--- description: The first Taco Bell to sell alcohol will hire a security guard. title: Taco Bell That Serves Booze Will Also Have a Bouncer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta42ab73fcc675adc/69885d380a4a22ca3b9c565a/gettyimages-462673844.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Taco Bell](/tag/taco-bell/) ## Taco Bell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Taco Bell That Serves Booze Will Also Have a Bouncer by [Claire Zillman / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Claire Zillman / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 30, 2015 3:51 PM CUT  Yum! Brands Inc. Taco Bell signage stands outside of a restaurant in Peoria, Illinois, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015\. Yum! Brands Inc. is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2014 earnings on Feb. 5\. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images Yum! Brands Inc. Taco Bell signage stands outside of a restaurant in Peoria, Illinois, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015\. Yum! Brands Inc. is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2014 earnings on Feb. 5\. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Claire Zillman / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Claire Zillman / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 30, 2015 3:51 PM CUT Taco Bell is—ahem—beefing up security at its location in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. That’s where the company will serve alcohol alongside its tacos and Crunchwraps in the United States for the first time. [The company announced in June](http://fortune.com/2015/06/03/taco-bell-alcohol-first-time/ "undefined") that it planned to serve beer, wine, and mixed drinks at its Wicker Park restaurant as part of a rebranding effort that will see the introduction of upscale locations similar to ones the company already operates in the U.K., Seoul, and Tokyo. Now the location on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago is reportedly adding a bouncer to monitor the restaurant’s door on evenings, Thursday through Saturday, a representative for the owner of the restaurant told [DNAinfo Chicago](https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150729/wicker-park/first-taco-bell-sell-alcohol-agrees-have-bouncers "undefined"). The restaurant, which opens next month, will also stop selling alcohol by 10 p.m. on weeknights and by midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Those restrictions resulted from a community group meeting in June at which residents said they were worried about late hours, underage drinking, and customers exiting the Taco Bell with open containers of alcohol. [Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol told _Fortune_ in June](http://fortune.com/2015/06/09/taco-bell-ceo-brian-niccol/ "undefined") that “a lot of people like to have a beer with their taco,” and that the company’s new concept restaurants are aimed at capturing more young customers. “What we have found is the twenty-something crowd enjoys a beer with their taco and we also have a history of a late-night business where people have had their own alcohol to go with our food,” he said. A Taco Bell spokesperson [told DNAinfo Chicago](https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150729/wicker-park/first-taco-bell-sell-alcohol-agrees-have-bouncers "undefined") that the company plans to open another location that sells alcohol in San Francisco in September, and will evaluate entering other urban markets after that. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3978783/taco-bell-alcohol-bouncer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3978783/taco-bell-alcohol-bouncer/"},"headline":"Taco Bell That Serves Booze Will Also Have a Bouncer","datePublished":"2015-07-30T15:51:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:44:59.474Z","description":"Of course it will","url":"https://time.com/3978783/taco-bell-alcohol-bouncer/","keywords":["Taco Bell","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta42ab73fcc675adc/69885d380a4a22ca3b9c565a/gettyimages-462673844.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Claire Zillman / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta42ab73fcc675adc/69885d380a4a22ca3b9c565a/gettyimages-462673844.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Yum! Brands Inc. Restaurants Ahead Of Earnings Figures","caption":"Yum! Brands Inc. Restaurants Ahead Of Earnings Figures","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/taco-bell/","name":"Taco Bell"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3978783/taco-bell-alcohol-bouncer/","name":"Taco Bell That Serves Booze Will Also Have a Bouncer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Taco Bell Cuts Artificial Flavors","description":"Taco Bell and Pizza Hut said they will be getting rid of artificial flavors and colors from their menu items.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/HT4qr01E/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-05-26T20:22:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HT4qr01E.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3978783/taco-bell-alcohol-bouncer/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3978783/taco-bell-alcohol-bouncer/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```