Ever wonder what the Taco Bell equivalent of an alcoholic beverage would be? It’s exactly what you would imagine. A new Taco Bell on the Las Vegas Strip, the brand’s 7,000 location, opened on Nov. 14 featuring a freeze wall that delivers 16 and 32 ounce frozen drinks loaded with tequila, rum, vodka, whiskey, and spice rum. It’s the fourth Taco Bell to serve alcohol, and it’s meant to be a flagship for the future of the brand.
Taco-bout taking full ownership of late night.
The Strip location will be Taco Bell’s first flagship destination designed to show off the franchise, and it’s the “ultimate expression of the Taco Bell brand and lifestyle,” chief marketing officer Marisa Thalberg says in a press release. If Taco Bell’s ultimate expression includes alcohol, it is ultimate indeed.
Las Vegas joins Chicago, San Francisco, and Austin in the Taco Bell alcohol family. The move makes sense if you’ve ever walked past a line of inebriated Taco Bell customers. Why keep the middleman when you can just give the people what they want right there where the food is served?
Fast food is America’s most defining food trend, but people are increasingly turning to fast casual instead (many of which also serve alcohol), according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, a Gallup poll found that Americans are consuming more alcohol. Taco Bell is just going where the people are, and it’s setting itself apart from other, more sobering, fast food chains in the process. If you’ve ever been lured into a location with the promise of alcohol, you know that it’s a tactic that works.
Who knows if people will want drop dough on drinks with their value meals. One thing is certain, though: Fourth meal will never be the same. Taco Bell’s freeze wall features eight base flavors (margarita, cola, pina colada, lemonade, orange, baja blast, cherry, and blue rasberry), and any of the five available liquors can be added to the frozen delights. Just so we’re clear here, that’s 45 boozy options to pair with your Doritos Locos Taco — although some mixes are obviously better than others.
If you find yourself in the Las Vegas Taco Bell, you can always go with the obvious (tequila and margarita, rum and pina colada, whiskey and cola). Or you can get adventurous — this isn’t fast food and fine wine we’re talking about. Drink a frozen orange whiskey, or a lemonade tequila. Not feeling the inspiration? Play it safe and add vodka to any of the frozen flavors. You really can’t go wrong.
