Border Foods Defy Concept

Taco Bell opened its first high-tech restaurant location in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, under its new Defy concept, which aims to reduce service times to two minutes or less while providing a fun, easy and seamless drive-thru experience. 

The two-story location, which broke ground summer 2021, features four drive-thru lanes, digital check-in screens for mobile order customers’ unique QR codes, two-way audio and video technology for customers to talk to Taco Bell employees and a proprietary vertical lift designed by Minneapolis-based Vertical Works Inc. to transport customers’ favorite menu items. 

Three of the Defy concept lanes will be dedicated to mobile and third-party delivery orders. Meanwhile, the fast food chain’s fourth new lane will be dedicated to customers looking for the traditional drive-thru experience.  

The location will be operated by local franchisee Border Foods, which has more than 230 Taco Bell locations across the Upper Midwest.