Taste-testing Taco Bell’s new Sriracha Quesarito

Taco Bell and Sriracha fans, get ready to unite forces. The Irvine-based fast-food company is set to give Sriracha heads a warm, cheesy, gooey hug Thursday with the release of its new Sriracha Quesarito.

Daily Dish visited Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine on Tuesday for a special sneak peek of the new creation.

Seated in one of the company’s test kitchens, which looks like a classroom with stadium seating facing a kitchen, we unwrapped the Sriracha Quesarito from its foil wrap (which says “special” on it) and dug in.

Like the original Quesarito, which involves a beef burrito with rice and sour cream wrapped in a grilled quesadilla full of melted cheese, the new version has all the gooey, melty properties of the original, but with Sriracha.

Now if you’re imagining Taco Bell employees dressed in white coats, methodically squirting bottles of Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha sauce on your Quesaritos, think again. Taco Bell used one of its suppliers to make a special Sriracha sauce for the company. It includes a buttermilk base, but with the flavors of Sriracha, including chiles and vinegar.

The sauce has that Sriracha kick you’re used to, with a creamier texture. It’s included inside the burrito portion of the Quesarito and in the quesadilla wrap.

When you take a bite, it’s like someone created a cheesy tortilla blanket for your beef burrito and dipped it in Sriracha ranch/mayo. There’s no need to add extra hot sauce. And according to Taco Bell, this is the hottest sauce available from the company.

To wash the new Quesarito down, taste testers were given samples of the new Taco Bell Snapple Lemonade Freeze drinks, also available Thursday.

The Sriracha Quesarito costs $2.49, and the Snapple Lemonade Freeze is $1.99.

Before we left the building, stomachs full of cheese, creamy Sriracha sauce and frozen lemonade, we took a tour of the building. In case you’re wondering, the Taco Bell headquarters is like a mini Google campus.

Employees have access to a full gym, complete with exercise classes. There’s daycare for workers’ kids, a cafeteria (no, employees do not get free Taco Bell, but there is a Taco Bell where they can purchase their own Sriracha Quesaritos) and an employee lounge where there’s a big TV, a pool table, games and a bar. But you can only order alcohol after 4 p.m. Womp. Womp.

Sriracha makes me really happy. Follow me on Twitter @Jenn_Harris_