NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Taco Bell is opening its first digital-only restaurant in the U.S. on Wednesday in NYC’s Times Square.
To purchase a Chalupa or an iconic Mountain Dew Baja Blast, customers will be able to use one of the 10 automated kiosks inside the new Midtown Manhattan location.
Taco Bell noted that customers will be able to watch their food being prepared, but once it is ready, the order will be placed in a cubby which lights up to show the food is ready for pick-up.
Taco Bell opens its first digital-only restaurant in the US
So I reckon they will run the place with a manager and a couple or three kids rather than the usual force. Now they can afford a full $15 an hour and benefits for the remaining workers.
Welcome to McSwiney’s.
I’m not in the least surprised, although I would have thought it would have happened first with Starbucks.
I was wondering when the Stainless Steel Rat reference was going to be made 🙂
An engineer acquaintance of mine has stated that while you’d probably need to purpose-build a restaurant this way (as opposed to retrofitting), it would be easy to do with off-the-shelf systems. Wouldn’t hurt to have a person or two on hand for emergencies either.
Next, we’ll have McHugh’s, where the food service is automated and there’s heavily armed security on premises to discourage bad behavior.
History nay not actually repeat itself, but sure tends to rhyme a lot…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat
I remember those, growing up in Holland. Amsterdam slang called that “eating from the wall”.
Frankly, I’m shocked they haven’t made more of a comeback in light of spiraling prices and the Covid paranoia.
Apparently (says nl.wikipedia.org) they have faded away in a number of countries, but kept going strong in Holland and continue to do so today.
Taco Bell has made their first move for the coming Franchise Wars.
If anyone needs me, I’ll be out getting a rat burger.
I’ll bet the cubbies are to keep the staff safe from … vibrant customers.
I remember my dad taking me to The Automat in Detoilet, when I was a wee sprog.
Yes, both long, long ago, and far away.