangle, then pick a gradient in the color panel.

In Cricut Design Space

Download Montserrat from Google Fonts and install it (see how to install fonts on Windows, Mac and Cricut), then restart Design Space.
Bold sans serif fonts cut cleanly even at small sizes, which makes them great for tumbler and lunch-box decals.
Purple and white permanent vinyl gives you the look without copying the logo.

FAQ

What font does the Taco Bell logo use?

An all-caps sans serif that Creative Bloq identified as Gotham when the logo launched in November 2016. Taco Bell hasn’t officially named the font.

What is the closest free font to the Taco Bell logo?

Montserrat ExtraBold or Black from Google Fonts. It’s free under the Open Font License and is the most common free substitute for Gotham.

Who designed the Taco Bell logo?

The current logo was designed by Lippincott together with TBD, Taco Bell’s in-house design group, and unveiled on November 14, 2016.

Why did Taco Bell change its logo in 2016?

Taco Bell said the old logo, which dated back to 1995, needed to work better across digital and physical formats. The flat bell can be filled with colors and patterns, and the company described it as “evolution, not revolution.”

What color purple is Taco Bell?

Taco Bell hasn’t published official color codes. Its core color is a deep purple, sometimes with a gradient. HEX values on color-code websites are unofficial estimates.

When was Taco Bell founded?

Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell on July 6, 1962, in Downey, California.