A new Taco Bell restaurant called ‘Defy’ that opened up in Minnesota, features two floors and four driveways and relies heavily on technology to bring efficiency and speed to customer’s orders.
The company released a video showing how their fancy new restaurant ‘works’, with people getting their orders from a ‘food tube’ that brings it down from the second floor kitchen.
People can pick up their food in-store, simply stepping in and making their order through one of the many available machines that are easy to use. Alternatively, they can stay in their car and use one of three lanes.
Dare to Defy. Meet the Taco Bell of the future. pic.twitter.com/6UZcffWgGa
— Taco Bell (@tacobell) June 7, 2022
The first lane features a simple voice box which people can give their order to, moving to the next window to pick up their food from the tube. The other three lanes are for people who want to “skip the line”, avoiding the long wait for their order to be made.
This is done by simply making their order online through the Taco Bell app, then approaching one of the machines and scanning a QR code that is given to them when they complete their order. That way, they can pre-order their food before they’re anywhere near the restaurant, grab it as they drive by, and go off on their way!
why this Taco Bell looks like a bank😧 pic.twitter.com/qyjsIi0eJH
— d🦕n (@javroar) June 7, 2022
These three lanes also work for delivery drivers that work for companies such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Menulog, etc. Once they have accepted an order from the restaurant, they can just drive past one of the three lanes, grab the food and move on with their delivery.
The announcement of this ‘Defy’ restaurant was made about a year ago (August 2021, to be specific). Taco Bell franchise owner Border Foods pointed out that their innovative new restaurant “boasts many features that could show up in future Taco Bell restaurants in the US,” with the company considering implementing them into more of their stores, depending on their level of success.
However, the look of this new store was a bit alienating, with one Twitter user pointing out that it “looks like a bank.”
