Today — Tuesday, October 6 — is National Taco Day 2026 in the United States. The holiday used to fall on October 4 every year, but since 2024, Taco Bell's partnership with National Day Calendar has moved it to the first Tuesday of October, lining it up with the beloved "Taco Tuesday" tradition. This year's headline act is Taco Bell's team-up with language-learning app Duolingo, branding the day as "Global Taco Day" across seven countries. Meanwhile, dozens of chains from Del Taco to Jack in the Box are rolling out free or discounted tacos today.
The centerpiece of the Taco Bell × Duolingo collaboration is a free month of Super Duolingo: claim it in the Taco Bell app between October 1 and 6, redeem the code by November 15, and no purchase is required. Taco Bell also debuted a co-branded Duo Habanero sauce — free with every Doritos Locos taco, or $0.20 per extra packet. A limited-edition Duo plushie run is capped at 1,000 worldwide, 500 in the US, dropping at 5 p.m. ET today on Taco Bell's Tuesday Drops page, first come first served. On delivery, Uber Eats and Grubhub orders of $22 or more come with a free crunchy or soft seasoned-beef taco, DoorDash offers a free taco of your choice on $22-plus orders, and Uber One student members get a free Doritos Locos taco on orders over $20 — all today only.
Del Taco is going the value route: 60-cent mini tacos, limit five per person, for Del Yeah! Rewards members. Its October "Tacoberfest" adds four buy-one-get-one weeks rotating through different tacos starting October 7. Moe's Southwest Grill is selling single tacos for $2 each, limit three per person, with member pricing extended through October 11. Jack in the Box hands out two free tacos on any $1-plus in-app purchase. Taco John's Rewards members who buy anything today score a free beef crunchy taco on their next visit, valid 14 days. Baja Fresh's three chicken street tacos for $6 needs no membership, one per person. El Pollo Loco runs three tacos for $5 from October 2–6 for Rewards members.
USA Today notes that most of this year's free tacos come with strings attached: Torchy's Tacos' buy-one-get-one is in-store only, one per person, excluding breakfast and kids' tacos. Chronic Tacos is running a different deal each day from October 5–9, with today being the free-taco day. Fuzzy's Taco Shop has $2 original tacos all day plus limited scratch cards, the grand prize being free tacos for a year. Feeling theatrical? Head to Chuy's dressed as a taco, post with #ChuysTacoDay, and earn a free entrée. For context, National Day Calendar says Americans eat more than 4.5 billion tacos a year — and since the holiday moved to Tuesdays, both restaurants and taco fans have found it easier to join the party.