Taco Bell to open in three German cities

After a false start in 2024, the US fast-food chain Taco Bell has announced it will open branches in three German cities by the end of 2026.

Taco Bell to open in Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Cologne

Taco Bell has announced that its Europe manager, Ian Cranna, will move to Germany to open branches of the fast-food chain in Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Cologne in the final quarter of 2026.

Taco Bell’s only existing branches in Germany are on US Army bases in Wiesbaden, Spangdahlem, and Ramstein. Now, it plans to run a total of 175 branches in the federal republic by 2030. 

Opened by Californian businessman Glen Bell in 1962, the fast-food company, known for its tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, already operates in seven European countries: the Netherlands, Finland, Spain and Portugal, Cyprus, Romania and the UK.

Taco Bell scrapped previous Germany plans

It was in May 2024 that the US company initially announced plans to expand in Germany, with 10 restaurants in Berlin, followed by 100 to 150 branches nationwide by 2030. The Berlin restaurants were set to open by August 2024. The opening date was delayed by one year, before the whole plan was scrapped in May 2025.

At the time, SPIEGEL reported that Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum! Brands had “lost trust” in Turkish businessman Ilkem Sahin. Sahin had been running Yum! Brands' Pizza Hut and KFC franchises in the federal republic and Turkey, and was set to run the Taco Bell branches.

The entrepreneur was suspected of “dubious business practices” at his company, Sahin Holdings. Accusations the company has denied included threats against employees, withholding wages, and embezzlement.

Yum! Brands cut ties with Sahin, a decision that business reports suggest cost around 61 million US dollars (52 million euros), resulting in around 7.000 employees abruptly losing their jobs and demonstrations across multiple Turkish cities.

An investigation by WirtschaftsWoche found multiple “irregularities within the Sahin empire”. The entrepreneur also took over Rhein-Main TV, before taking the station down a few months later, the speciality paper supplier Ober-Schmitten (SPO) in Hesse, the auto wheel design company BBS in Baden-Württemberg and the organic food brand Lycka in Hamburg.