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San Francisco Chronicle​

Would you pay $48 for a Taco Bell remix? Outside Lands bets big on bougie bites

Would you pay $30 for a hot dog? What about $20 for a slice of pizza, or maybe you can spare $40 for fries? Compared to recent years, Outside Lands 2025 has substantially boosted its luxury food options, with nearly 10 vendors offering dishes made with Wagyu beef or topped with clumps of caviar. The move seems to fall in line with the proliferation of the delicacy across the Bay Area's food scene. In the name of science, we slurped down enough fish eggs to start an underwater society in order to answer the question: Could the upcharge ever be worth it? Pedro's, a Mexican restaurant in Los Gatos, made its debut at the festival with a playful remix of the famed crunchwrap from Taco Bell except prepared with Wagyu beef — price tag: $48. 'We thought a high-low idea would be so fun,' said Julio Aguilera, the restaurant's chef. While high quality beef was more common at this year's concert, caviar had a far stronger showing across food stalls. The luxurious ingredient appears as a topping on pizza at Pink Onion, fries from homegrown mini-chain Mamahuhu and at famed high-end sushi chain Nobu, which sells a tin of caviar for $30. One spot, My Friend Fernando, dabbles in both worlds with a tostada topped with both Wagyu beef and caviar. According to a Nobu staff member, the stall sells about 5 tins an hour. On the first day, The Caviar Co. sold over 50 dogs before sundown. Despite the outrageous price, we found it was worth the splurge, when done right. Case in point: sashimi toastada from newcomer Provecho — a colorful collage of fish, two types of caviar, cucumber and onion. The fish eggs added an additional dimension: sweet pops of umami. At $30, each multi-colored bite was as refreshing as it was beautiful. But in another case, the addition of the luxury ingredient fell flat. Such was the case with the Caviar Co., which sells a $30 hot dog topped with caviar, which is nearly double the price of the standard dog. While it gains a marginal thump of richness, the luxe hot dog isn't worth the splurge; the bread was dry and pickled shallots lack acidity. Outside Lands has no shortage of incredible things to eat and this year's inclusion of luxe upgrades adds to the variety. Overall, we think the best options at the festival don't need the extra lift from a few dollops of caviar.