Drive-thrus are key to Taco Bell's business, and have only grown more important in the last two years.
Source: Insider
A new concept, in partnership with one of the largest Taco Bell franchisees, will have four drive-thru lanes.
Three lanes will be for mobile and delivery orders, serving customers who ordered the Taco Bell app or another delivery service.
The concept includes a section for customers to park and order on their phones.
The fourth drive-thru lane will be more traditional, where customers order and receive their food.
Mobile order customers, who will presumably make up a higher proportion of customers at this location, can scan their orders with QR codes at digital check-in screens.
The actual process of getting food "defies gravity," according to Taco Bell.
Food delivery is contactless through a lift system, along with audio and video connections to Taco Bell staff.
Taco Bell's kitchen will be elevated above the drive-thru lanes, which minimized the footprint of the restaurant.
The new Taco Bell Defy location is scheduled to open in summer 2022 in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
Taco Bell has prioritized its drive-thrus over the past year and made some major changes as a result.
Mary Meisenzahl/InsiderSource: Insider
To some customers' dismay, last year the chain cut over a dozen items, including potatoes, to shorten wait times.
Crystal Cox/Business InsiderSource: Insider
The cuts paid off — in the third quarter of 2020, Taco Bell served 30 million more customers than in all of 2019, and each order was completed on average 17 seconds faster.
Mary Meisenzahl/InsiderSource: Insider
Taco Bell introduced Go Mobile restaurants earlier this year, focused especially on mobile and pickup orders.
Taco BellSource: Insider
This concept looks like an earlier iteration of the Defy concept, with two drive-thru lanes to accommodate mobile orders and traditional drive-thru.
Source: Insider
"The Taco Bell Go Mobile restaurant concept is not only an evolved physical footprint, but a completely synchronized digital experience centered around streamlining guest access points," Mike Grams, Taco Bell's president and global chief operating officer said at the time.
Source: Insider
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