Upon returning to campus for the fall 2018 semester, students may have noticed that a new restaurant has made its home in the lineup of venues and stores. Though it bears a familiar name, this fast food location, which opened on Aug. 13, comes with a twist — alcoholic beverages.
Taco Bell Cantina is an offshoot from the Taco Bell chain of restaurants. Unlike its more common counterparts, such as the Taco Bell found on Western Boulevard, the Hillsborough Street location, found next to Smashed Waffles, features a slightly altered menu as well as a selection of beers and Twisted Freezes.
Randall Moran, a district manager for Luihn Food Systems, Inc, says that the community’s reception of the new location has been positive.
“All the feedback we’ve gotten, since we have surveys on the back of our receipts, has been extremely well,” Moran said. “Talking to customers one-on-one, they seem to love it. A lot of media, they’ve been on TV and all the news channels. I think the community is really glad that we’re here.”
The Cantina found on Hillsborough Street is smaller than the average Taco Bell location, and lacks a drive-through option for ordering food. However, this is traded off for an open-plan kitchen, a stylish, modern interior and the convenience of being located right next to NC State’s campus, making it easy for students to hop over to the location to grab something to eat or drink between classes. The venue also features outdoor seating in a small, marked-off patio area.
Taylor Springs and Garrett Daniel, both graduate students studying public administration, recently visited the location.
“It’s a nice place to stop before class,” Springs said.
Though the chain is a new addition to Raleigh, several similar locations have already opened across the country, as mentioned by Moran.
“This is the 28th [Taco Bell] Cantina in the nation,” Moran said. “Only six of the 28 serve alcohol. In the bigger cities, like Las Vegas, New York and Chicago, and now here in Raleigh.”
The Hillsborough Street Cantina location offers six varieties of draft beer, such as Flat Rock Apple Cider and Bell Tower Cerveza-Lager, as well as six different flavors of Twisted Freezes, which give customers a choice between rum, vodka and tequila to add to their frozen drink.
“Here, we have six beers on tap, and our most popular alcoholic beverages are the Twisted Freezes,” Moran said. “… We follow [North Carolina] state laws, so Sunday through Thursday we can serve them up to midnight. Then, on the weekends, we stop serving them at 2 a.m.”
Daniel commented on the venue’s drinks.
“The mixed drinks are really good and refreshing,” Daniel said.
Additionally, Taco Bell Cantina features a slightly altered menu. Moran said that even though some smaller Taco Bell menu items do not make an appearance at this location, several items unique to the Cantinas are available for customers to order.
“I would say that we serve about 98% of the Taco Bell menu.” Moran said. “We’ve taken off cinnamon twists and small drinks, just because of storage issues because it’s a smaller store. What’s unique to the Cantina are the ‘shareables,’ which are kind of like appetizers, we serve three of them here. We have Naked Chicken Chips, Cheesy Jalapeno Dippers and the Mini Quesadilla Nachos.”
Raleigh’s Taco Bell Cantina is open from 7 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
