Applegreen will open Ireland's first Taco Bell restaurant in September as part of a new €15m motorway service station in Co Meath.

The forecourt operator expects to create more than 100 jobs at the facility at Junction 6 on the M3 in Dunshaughlin.

The site will also feature an M&S Food shop-in-shop outlet, a new Braeburn Coffee Café, a Burger King restaurant and Crafted, Applegreen’s new deli offering.

There will be an Applegreen convenience store and service station forecourt with eight EV charging ports capable of speeds of up to 400kW, with more chargers to be installed when further power is made available at the site.

“When we announced our plan to bring Taco Bell to Ireland back in April, we were thrilled to see that our customers were just as excited as we were about bringing Taco Bell here,” said Seamus Stapleton, Managing Director of Applegreen’s Republic of Ireland business.

“We’re delighted to confirm today that Ireland’s first Taco Bell will be located at Applegreen’s new motorway service area on the M3 at Dunshaughlin, and it will open in September.

"We plan to open several additional Taco Bell restaurants at our Irish locations over the next five years, and we will update consumers as soon as we have more news of future restaurants.”

Matthew Johnson, new market lead for Taco Bell Europe said that “by partnering with Applegreen, Taco Bell is able to bring our iconic menu and unique dining experience to Ireland and continue to grow as a global brand.”

The partnership with Applegreen “will enhance Taco Bell’s presence in Europe, solidifying our regional footprint but also propelling our global growth ambitions,” he added.

Applegreen is planning to invest €1bn to expand its business in Ireland, the UK and the US over the next five years, and the Dunshaughlin site is its largest single investment in Ireland this year.

“This is a very significant addition to the Applegreen network in Ireland, as we’re opening a state-of-the-art new facility on the M3, which up until now didn’t have a dedicated services option," said Stapleton.

“We are continuing to expand our much-loved partnership with M&S Food, as well as growing our Braeburn coffee offer. Including Dunshaughlin, we have added six new Braeburn Cafés this year. Braeburn is proving very popular with our customers, and we plan to continue to invest further in this premium coffee brand.

“The new Dunshaughlin service area will also see the launch of our new Crafted Kitchen & Deli – offering good, honest Irish food, crafted just for you. Crafted will bring a range of new products and will also continue to offer customers deli favourites, such as chicken fillet rolls and breakfast rolls.” 

The Dunshaughlin facility will be open 24/7, while the food outlets will be open daily from 6am until 11pm, with varying times for each specific food outlet.

The site, which covers almost 10 acres, has ample parking and will be the largest EV charging hub on the M3.

Applegreen has annual sales of €4bn and currently employs about 16,000 people. The company recently announced plans to develop service stations in Massachusetts and Colorado.

Photo: The Taco Bell at the new Applegreen service area in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. (Pic: Supplied)