Taco Bell makes its debut on the Las Vegas Strip today, becoming the brand’s 7,000th restaurant, first flagship destination and fourth to serve alcohol.
As part of a massive rebranding effort, the chain is introducing “cantina” restaurants. In addition to a number of changes, these will serve alcohol. In Las Vegas, eight freeze-drink tap lines on the back wall — serving the flavors margarita, cola, Pina Colada, lemonade, orange, Baja blast, cherry and blue raspberry — allow customers to add alcohol to their order.
Spirits available are tequila, rum, vodka, whiskey and spiced Rum. Both “Freeze”s and “Twisted Freezes” (those including alcohol) will be served in 16- or 32-oz. souvenir cups.
Cantina restaurants can also serve beer, wine and sangria.
Las Vegas becomes the fourth Taco Bell Cantina restaurant to open, following Wicker Park Chicago, SOMA San Francisco and Austin, and the first of its kind to offer 24-hour service. These urban-concept restaurants have five things in common that differentiate them from standard Taco Bell restaurants: décor, local artwork, open kitchen layouts, open plating and shareable menus.
The flagship restaurant is centrally-located on the Las Vegas Strip on Harmon Corner, directly across from CityCenter and the Cosmopolitan hotel.
Alongside the opening, Taco Bell revealed its first logo refresh in over 25 years, which follows the recent unveiling of new restaurant design concepts. These latest developments represent the brand’s evolution and growth plan to become a $15 billion brand by 2022 while adding 2,000 new restaurants globally and 100,000 new jobs in the U.S.
