Latest news with #SeamusStapleton
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This Iconic Fast Food Chain Is Finally Firing Up In Ireland
Irish fans of American food are having a great time as of late. After a recent announcement that Popeyes will be opening up its first location in Dublin -- meaning the city will already have one more Popeyes than two U.S. states -- the European country will soon be sporting its first Taco Bell. However, unlike Popeyes, the California-based Taco Bell will not be opening standalone locations just yet. Applegreen -- an Irish gas station chain with nearly 200 locations in the country and over 600 worldwide -- recently announced it will partner with Taco Bell to bring the beloved chain to some of its Irish locations in the coming years. While no exact dates or locations have been announced yet, Taco Bell outlets should start popping up in Applegreen stations sometime this summer. Seamus Stapleton, Applegreen's managing director for the Republic of Ireland, announced the news earlier this week. "We are really excited to announce this partnership to launch the iconic Taco Bell brand in Ireland," Stapleton said (via IrishStar). "This partnership underscores our commitment to bringing world-class roadside hospitality to our customers... I'm sure Irish consumers will be very excited at the arrival of Taco Bell." Read more: Taco Bell's Decades Menu Brings Back Old Faves, And We Ranked Them While Taco Bell's upcoming presence in Ireland in partnership with Applegreen is incredibly exciting, it isn't the first of its kind. Earlier this year, Applegreen partnered with Chick-fil-A to open the chain's first two locations in Northern Ireland (which is technically part of the United Kingdom, not Ireland). As for Taco Bell, the opposite is true -- the new partnership will strictly see the chain pop up in Applegreen locations within Ireland. It's not yet known in what ways the Irish menu will differ from what's currently available in the United States and United Kingdom, but the Chick-fil-A locations at Applegreens in Northern Ireland are known to have smaller menus than other locations worldwide. It's possible you won't be able to get all the fixings of a Taco Bell Cantina when visiting the chain here, but you'll still likely be able to enjoy Taco Bell favorites like the timeless Crunchwrap Supreme. For more food and drink goodness, join The Takeout's newsletter. Get taste tests, food & drink news, deals from your favorite chains, recipes, cooking tips, and more! Read the original article on The Takeout.
Miami Herald
15-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Taco Bell surprises fans with first-ever restaurant in new market
If there's one thing no other country does better than the U.S., it's fast food. Americans have created some of the most renowned fast-food chains worldwide, including McDonald's (MCD) , Burger King (QSR) , and Subway, to name a few. Although many of these fast-food giants have had their ups and downs throughout the years, millions of people worldwide continue to consume their food daily. However, one chain continues to exceed expectations, despite facing adversity. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Despite an unpredictable economy, evolving food trends, and the slowdown in consumer spending, Taco Bell has become one of the most lucrative chains of its parent company, Yum! Brands (YUM) . Related: McDonald's menu adds experimental new items fans will love It prioritizes innovation by constantly developing and launching new menu items, helping it to experiment and stay relevant among consumers. It also maintains insanely low prices and great value-focused deals, a huge selling point for today's consumer. Taco Bell has over 8,700 restaurants across 32 countries, but there's a specific one it has yet to tackle. Taco Bell has partnered with Applegreen APGN, a major petrol retailer, to open its first-ever restaurant in Ireland this summer, expanding the fast-food chain's brand to a new territory. "This partnership underscores our commitment to bringing world-class roadside hospitality to our customers, offering them greater choice and quality while they travel," said Applegreen Ireland Managing Director Seamus Stapleton in a statement. "We are constantly investing in our locations, and I'm sure Irish consumers will be very excited at the arrival of Taco Bell." Related: Another fast-food burger chain is quietly closing locations The exact location of Ireland's first Taco Bell has yet to be revealed, but it will be unveiled soon, since summer is only a few weeks away. But that's not all, because more locations are expected to open over the next few years. Applegreen announced last November it would invest €1 billion in a five-year expansion program to grow its business across Ireland, the UK, and the U.S. by revamping existing sites and building new locations. This is not the first time Taco Bell and Applegreen have joined forces to expand the fast-food chain's brand. Although Taco Bell has been in the UK since 2010, it was able to open more restaurants by partnering with Applegreen. This partnership brought the fast-food chain's brand to many of its Welcome Break motorway service areas, helping it reach over 140 locations. More Retail News: McDonald's announcement unveils a huge summer strategyWhen you'll see empty retail store shelves due to tariffsPopular pizza chain closed dozens of restaurants globally In addition to its more than 430 locations across the UK and the U.S., Applegreen has nearly 200 service stations in Ireland, each being a potential new location for Taco Bell restaurants. The Irish community will soon indulge in Taco Bell's delicious tacos, burritos, nachos, and quesadillas. If it all goes according to plan, this could be an excellent opportunity for the brand to grow globally and boost overall sales. Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Irish Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Post
