Taco Bell's First Defy Drive-Thru Opens in Minnesota
Taco Bell is attempting to redefine fast food with its new Defy restaurant—a first-of-its-kind, app-focused, four-lane drive-thru in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
The two-story eatery has been opened in partnership with Border Foods(Opens in a new window), and uses a vertical "food tube" to deliver meals from the top-floor kitchen to ground-level customers. It's designed to be more mobile- and delivery-friendly.
"Taco Bell Defy is an incredible innovation for our brand, and one that's meeting our consumer in a really unique way," Taco Bell President Mike Grams said in a statement(Opens in a new window).
Boasting digital check-in screens for mobile orders and a two-way audio/video service for dine-in customers, Taco Bell Defy aims to reduce service times to two minutes or less while providing "a fun, easy, and seamless drive-thru experience."
The new restaurant's four lanes (compared to most locations' one or two) are built to accommodate mobile pre-orders and third-party delivery services like GrubHub, UberEats, and DoorDash; only one lane is dedicated to traditional drive-thru customers looking to order from their car.
"Taco Bell Defy embodies the innovative, entrepreneurial spirit of Minnesota businesses and franchisees," according to Lee Engler, co-founder and CEO of Border Foods. "It is a creative, technological solution for a faster, contactless experience for as many Taco Bell fans as possible and is poised to be the future of quick-service dining."
It's unclear whether more Defy locations will open elsewhere; a company press release suggested "many features … could show up in future Taco Bell restaurants in the US." The fast food chain and franchise owner Border Foods, meanwhile, are considering "potential retrofits"
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