Airport food has a reputation for costing roughly double what it should, so a $1.70 burrito is worth announcing. Denver International Airport's Taco Bell is back — this time past security — and it's shaping up as the cheapest sit-down-free meal option in the whole airport.
Regulars may remember the old Taco Bell in the Jeppesen Terminal food court above the security checkpoint. That location shut during a refurbishment and never reopened, leaving budget travellers to face DEN's usual airport pricing. But a Taco Bell Cantina has quietly popped up in Concourse A, near Gates A47 and A49, and the prices are the surprise: street pricing rather than the inflated airport mark-up travellers have learned to expect.
To put that in context, the same blogger paid close to $20 for a brisket salad at Brothers BBQ in the same airport. Over at the B Gates, the local-leaning Denver Street Eats sells steak tacos for $6.25 — reasonable on paper, but the taco in question was a small flour tortilla carrying a little steak, a couple of spinach leaves and a few slivers of pickled onion. Tasty, arguably, but not six-dollars-and-a-quarter tasty when a burrito costs under two bucks a few concourses over.
For anyone stuck on a layover at DEN — which happens a lot, given how many United and Southwest connections route through Denver — this is a genuinely useful nugget. Airport meals can easily run $15-25, and over a few connections a year that adds up fast. If you're flying out of Concourse A, you can now eat for less than the cost of a bottle of water elsewhere in the terminal. Just note it's airside, so it only helps once you're through security, and it's only useful if your gate assignment or a short train ride puts you in reach of Concourse A.
The Cantina format usually means a slightly upgraded menu than a standard Taco Bell (often including alcoholic drinks at Cantina locations), so it's not just the bargain basement option — though frankly, the price is the headline here. It won't replace Denver's beloved local barbecue or green chili spots for a proper meal, but for a quick, cheap fill-up between flights, it's hard to beat.
Worth knowing before you go: concourse assignments at DEN can change, so check the airport map or app on the day. And if you're landside with a long wait, there's no longer a pre-security Taco Bell option — the deal only works for ticketed passengers.
