Taco Bell opening two more restaurants in NZ

Two more Taco Bell restaurants will open in New Zealand this summer. Photo / File

Taco Bell New Zealand will open two more restaurants this summer.

The new restaurants - which will be the third and fourth in the country since Taco Bell first launched here last November - will be located in the Stoneridge on Lunn development in East Auckland and the other in Taupiri, Waikato.

The Taupiri restaurant, which will be located at the Waikato Expressway Service Centre, will be the first in New Zealand to feature a drive-thru.

The American-based chain, known for its Mexican cuisine, will also soon be expanding on its vegetarian offering with a fully vegan-friendly menu addition called the Verde range.

Arif Khan, NZ chief executive of Restaurant Brands, which operates Taco Bell in New Zealand, said that while Covid-19 briefly disrupted the rollout, the new restaurants will offer more employment opportunities.

"Understandably, Covid-19 has meant that our Taco Bell New Zealand rollout was temporarily slowed but we are pleased to be back opening restaurants, serving delicious tacos and burritos to our fans. As well as this, we'll be providing employment benefits to the local area by actively recruiting 30 new staff members for each of the new restaurants."

Delivery will be offered to neighbouring suburbs of those restaurants.

Stoneridge on Lunn will be Auckland's third Taco Bell, after The Brickworks, LynnMall restaurant and Shortland St in downtown Auckland.

NZX-listed Restaurant Brands operates KFC, Pizza Hut and Carl's Jr stores in New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii.

Group chief executive Russel Creedy told the Herald last year that Restaurant Brands plans to have 25 Taco Bells trading in New Zealand in the next five years, a target he called "conservative", hinting at more opening.

"If we can go faster, we certainly would like to," Creedy said.

"The brand has huge potential, New Zealand alone, it's foreseeable to have 50-60 Taco Bells at least going forward. That would address the main urban centres."

Restaurant Brands is set to spend at least $65 million on its Taco Bell roll-out in Australasia in the next five years, which will also include 40 restaurants in Australia, Creedy said.

Restaurant Brands is 75 per cent owned by Mexico's Finaccess Capital.