The “We” in We Rate Stuff have repeatedly griped about Taco Bell’s insistence on using the same ingredients in different, quite obvious combinations when bringing forth new items on the fast-food giant’s menu, and once again, they’ve proven their laziness knows no limits. This month’s rehashed foodstuff is a Double Steak Grande Quesadilla. Sound a bit familiar? That’s because they have already featured a Grande Quesadilla. They already have Double Beef items as well, Double Steak (and the ensuing Double Chicken) was just the next logical step. 2 + 2 = 4, right? Taco Bell would agree. I just wish they could graduate to third grade math at some point.

So I bought one of these Double Steak Grande Quesadillas last night, and right off the bat it was an unfortunate experience. One of these items costs a whopping $3.58. That’s pretty pricey; more than a dollar over the normal quesadilla price, and also even more expensive than a Volcano Double Beef Burrito, which is much more filling. Why pay more, right?

I ripped open that strange quesadilla carrier they serve it to you in, and the entire first quarter of the quesadilla contained one meager slice of steak. There was plenty of cheese, so it still tasted pretty good, but it was far from both Double Steak and Grande. However, this is pretty much attributable to human error or laziness, and doesn’t really reflect the quality of the overall product. The Panadero bread was sorta flattened and soggy from the steak juices, not nearly as fluffy and big as shown in advertisements.

But when you get right down to the meat of this item, it tastes pretty damn good. Now, I know how much we all love Taco Bell’s quesadilla sauce (get a cup of it on the side if you don’t believe me; you’ll find it filled to the brim with magic), but they don’t include it on this item. This is probably a smart move, since they went with a sauce that compliments the carné asada steak more gracefully – a sort of southwestern, savory sauce laced with a peppery taste and a hint of sweetness. I was honestly pretty surprised at how different this sauce was. I suppose that’s what they’re talking about when they say “fire-roasted salsa” (why would salsa need to be fire roasted?).

To recap, yes this is an extremely recycled Taco Bell product, yes it does cost more than it should, but yes, it does taste different than you’d expect. With this fire roasted salsa hangin’ around, I’m starting to wonder how that Double Chicken Grande Quesadilla (also available now) would taste. This one’s worth a try once or twice, but when you can fill up on 89 cent items almost as tasty that aren’t 900 calories each, that’s about all it’s worth.