Taco Bell has converted two of its Southern California restaurants into Live Más Cafés, its new beverage concept.

The restaurants are at 4101 Campus Drive, Irvine, and 11688 Carmel Mountain Road, San Diego.

The Irvine restaurant will celebrate its grand opening 1-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, coffee cup sketch artist, complimentary beverages and more, according to a news release.

The San Diego restaurant will hold its grand opening 3-5 p.m. the same day.

These restaurants are Live Más Café Nos. 2 and 3, according to representatives. The first opened in Chula Vista last December. It serves more than 25 handcrafted beverages made by “Bellristas,” according to its web page.

Both cafes will be serving a new seasonal beverage called the Caramel Apple Empanada Chiller. It’s based on Taco Bell’s actual Caramel Apple Empanada,  a discontinued item that was brought back Tuesday as part of a Decades Y2K Menu of fan favorites from early in the millennium.

They will also serve Refescas, Taco Bell’s take on aguas frescas, which are already on Taco Bell’s main menu.

The food menu is the same as regular Taco Bells.

The cafe concept and crispy chicken are Taco Bell’s big initiatives for 2025.

These openings are a change from plans announced by Taco Bell in July to open Live Más Cafés in Irvine and Orange.

Taco Bell did not announce an address for the Irvine cafe, but the Orange cafe was to have opened first at 468 S Main St., Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s main campus. Wednesday’s news release did not update the status of that project.

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