Taco Bell Mess Draws Social Media Ire

NEW LENOX, IL -- A photograph depicting a less than tidy kitchen area at the Taco Bell in New Lenox garnered several angry reactions this week but a manager at the Maple Street restaurant assures customers that the place is usually clean and that the photo was taken during an unusually busy time when the store was understaffed.

A Facebook user going by the first name "Sue" made the post in the New Lenox Neighborhood Watch group Tuesday night. She expressed her complaint regarding the upkeep of the kitchen area. The photograph shared with her post shows a variety of taco shells, cups and grease on the floor while countertops were unorganized as well.

"Not sure if this is allowed here but hopefully someone with connections can fix this issue," she wrote. "This is our Taco Bell. Thank goodness we went inside to order and saw this."

She says the on-duty manager "grabbed the broom" as soon as the photo was taken but she still cancelled her order.

A Taco Bell manager told New Lenox Patch over the phone on Thursday that the photo was taken during a "Free Taco Tuesday" promotion when there were several customers present at one time.

"We were really busy and had a short staff," she said. "We only had 3 people here at the time."

The manager said the mess was present for "about a half-hour."

"It's not acceptable for it to look like that," she admitted. "But we were caught in a crazy busy time and had a short staff."

She added that if customers come by during a normal time, "the place is clean."

Photo via Google Maps screenshot