Taco Bell South Gate

Elements

5 Container(s)

Size

1080 Foot²

Age

Built In 2015

Levels

2 Floor(s)
Address: 13601 Garfield Ave, South Gate, CA 90280
Project Type(s): Retail
Bedrooms: 0
Bathrooms: 1
Units: 1

Note: Map location may not be exact. Click to open in Google Maps.

Taco Bell South Gate

Description

This is the first Taco Bell location ever built with shipping containers. The fast-food restaurant was originally used as a pop-up at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. Taco Bell’s corporate office had it prefabricated offsite, then assembled and operational in Austin within three days!

If this design and approach reminds you a bit of the original shipping container Starbucks, you’ve got a good eye. The same shipping container supplier apparently worked on both buildings!

However, Taco Bell’s restaurant looks very different from Starbucks because they decided to keep the container’s original exterior intact. While Starbucks used reclaimed wood paneling to clad the exterior of the containers, Taco Bell decided to keep the shipping container exteriors relatively untouched. They simply re-painted the shipping containers matt white and burnt sienna. Taco Bell’s Manager of Brand Experience said, “We started in a place that was exactly like Starbucks with all this wood on the side, it was beautiful, but we lost the coolness.”

You can see from the images that the store is primarily made up of three large 40-foot shipping containers. Inside the first container is the prep-line where you order and collect your food. The second shipping container is used for storage and houses an office for the store manager. The third, and final container, stores all of the cooling equipment.

After the festival, it was moved to its present, permanent location in South Gate, California. Set about seven miles southeast of Los Angeles, the South Gate location is run by the Alvarado Restaurant Group from Denver, Colorado. They own over 100 fast-food franchise locations in the southwest United States.

Compared to a ‘normal’ Taco Bell restaurant, this location is roughly half the size. Most of the reduction is due to to not having any interior dining. Instead, this location focuses on drive-through customers and outdoor dining for walk-up customers. Other than a restroom, there are no interior spaces that are accessible to customers.

Instead, the shipping containers are thoughtfully arranged for operational efficiency. The ground floor starts with two 40ft containers placed side by side as the main operations area for the restaurant. Another 40 footer container at a right angle to the first two sits parallel to the drive-through and holds the vehicle access windows. A smaller, cut-down container holds the bathroom and is set apart from others by a few feet.

Overhead is a 4th 40 ft container that is set on top of the first two and the bathroom container, forming a covered ordering area for walk-up customers and a cantilevered cover for drive-through vehicles. This container holds some additional equipment.

The designers didn’t stop there, adding lighting fixtures, custom “South Gate’ lettering, outdoor seating, and even a mural along the container by the drive-through. All in all, it’s a design that is small but gets the job done and looks incredible!

Contact Info

Professionals

If available, designer and/or builder information will be provided below and can be clicked for more detailed information.
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Sources

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