Taco Bell

Taco Bell is a Mexican-inspired quick service restaurant brand known for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and other customizable, affordable meals. It operates a large mix of freestanding drive-thru restaurants, in-line urban locations, and non-traditional sites in high-traffic places such as travel centers and college campuses. This mix gives the brand a wide presence across many U.S. trade areas and an established role as a daily traffic driver.

The company began in 1962, when founder Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell in Downey, California after running earlier taco stands around Los Angeles. The concept expanded quickly on the West Coast, passing 100 restaurants by 1967 and 325 by 1970, the year it went public. A key milestone came in 1978, when PepsiCo acquired Taco Bell and used its resources to scale the chain nationally. PepsiCo later spun off its restaurant business as Tricon Global Restaurants, which ultimately became Yum! Brands, Inc., Taco Bell’s current parent company.

As of February 2024 Taco Bell operates about 8,757 restaurants in 32 countries, with the vast majority franchised or licensed rather than corporately operated. The brand is headquartered in Irvine, California and serves tens of millions of customers each week worldwide. System revenue is commonly estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, with brand-level revenue in the mid–single-digit billions, reflecting the scale and throughput of a mature global quick service system.

Over roughly the last five years, Taco Bell has focused on steady, systemwide growth rather than one-time expansion spikes. Store counts have climbed each year, with the chain adding new restaurants while also remodeling existing locations to modern drive-thru standards and updated dining rooms. Corporate and franchise development teams have continued to open traditional freestanding units, but they have also leaned into non-traditional venues that capture commuter, student, and travel demand. This includes additional locations on college and university campuses, in travel centers and highway corridors, and in other dense, high-visibility trade areas.

The brand’s global footprint has also widened over this period. Alongside U.S. infill, Taco Bell has pursued select international growth, taking the concept into new countries and deepening its presence in existing foreign markets. More than 350 franchise organizations now participate in that growth, giving the chain a large base of experienced operators who sign development agreements, invest in new construction, and manage day-to-day operations.

For landlords, brokers, and developers, Taco Bell is relevant because of its adaptable formats, consistent volumes, and long operating history under a major restaurant parent company. The chain commonly appears on pad sites, hard corners, and inline spaces near grocery-anchored and power centers, and in freeway-adjacent locations where strong drive-thru performance is possible. Its mix of conventional boxes, endcaps, and non-traditional footprints gives owners and developers multiple ways to fit the brand into different site sizes and layouts while benefiting from a recognizable name that tends to generate repeat visits and reliable traffic across a wide range of markets.