Taco Bell?, page-9

As part of my CKF due dilligence, the trouble & strife and I had lunch today at Taco Bell Annerley.

I had previously driven past the place around lunchtime on the Saturday before Christmas. At the time, people were queued out the door.

So where do I start....

A hot, fine Queensland summer day.

Site is shared by a KFC (seperate structure) and a Sizzler previously occupied the Taco Bell building (not sure if the Sizzler was demolished, or just completely remodelled to become the Taco Bell). Car parking appears adequate, but not plentiful. Taco Bell has a drive thru, which seemed moderately busy.

Building seems bright and fresh. About half is airconditioned. You can go to an 'outdoor' section (which feels more indoor than outdoor), but it's not airconditioned. Not brilliant on a hot humid summer day.

When we arrived, I would say there were about 8 people queued up to be served (probably about 2/3 of the way to the door). During our stay, this seemed to vary between around 3 to 8 most of the time. The queue reached the front door at one stage. Place is quite noisy, as you have a lot of family groups, and there is a spotify kiosk where you can choose the music. Not the right place to go if you wish to enjoy some peace and quiet whist enjoying your meal.

Process is to queue for the counter, place your order, receive a buzzer, find a seat, then go collect your meal when the buzzer goes off. I would estimate the restaurant was 75% to 80% full most of the time.

Wife ordered a Stacked Nachos Supreme meal (chips and bottomless softdrink....well, we assumed it was bottomless softdrink). I ordered a Cantina Power Bowl meal. All up cost just under $25.

Food was ready in reasonable time.

Food was well presented, and the quantity would satisfy most people. As a value for money proposition, we thought Taco Bell was excellent! Trade off seems to be the quality of the food. My meal was mainly savory rice, with little beef present (a mince rather than good quality shreded beef you'd get at higher quality Mexican estabsishments). Wife's Nachos was better in my view. She said the guacamole was quite good (I don't eat it and gave her mine), but said her beef was rubbish (I didn't think it was that bad). Neither of us particularly liked the seasoned chips that came with the meal deal. We were quite full after eating our well priced mains, and didn't try the desserts.

Would we go back? I certainly would, as I thought it was good value for money. Wife would give it 'another go', trying something different from the menu, but is less convinced.

Will Taco Bell succeed? I certainly hope so, and the signs look good. Personally, I'd be happy to pay a couple of bucks more, to get better / more meat, but I guess they've pitched the offering at a price point for a reason.

Anyhow, it will be interesting to follow Taco Bell's progress in Oz.