A view of the new Taco Bell Go Mobile restaurant, 2224 E. Craig Rd., in North Las Vegas Tuesday, July 12, 2022. The location has a drive-thru lane and a pickup lane but no inside dining area.
Monday, July 18, 2022 | 2 a.m.
At the newest Taco Bell in North Las Vegas, the question of whether an order is for here or to go has already been answered. It’s always to go.
The “Go Mobile” restaurant at 2224 E. Craig Road offers only a drive-thru and indoor kiosk ordering. There is no dining room in the 1,200-square-foot building, about half the size of a typical Taco Bell.
At the drive-thru, there is a dedicated lane for food delivery services like Uber Eats or Grubhub and customers who order ahead using the Taco Bell mobile app. The only place to sit down and eat is a small outdoor patio.
“Our business model is so much different than what it was five years ago,” said Todd Kelly, chief operating officer for Las Vegas-based Diversified Restaurant Group, owners of the Taco Bell.
“When I was a (fast-food restaurant) general manager 20 years ago, we did about 50% drive-thru and 50% dine-in. That was pretty standard in the industry,” Kelly said.
Those percentages have shifted over the years toward the drive-thru, he said.
After the coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020, many restaurant owners started to think differently about their business models, Kelly said.
For several months, only drive-thru and curbside pickup service were allowed in many places, including in Las Vegas.
“It was a whirlwind of everything, including customer habits and employee habits,” Kelly said. “It was a scary time. We had to change and adapt.”
Sales, however, actually increased without any customers coming inside, Kelly said.
“With Taco Bell, dining rooms are open again now, but we’re still doing 70-80% of our business through the drive-thru,” he said. “That’s basically industrywide, so why have a dining room?”
At the North Las Vegas Go Mobile store — the first on the West Coast with multiple drive-thru lanes — Israel Chavez used one of the three kiosks to order his lunch.
The only time he talked to an employee was when his name was called when his order was ready. He was inside the building for only a few minutes.
“It’s pretty cool,” Chavez said.
Diversified Restaurant Group has about 80 Taco Bell and Arby’s stores in the Las Vegas Valley and over 100 stores in Nevada. It also has restaurants in California, Kansas, Missouri and Alaska.
“I think we’re going to see more of this, and I think this one will set the tone for that,” Kelly said of the Go Mobile restaurant. “I would much rather build something like this — at about 25% less cost — than a normal building. With this, I get the same or more business, and it’s easier to manage.”
