Taco Bell unveils new design with more drive-thrus as pandemic permanently shifts how we order

Taco Bell unveiled its newest restaurant design on Thursday, meant to push prospects to order their nachos and burritos forward and maintain drive-thru traces quick as the coronavirus pandemic leaves lasting marks on shopper habits.

The pandemic has prompted many restaurant chains, together with Starbucks, Shake Shack and Chipotle Mexican Grill, to rethink their designs or speed up modifications already within the works.

Surging use of drive-thru lanes, on-line ordering and supply in current months has pressured operations. In Taco Bell’s second quarter, it served an extra 4.Eight million automobiles by way of drive-thru lanes in contrast with a yr earlier, even as its same-store gross sales declined 8%.

The Yum Brands chain’s latest design consists of two drive-thru lanes, certainly one of which will likely be for selecting up orders made by way of its cell app, following a development set by Chipotle with its “Chipotlanes.”

“We have a lot of franchisees interested in expanding drive-thru capacity,” Taco Bell Global Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams mentioned.

The new “Go Mobile” design additionally options parking spots designated for contactless curbside pickup and indoor cabinets for claiming digital orders. The dimension of the eating rooms will fluctuate in dimension relying in the marketplace.

But it is not simply Taco Bell’s exterior and eating rooms that may see some modifications. Its kitchens will likely be revamped with expertise that tells staff the quickest technique to make the order and communicates to the shopper the best technique to choose up the meals. Grams in contrast it to air site visitors management at an airport.

“The customer still has control, but we help them,” he mentioned.

Customers who select the steered methodology for pickup will rack up more factors in Taco Bell’s loyalty program.

Two new company-owned areas with the twin drive-thru lanes, high-tech kitchens and different novelties are slated to open within the first three months of 2021. Grams mentioned Taco Bell is planning how to retrofit current eating places into the new design and dealing with franchisees on constructing their very own variations.

“Anywhere where you have cars, vehicles, delivery access — these restaurants will play both the suburban and city environment,” Grams mentioned.

The chain will incorporate the Go Mobile design at conventional Taco Bell areas, as effectively as its smaller city eating places and more upscale Cantinas.