Taco Bell is ditching the drive-thru, adding booze in hundreds of new urban locations

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Taco Bell is embarking on an urban expansion that includes ditching its money-making drive-thru option and adding alcohol in a cantina-style restaurant setting, similar to almost a dozen restaurants it opened in 2015 in America's biggest cities, including Chicago and San Francisco.

The Tex-Mex fast food giant is planning to open as many as 350 new locations in cities, including New York, Nashville, Detroit and Pittsburgh by 2022, according to Food&Wine.

The restaurant wants to have a bigger impact in urban areas where millennial populations are exploding.

New urbanized Taco Bells might reflect the culture of the cities where they're located, including local artwork, digital menus and open kitchens, Food&Wine reported.

But possibly the biggest change on tap for the food retailer is adding alcohol to its menu. It's new cantina-style restaurants already feature beer, wine and sangria, and frozen drinks with rum, vodka or tequila.

The Tex-Mex chain also has international expansion plans, according to Bloomberg, and hopes to open more than 100 locations in Canada, China and Brazil.

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