Taco Bell and Applegreen to open Portlaoise restaurant, hiring

Taco Bell plans to open a restaurant inside Applegreen’s J17 Midway food court in Portlaoise, County Laois, and Applegreen is actively recruiting staff for the new site. Hiring calls target team members, a supervisor and a manager to run the branch, though no official opening date has been announced.

The Portlaoise location follows the companies’ initial Taco Bell at a County Meath service station, part of a broader push to roll out multiple Taco Bell sites across Ireland over the coming years. For workers, that strategy means an uptick in entry-level and supervisory opportunities in the quick-service sector as the brand expands beyond its pilot site.

Recruitment for the Portlaoise outlet emphasizes local hiring, creating immediate opportunities for people looking for front-of-house or shift-lead experience. Team-member roles typically provide first-time employment pathways and flexible shift patterns, while the supervisor and manager positions offer stepping stones into multi-unit operations and higher responsibility for staffing, scheduling and service standards.

Operating inside a motorway service station food court will shape day-to-day work at the Portlaoise site. Staff are likely to encounter concentrated commuter traffic at peak times, a mix of short-stop customers and longer-stay visitors, and the operational demands that come with a multi-brand food court. Those dynamics can mean varied shift lengths, higher volume on weekends and holidays, and increased emphasis on speed and cross-training across service tasks.

For existing Applegreen employees, integration of a Taco Bell outlet may bring new internal mobility options, including transfers into the food concession or collaboration on shared site operations. For jobseekers, the announced vacancies are a chance to join a growing quick-service brand in Ireland, with potential for advancement as the chain adds locations.

What to watch next is the official opening date, the full rollout plan for further Taco Bell sites in Ireland, and specific hiring details such as pay rates and training programs. For local workers, the Portlaoise vacancy is a near-term hiring signal; for the wider workforce, Taco Bell’s expansion suggests more operational roles and managerial openings as the chain scales across service stations and other sites.