Taco Bell is the fast food chain we all love to hate. Whether it’s for a classic Crunch Wrap Supreme or the Doritos Locos Taco, it’s hard to resist those late-night cravings. Now, your guilty pleasure drive-thru, which has roughly 6,000 locations in the US, is focusing on a sit-down experience for consumers.
In 2015, Taco Bell opened its first Cantina location in Chicago, followed by a few others in Las Vegas, Cleveland, and San Francisco, and the Tex-Mex chain just announced that it will be opening over 300 similar stores in cities nationwide by 2022.
“One of the cool things happening in America right now is the revitalization of urban areas, and we’re seeing millennials moving into downtown areas,” Mike Grams, Taco Bell’s chief operating officer, told Food and Wine. New locations are set to roll out in big cities like New York City, Nashville, Boston, and Detroit.
So, what can you expect? These cantina-style restaurants will feature sharable foods like nachos and mini quesadillas in a hip, urban setting for gathering. Each store will be designed with localized art and modern technologies, including digitalized menus. But here’s the best part: The new menu and ambiance will be coupled with booze. That’s right, menus will include beer, wine sangria, and slushies made with vodka rum, or tequila. Yes, please!
But don’t expect to pick up your taco and Twisted Freeze on the fly. These cantina locations won’t have drive-thrus. Makes sense.
