Taco Bell will announce plans Wednesday to roll out an ambitious upscale menu of fresh-Mex foods targeting customers of the $27 billion fast-casual industry.

Cantina Bell menu launches nationwide July 5. The new product line features bowls and burritos, priced at less than $5, made with premium ingredients such as seasoned white rice, black beans and corn salsa. (Photos: Cantina Bell menu)

“We saw the category was blossoming and we wanted to be in the space,” said Brian Niccol, chief marketing and innovation officer at Irvine-based Taco Bell. “We’ll be better on price, and better on convenience.”

The launch comes less than six months after official testing began on Cantina Bell in Bakersfield and Louisville, Ky. The fresh-Mex foods, which closely resemble items at Chipotle Mexican Grill, were also available in a few Orange County restaurants.

“We had great success in test,” Niccol said. “We found it very appealing to our current users, but also adding appeal to new users and light users.”

In test markets, Taco Bell sold bowls, tacos and burritos stuffed with cilantro rice, black beans, corn salsa, romaine lettuce and cilantro dressing with choice of steak or chicken.

The taco was eliminated from the final Cantina Bell menu because of lack of sales. Niccol said customers loved the flavors in the tacos, but they thought the bowl and burrito offered better value.

Depending on the protein choice, the bowls and burritos will sell for $4.79 (chicken) or $4.99 (steak). Cantina Bell also will feature a “veggie” option, which includes a meatless burrito or bowl with double the amount of black beans.

Though Taco Bell can customize any menu item for vegetarians, company officials said this will be the first “veggie” option promoted on a Taco Bell menu.

The move is part of the chain’s overall strategy to offer premium fast-casual foods that appeal to a larger audience, Niccol said.

“We can reinvent fast casual to be accessible for all, not just the few,” he said. “We’re going to give them the quality, the flavor and taste and wrap it up in Taco Bell value and convenience.”

Switching from a “food as fuel” to a “food as experience” restaurant started nearly three years ago with the development of Cantina Bell.

At the time, the company toyed with tapping a celebrity chef to bring legitimacy to a new upscale menu. Names like Guy Fieri and Bobby Flay were bounced around.

But market research showed that Taco Bell fans wouldn’t be fooled by gimmicky top chef endorsements. Instead, they wanted a chef to put his or her own stamp on any new sophisticated menu, Taco Bell food developers told the Register.

Taco Bell then turned to Miami chef Lorena Garcia, who eventually created Cantina Bell using some of her own recipes. The new cilantro dressing, for example, is an adaptation of an item she has made since she was a child.

Garcia also tweaked how the chain prepares its guacamole, pico de gallo and chicken — changes made to bring more balance to overly seasoned foods.

“I always say less is the better, and that’s what I brought to the table,” Garcia said.

Taco Bell said Garcia will promote the new menu in a summer marketing blitz in five major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and New York.

Her name along with a money-back guarantee is featured on Cantina Bell’s foil food packaging and wrappers.

Taco Bell said Garcia will develop more Cantina Bell foods in the future.

“The thing that’s great about Lorena: We’re not paying for her endorsement. We’re paying for her to be part of the Taco Bell family,” Niccol said.

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Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com