Liverpool gets a taste of America as Taco Bell comes to Bold Street

I don’t know if it’s just the novelty of eating somewhere that appears in almost every American movie ever, the fact that you can get a Burrito, Churros and Tacos in the same meal or that the refillable drinks machine contains Pepsi Max cherry but I was definitely ridiculously excited to sample Bold Street’s newest addition: TACO BELL!

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I first walked past the empty shell of a building with a Taco Bell poster in the window but now it’s finally here and I’ve tasted that Nacho cheese for myself, it’s safe to say the fast food dream has officially arrived in Liverpool.

So new that the paint still smelled fresh, Taco Bell sits at the bottom of Bold Street and is slowly gathering people from all over the city who probably, like me, couldn’t believe it has actually launched in our city. Being a little behind our US neighbours when it comes to the junk food culture, I have to admit walking through the door and seeing the flashing, colourful boards of all the available meal, side, combo and box deals you could buy for your dinner was a little overwhelming – send me into McDonalds and I know where I’m at (six chicken nuggets and chocolate milkshake) but this was on a whole new level. With many different Burrito and Taco choices it took a good ten minutes of reading the menu to decide what we were eating. There were options to order the Burritos, Tacos and ‘crunch wraps’ just on their own or you could make it a meal with a side and a (refillable!) drink.

Wanting to try a bit of everything we ordered two meals and a loaded fries (these looked too good to miss). After (a little too much) deliberation, I went for the Crunch Wrap Supreme which I would basically liken to a hexagonal wrap with the filling in the centre. I had the choice of whether to have ground beef, crispy chicken (the winner) or refried beans which would accompany allll kinds of goodness (lettuce, salsa and of course Nacho Cheese). As I was going with the meal I could also pick a side, I went with Mexican rice but it was a tricky one between that, fries or nachos.

Whilst we waited we headed to the refillable drinks area which wasn’t just your average Sprite or Coke Subway situation but rather Apple Tango, Peach Ice tea and as I mentioned earlier, Pepsi Max Cherry – the dream. Once our food was ready we headed to the upstairs seating area (also great for people watching over Bold Street) and dug in. The Crunch Wrap supreme was bigger than I thought and definitely generously filled. The Nacho cheese was maybe the best I’ve tasted – a perfect mixture of sweet and salty which covered with crispy chicken pieces (a side of guac for dipping made this next level) and the tortilla was toasted perfectly on the top. The Mexican rice was a little standard – spicy tomato rice topped with cheddar, but nevertheless, still an enjoyable addition to the meal.

The winning option (in my opinion) were the loaded fries. Topped with sour cream, salsa, Nacho Cheese AND refried beans (you could also go for beef) these were just all kinds of delicious and an extremely healthy portion size for £4.99 – even I couldn’t finish them (although a good go was definitely given). With eyes bigger than my belly and a significantly refilled drink, I really didn’t have room left for the churros and chocolate dipping sauce that was winking at me from the menu board – but if you are into the sweet stuff you can either order a churros sharing plate, add churros onto your meal for an additional 50p or get the ‘Big Bell Box’ which consists of churros as your dessert. Amazing.

Obviously, if you’re expecting top class service, a gourmet meal or the quality of many of our independent gems, then Taco Bell probably isn’t your best bet, but if you fancy heading out for Mexican style fast food that’s extremely tasty, filling and great value for money then hit up the brand new branch on Bold Street. Taco Bell – we thank you for considering us hungry Scousers and filling the taco shaped hole in our lives – we have a feeling this will catch on extremely quickly!

Laura Nicholson