Taco Bell Serving Alcohol at New Chicago Store

September 17, 2015 – In just five days consumers will be able to down wine, beer, Sangria or spiked frozen drinks as they munch on their tacos at Taco Bell’s newest location in the Wicker Park area of Chicago.

The official opening is September 22 and the store will be known as Taco Bell Cantina.  Don’t expect to pick up a drink as you drive through the more than 6,000 Taco Bells across the country.  The Cantina concept is geared to in-store dining and will offer an expanded menu of casual food such as quesadillas and chicken tenders.

Taco Bell’s rationale for offering alcohol is a way for the company to double its receipt average of just $7.00 to around $14 with the addition of a $6.00 or $7.00 cocktail.  Beer will cost $4.00.  Plus, it is also a way to attract millennials in an urban setting.  Cost of real estate in downtown areas of big cities prohibits building drive-through outlets requiring about an acre of land.

While Starbucks has gone all out applying for liquor licenses for hundreds of their stores, Taco Bell, which is a part of YUM Brands, is proceeding with caution.  They are looking at maybe 10 locations in 2016.  A second location scheduled to open soon is in San Francisco near AT&T Park, home of the Giants.  It will sell beer and wine only, the wines being supplied by Stack Wines, which come in self-serve containers with peel off foil lids.  Customers can take the containers home and repurpose them!  We wrote a story about this in June 2104 and even supplied a recipe for an easy July 4 dessert http://www.wineandspirits.com/recycle-your-wine-container/