The last time I ate at Taco Bell was in Boulder City, Nevada. Halfway between Las Vegas and Hoover Dam. I had a quesadilla and a soda for lunch. That was ten years ago.

Since then, I stop eating out every day and ate at home to save money. When I do eat out, it’s three to five times per year.

I visited the newly opened Taco Bell Cantina at Oakridge Mall last week. Not the Taco Bell I grew up with for the last 50 years.

The first thing you’re notice when looking up at the menu board that there is no menu. You can scan the QR code on the menu board with your smartphone camera to get the website menu. If you don’t have a smartphone, you can browse the kiosk menu when you place your order.

Please note that the website menu may have different prices than the kiosk menu. The Mexican Pizza combo on the website menu was $9.59. I paid $12.53 when I placed my order.

You can enter order at any of the four touch screen kiosks. Three of the kiosks are at the beginning of the line. The fourth kiosk is at the pick-up counter.

After you select an item from the menu, you can modify the item before adding it to your cart. I selected the Mexican Pizza combo. Since I gave up soda a year ago, I switched the large fountain drink to a small bottle of Aquafina water. Since I don’t like raw vegetables, I removed the lettuce and tomatoes from the other items.

You pay for your order via debit, credit card, or digital wallet. Taco Bell is moving away from accepting cash at all their stores.

An attendant will call out your name for your drink. If you have an alcoholic drink, you need to show your driver license or state ID card. Unlike regular Taco Bell stores, Taco Bell Cantina stores serve alcoholic drinks.

Another attendant will call out your name when your food is ready at the pick-up counter. You can eat in the food court that is always crowded. Or you can slip through the patio entrance next to the pick-up counter to go out on to the enclosed patio. If you eat out on the patio, the music is loud.

I had the Mexican Pizza, two crunchy tacos, and a bottle of water. Taco Bell removed the Mexican Pizza from the menu in September 2020 and brought it back in September 2022. Everything tasted pretty much the same as it was when I had Taco Bell ten years ago.