Ireland's first Taco Bell restaurant set to open this summer
TACO BELL, the popular US fast food restaurant with a Mexican-inspired menu, is to open in Ireland for the first time this year. The chain was founded in the US in 1962 and currently has more than 8.700 outlets across the world, including in Britain, Spain and Finland. However, Irish customers will finally be able to get their hands on the brand's tacos, burritos, quesadillas and nachos when the first Irish outlet opens this summer. Irish forecourt retailer Applegreen, which recently opened Taco Bell outlets at several of its Welcome Break motorway service areas in Britain, has revealed it is bringing the 'iconic' brand to the Emerald Isle. "We are really excited to announce this partnership to launch the iconic Taco Bell brand in Ireland," said Seamus Stapleton, Managing Director of Applegreen in Ireland. "This partnership underscores our commitment to bringing world-class roadside hospitality to our customers, offering them greater choice and quality while they travel. "We are constantly investing in our locations, and I'm sure Irish consumers will be very excited at the arrival of Taco Bell." 'Unique offering' Applegreen plans to open a number of Taco Bell outlets at its Irish locations over the next five years as part of a €1bn expansion programme. The company, founded in 1992 with a service station in Ballyfermot, plans to grow its business in Ireland, Britain and the US as it redevelops existing sites and adds new locations in each market. Matthew Johnson, New Market Lead for Taco Bell Europe, said he believes the restaurants will prove popular with Irish customers. "We are thrilled to bring Taco Bell's innovative and flavourful menu to Ireland," he said. "This expansion is a testament to our commitment to growing our brand globally and delivering exceptional dining experiences to new markets. "We believe that our unique offering will resonate with consumers in Ireland, providing a new and exciting dining option that celebrates bold flavours and a fun, vibrant atmosphere." In its recent first quarter results, Taco Bell owner Yum! Brands revealed that Taco Bell International system sales grew 8 per cent on 2024, with same-store sales up 3 per cent. See More: Applegreen, Taco Bell
Irish Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Taco Bell's arrival could add spice to Ireland's love affair with American fast food
News that Taco Bell is to open its first restaurant in Ireland under the Applegreen umbrella this summer is almost certain to excite the taste buds – and the queuing instincts – of at least some Irish people who appear eternally enthral to not entirely healthy fast food born in the USA. 'We are really excited to announce this partnership to launch the iconic T aco Bell brand in Ireland ,' said Applegreen's MD Seamus Stapleton adding that he was 'sure Irish consumers will be very excited at the arrival'. In some respects the Mexican (ish) Taco Bell has been a long time coming to these shore. Globally there are already close to 9,000 outlets with the company making its mark in the UK last year opening restaurants at several of Applegreen's Welcome Break motorway service areas. The exact location of Ireland's first Taco Bell, with its brand of cheap-as chips tacos, quesadillas and nachos and more, has yet to be confirmed, but it seems likely that Mr Stapleton was on the money when he said Irish consumers would be 'excited' by the news. READ MORE Excited is the default setting of some fast food diners. Going right back to 1977, Irish people have been happy to wear their love of American fast food on their sleeves and sometimes – it must be said – on their waistlines. Almost 50 years ago McDonald's came to town with the first outlet opening on Dublin's Grafton St in May 1977 followed shortly after that by a second outlet across the river on O'Connell St. While the Dublin fervour did not quite match the unbridled delighted across Moscow when McDonald's arrived in 1980 prompting queues stretching for more than a kilometre, it was still pretty popular here. Almost as soon as the first Big Mac went on to the grill people were loving it with McDonald's heady mix of fat and sugar quickly making it a destination for people visiting the city centre rather than a place they might just happen to visit if they were in town shopping. Some seven years later, buoyed by the success of its first forays into the Irish market, the franchisees who brought the chain to Ireland opened Europe's first McDonald's Drive Thru in the Nutgrove Shopping Centre. It