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Happy hour may be coming to Taco Bell
CBS ^ | 5-15-15 | Aimee Picchi

Posted on 05/18/2015 12:40:05 PM PDT by JOAT

Yum Brands' (YUM) Taco Bell may soon ask diners not only to "live más" but "drink más," too.

The Mexican-themed fast-food chain has applied for a liquor license at a soon-to-open location in Chicago, according to Nation's Restaurant News, a trade publication. While Taco Bell didn't immediately return a request from CBS MoneyWatch for comment, it confirmed the liquor license application to Nation's Restaurant News.

If the application is approved, Taco Bell would join Mexican food rivals such as Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) that already serve alcoholic beverages. Still, for many family-focused fast-food brands, alcohol has remained firmly off the menu.

But in recent years, Taco Bell has been focused on grabbing younger diners by expanding its breakfast options and tapping social media and digital platforms, moves that have helped it gain Millennial diners. Adding margaritas or other drinks could add to that appeal.

Testing a new menu item at one or a handful of locations is standard protocol for fast-food restaurants because it allows executives to see how their customers react without spending huge sums on a risky national rollout.

McDonald's (MCD), for instance, recently said it would test all-day breakfast at some San Diego locations. Like Taco Bell, McDonald's is also aiming at Millennials' wallets, given the generation is now America's biggest, even surpassing the baby boomers. Millennials are especially interested in ordering breakfast at any time of the day.

The location where Taco Bell may start selling alcoholic drinks is in Chicago's Wicker Park area, which Forbes has called one of the country's hippest hipster neighborhoods.

The Wicker Park location will feature a "completely new urban restaurant design," according to Nation's Restaurant News. Taco Bell plans to open a number of new restaurants in urban locations with hip designs, such as creating stores from shipping containers or creating restaurants with open kitchens.

"I know a lot of people are talking about creating modern fast-food brands, and a lot are trying. But we're already on our way," Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol told the publication in March. "We're continuing to move Taco Bell into its own category."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
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To: Red Badger

terrible idea….


21 posted on 05/18/2015 1:00:00 PM PDT by Col Frank Slade
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To: patro

Now you know why their slogan is “RUN for the border!”..............


22 posted on 05/18/2015 1:00:12 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: JOAT
Now you can wash down your twelve-pack of assembly line tacos with a genuine fast-food crappy margarita.

Bottom shelf tequila and a dirty lime in a plastic cup of high fructose corn syrup. Yum!


23 posted on 05/18/2015 1:01:05 PM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: JOAT

Taco Hell plus 6 beers and 6 shots of JD...


24 posted on 05/18/2015 1:01:11 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: JOAT

“His nasty Bud Lite sits in my fridge till he comes over again to drink the swill.”

On the plus side, he KNOWS it will be there in your fridge waiting for him when he arrives.

Fairly inexpensive (swill) insurance....

The miser in me balks at a $5-10 bottle/glass of beer.


25 posted on 05/18/2015 1:01:19 PM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: JOAT

Anybody eating Taco Bell sober has some explaining to do. Good thing they’re fixing that problem.


26 posted on 05/18/2015 1:01:43 PM PDT by discostu (Bobby, I'm sorry you have a head like a potato.)
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To: Col Frank Slade

When my daughter was in HS, some of her classmates worked in the local Taco Bell.

I knew these kids from infancy.

I would never, ever eat at Taco bell when they were there, 10 years ago, and haven’t set foot in their stores since.............


27 posted on 05/18/2015 1:02:05 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: JOAT

The Jack in the Box in Tempe has been serving draft for 25 years.


28 posted on 05/18/2015 1:02:45 PM PDT by eyedigress (swh)
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To: Col Frank Slade

Which one?!..............


29 posted on 05/18/2015 1:03:11 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: JOAT

They are trying for first place!..............


30 posted on 05/18/2015 1:03:55 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: treetopsandroofs
Yes, there is NO chance anyone will drink his beer!

We have a mega-store 3 minutes away that sells any drinkable brand you desire, cheap. But he chooses bunny pee.

31 posted on 05/18/2015 1:04:28 PM PDT by JOAT
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To: eyedigress

For real?


32 posted on 05/18/2015 1:04:55 PM PDT by JOAT
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To: SamAdams76

Your description is likely spot on. Yuck.


33 posted on 05/18/2015 1:05:50 PM PDT by JOAT
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To: JOAT

Yup.


34 posted on 05/18/2015 1:06:33 PM PDT by eyedigress (swh)
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To: JOAT

Upon some remembering it was Carl’s JR.

I can’t tell em’ apart.


35 posted on 05/18/2015 1:10:02 PM PDT by eyedigress (swh)
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To: discostu
Anybody eating Taco Bell sober has some explaining to do. Good thing they’re fixing that problem.

Hey, getting wasted while eating fake Mexican food AND doing it in a shipping container:

"Taco Bell plans to open a number of new restaurants in urban locations with hip designs, such as creating stores from shipping containers or creating restaurants with open kitchens."

Sounds like a great strategy to me.

36 posted on 05/18/2015 1:10:14 PM PDT by JOAT
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To: eyedigress

I guess the joint don’t matter as much as the fact they’ve been ahead of the curve for 2.5 decades!


37 posted on 05/18/2015 1:11:05 PM PDT by JOAT
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To: JOAT

It’s on the main drag at ASU. Sunday afternoon with a Big Western and a Miller.


38 posted on 05/18/2015 1:14:51 PM PDT by eyedigress (swh)
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To: JOAT

Fast casual is starting to eat “traditional” fast food’s lunch. To survive they need to change. Open kitchen is a good idea, assuming they change their methods so that an open kitchen doesn’t scare everybody away.


39 posted on 05/18/2015 1:15:31 PM PDT by discostu (Bobby, I'm sorry you have a head like a potato.)
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To: JOAT

Taco Cabana in TX has margaritas. It’s taco bell like.


40 posted on 05/18/2015 1:16:40 PM PDT by showme_the_Glory ((ILLEGAL: prohibited by law. ALIEN: Owing political allegiance to another country or government))
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