Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Around the Block

Taco Bell Ditching Drive-Thrus in Cities

Over the next five years, Taco Bell plans to open more than 300 restaurants without drive-thrus or parking, like this one in downtown Cleveland. Photo: Tom Horsman

It's 2017 and you have to take positive news where you can find it.

With that in mind, consider this development: Taco Bell is chasing customers who'll walk to get their fast food fix. The chain is moving away from drive-thrus, reports Devon Walsh at Food & Wine, even though orders from the driver's seat account for most of its sales. Over the next five years, Taco Bell plans to open more than 300 locations without drive-thrus in major cities.

Steve Patterson at Urban Review STL wonders if other fast food chains will follow suit -- and what the effect will be on neighborhood restaurants:

Of course, this could hurt locally-owned Mexican restaurants in areas too urban for a typical Taco Bell. Taco Bell is part of Yum Brands -- KFC & Pizza Hut are corporate cousins -- maybe these will also develop an urban model? Expect other chains to also look to urban areas for growth -- adding new suburban locations is no longer a viable strategy.

Taco Bell recently opened one of these "cantinas" without parking or a drive-thru in downtown Cleveland, right next to the terminus of the Healthline bus rapid transit route. Say what you will about the maker of the Cheesy Gordita Crunch, it's a big change in the way fast food sellers have typically operated in Cleveland, where their locations are almost exclusively in car-oriented suburbs.

More recommended reading today: Writing at Medium, Darin Givens urges Atlanta leaders to address inequality and dangerous traffic conditions simultaneously. And Stop and Move posts an update on the agonizingly slow construction of a not-very-complex Fresno bus rapid transit project.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Op-Ed: Anti-Speeding Technology Could Have Saved My Son

A new Washington state bill could help end speeding. And similar bills are spreading across the country.

March 17, 2025

What Will ‘Safe Streets and Road For All’ Mean Under Sec. Duffy?

Last week, Secretary Duffy directed staff to start the process of clawing back millions in discretionary dollars for bike lanes. How will he spend it instead?

March 17, 2025

Monday’s Headlines Damn the Torpedoes

Full speed ahead, no matter how many people die.

March 16, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Turn Back the Clock

The Trump administration is undoing decades of progress on transportation emissions and safety — progress that many would argue was too modest to begin with.

March 14, 2025

Friday Video: Welcome to the War on ‘Woke’ Transportation

Overwhelmed by weeks of federal attacks on green and equitable transportation? Catch up with this explainer and plug in to the fight.

March 14, 2025
See all posts