Taco Bell has confirmed it will launch two further stores this coming summer – the first in the Stoneridge on Lunn development in Auckland, and the second in Taupiri, Waikato.

The business launched its first store in November, 2019, and plotted out a plan to launch a further 25 stores by 2025.

The Stoneridge on Lunn store will feature beer and frozen margaritas for adult guests, as well as self-serve kiosks to help cater for both eat-in and take-out customers. 

The Waikato store, which is the business’ first outside of Auckland, will also feature a drive-thru, enabling customers to get food on the go while also adequately social distancing. The stores were supposed to launch earlier, but the impact of Covid-19 on the business disrupted the rollout plan.

“Understandably, Covid-19 has meant that our Taco Bell New Zealand rollout was temporarily slowed but we are pleased to be back,” said Restaurant Brands NZ CEO Arif Khan, which operates Taco Bell in NZ.

“We’ll be providing employment benefits for the local area by actively recruiting 30 new staff members for each of the new restaurants.”

And although Auckland retail is currently in Level 3 lockdown, Taco Bell will continue serving customers via delivery and click and collect through Menulog.