Taco Bell in Shenzhen

A friend of mine and I had dinner in Taco Bell today and I actually liked the experience. Located in the upscale MIXc Mall in downtown Shenzhen, it is the only Taco Bell restaurant in the city (Shanghai has at least two). Guests are greeted "ole" by waiters/waitresses at the entrance. The interior decoration is ornately Hispanic and you can tell it is intended to be an upscale restaurant (similar to Pizza Hut in China). The customers are mostly Chinese yuppies and foreigners.

A dinner for two can cost you anywhere from $100 to 150 RMB without drink. The menu is similar to what you see in Mexico restaurants in US, complete with cakes and Margarita. But it definitely has items with appeal to Chinese. We ordered beef enchiladas, cream of mushroom soup, smoked salmon salad and baby-back ribs. Except for the soup, the rest was very good and tasted just like what I expected. My favorite was the baby-back ribs with sweet BBQ flavor. The dinner cost $126 RMB in total. Nacho was free.

Taco Bell, along with KFC and Pizza Hut, is part of Yum Brands, of which I am a shareholder.

[Photo source: Shenzhen Daily.]