Highlights
- Filiberto's Mexican restaurant will open in mid-to-late August 2026 at Scottsdale's former vintage Taco Bell on McDowell Road.
- The building, store No. 31 in the Taco Bell chain and the last vintage cantina in Arizona, closed in April 2025.
- The Tenorio family, who started their restaurant empire in Southern California in 1964, opened the first Filiberto's in San Diego in 1988.
- Filiberto's will operate as a 24/7 drive-thru and retain some original architectural elements, including colorful tables.
The Tenorio family's Filiberto's will open in mid-to-late August 2026 inside Scottsdale's former vintage Taco Bell on McDowell Road, according to Phoenix New Times, ending more than a year of vacancy at one of the valley's more recognizable fast-food structures.
The building was Taco Bell store No. 31 and the last vintage cantina in Arizona, featuring Mission-style architecture with a Spanish tile roof, sunset orange and beige paint, and a 1970s interior color palette. The original Taco Bell closed in April 2025 after a new Taco Bell was built approximately 300 feet east.
Filiberto's will operate as a 24/7 drive-thru Mexican restaurant and retain some of the building's vintage architectural elements, including colorful tables. The chain is a family operation: the Tenorios started with a taco shop in Southern California in 1964 and opened the first Filiberto's in San Diego in 1988, expanding to Arizona with a first Mesa location in 1993.
Who is moving into the old Taco Bell?
Filiberto's, a 24/7 Mexican drive-thru chain owned by the Tenorio family, will occupy the space. The family launched their first restaurant in Southern California in 1964 and brought Filiberto's to Arizona in 1993 with a Mesa location. The Scottsdale opening is targeted for mid-to-late August 2026.
For a wealth audience accustomed to tracking what fills notable commercial real estate, the Filiberto's move is a price-tier step down from the building's prior life as a destination novelty. The site drew regional attention in late 2024 when Taco Bell briefly revived its Decades menu there, leaning into the original 1960s aesthetic before shutting the location for good the following spring. The incoming operator is a regional chain, not an independent concept or a hospitality group with a Scottsdale footprint.
Filiberto's targeted opening is mid-to-late August 2026, per Phoenix New Times.
Sources
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- Phoenix New Times retrieved 24/07/2026 00:17
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 24/07/2026 00:17. Every claim traces to a source.