was a huge hit with the car driving denizens of south Dublin and has remained wildly popular for decades. Just how popular was proved beyond all reasonable doubt in May 2020, when the Nutgrove drive thru through reopened after being closed for almost two-months thanks to the first Covid lockdown. Within seconds of the reopening, there was a traffic jam around the block – literally – with the fast food tailback stretching for almost two kilometres and gardaí called to police the traffic jams. But while that fast food frenzy can be – sort of – explained by a long pandemic fuelled shutdown, another frenzy remains eternally inexplicable. In the autumn of 2018 the nation was swept up in the madness of the crowd with tens of thousands of people collectively going nuts over doughnuts. Not even in their wildest dreams could the Krispy Kreme 's executives who decided to open the chain's first Irish outlet in Blanchardstown have imagined that there would be a queue out the door – and all the way through the car park from dawn to dusk. In fact there wasn't one queue – there were two queues There was a regular one for people who wanted to select their own doughnuts and an express queue for people who were happy enough to walk away with a box preselected sweet treats. The Irish Times joined those queues shortly after opening – in the name of research – and while many people were reluctant to talk, for fear perhaps of being sugar shamed, others were happy to have their say even if what they had to say made absolutely no sense. One woman in the queue seemed to actively dislike the thing she was queuing for. 'I had them in Florida once and they were effin disgusting,' she told this newspaper as she waited patiently in line. When asked what she was doing in the queue she responded: 'Sure what else would I be doing?' Literally anything is what we said at the time – and we stand by that today. But what do we know? Over the course of its first year trading, around 600,000 people bought close to seven million Krispy Kreme doughnuts making it the brand's most successful store opening internationally. The queues are long gone now but the company also has a much deeper footprint here with more than a dozen stores and cabinets selling its sweet treats found in more than 100 other locations And then there is pizza, one of the most beloved fast foods across the world. While Dominos Pizza is not without its critics – and certainly the pizza lovers who queue up outside home-grown joints such as Bambinos, Dough Bros, Doom, Sano and Pi would be quick to turn their noses up at it – there is no doubting its popularity here. One of its outlets – in Tallaght, – was once described as the busiest Domino's restaurant in the world and the first to hit an annual turnover of $3 million (€2.76 million), making more than 200 pizzas an hour. That equates to one pizza coming out of its ovens every 20 seconds at peak pizza times. That is a lot of dough – literally and metaphorically. Shorecal – once the largest of the Dominos franchises in Ireland and the one-time owners of the Tallaght store – saw its pizza sales jump 4 per cent to €64.4 million according to its final set of returns filed before it was bought by the parent company last year in a deal worth close to €100 million. It remains to be seen if Taco Bell will scale such dizzying heights or if Wendy's which is bringing its own take on takeaways to Ireland next year will have people queuing out the door. But the smart money suggests we're not done with our love of all things Americana just yet.
Dublin Live
13-05-2025
- Business
- Dublin Live
Taco Bell coming to Ireland this summer
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Taco Bell is coming to Ireland this summer. Applegreen are set to open Ireland's first Taco Bell in the coming months. The Mexican-inspired restaurant, first opened in California in 1962, has been a fast-food staple in the US for decades. Applegreen say they plan to open Taco Bell outlets at a number of its Irish locations over the next five years. However, while they have confirmed the first one will open this summer, there is no word of a location yet. Seamus Stapleton, the Managing Director of Applegreen's Republic of Ireland business, said: 'We are really excited to announce this partnership to launch the iconic Taco Bell brand in Ireland. This partnership underscores our commitment to bringing world-class roadside hospitality to our customers, offering them greater choice and quality while they travel. "We are constantly investing in our locations, and I'm sure Irish consumers will be very excited at the arrival of Taco Bell." New Market Lead for Taco Bell Europe Matthew Johnson added: 'We are thrilled to bring Taco Bell's innovative and flavourful menu to Ireland. "This expansion is a testament to our commitment to growing our brand globally and delivering exceptional dining experiences to new markets. We believe that our unique offering will resonate with consumers in Ireland, providing a new and exciting dining option that celebrates bold flavours and a fun, vibrant atmosphere." Applegreen opened its first service station in Ballyfermot in Dublin in 1992 and now operates almost 200 locations in Ireland. Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
