Taco Bell’s Shipping Container Restaurant at SXSW

Taco Bell has joined the movement of recycling used shipping containers and turning them into functioning, cool-looking buildings. In this case, Taco Bell has turned 3 used shipping containers into a portable, pop-up shipping container restaurant at SXSW.

When I was a kid (a very long time ago) my parents would stop at the Taco Bell in Santa Cruz on the way home from the beach. Which would feature their take on “authentic” Mexican food, such Churritos, Chulapas and Enchiritos (what?!). But the restaurants were always these ubiquitous white-brick palapas with outdoor seating made of concrete benches and tables. Now it seems those buildings are still there, but mostly inhabited by other businesses. I cannot imagine what it would take to demolish one of those old beasts.

Now it seems that Taco Bell has gone in the other direction, keeping their carbon footprint light by, at least in this case, making their restaurant out of recycled shipping containers. They turned 3 used shipping containers into a portable, pop-up restaurant. It takes up about half the space as one of their traditional restaurants and is assembled in 3 days. The original idea was to create a really refined look, with dark wood paneling, just like the Starbucks project. But they decided to keep the outside of the containers mostly unfinished to preserve the coolness of used shipping containers. And also, in keeping with one of the themes of the SXSW event, sustainability and thinking outside the box was important. According to Taco Bell, they wanted to“explore dropping this type of asset in different locations, which will ultimately give us the ability to show up in unexpected places for our consumers.”

Of the 3 containers, one is a food prep area, one is for storage and operations (an office) and the third is just sort of stacked on top; I imagine it could be used for additional storage. All of the units are welded together, but are meant to be easily disassembled transport used in a future location; Taco Bell is mumm on where that might be. The shipping containers were sourced from the same supplier that Starbucks used, so they gained some knowledge from their experience. We hope in the future they might want to use Shipped.com as a way to easily source the used shipping containers. Let’s see if we can make that happen.

In any case, as space is limited, there is no inside seating — there just isn’t room — it’s all about eating on the go. There are some stools that side up to a long wooden counter bolted to the side of one of the containers, with some additional outdoor seating so you can eat on premises.

Has this article motivated you to find a shipping container and start creating your own personal quick serve restaurant? Or perhaps a smaller version of what you see here in SXSW? Sourcing containers from sellers worldwide just got a whole lot easier. Whether you’re in Albuquerque or Antwerp, The Shipped.com Marketplace connects buyers and sellers from all over the world, enabling you to get the lowest price possible along with the fastest delivery time. You can sign up in seconds and within minutes sellers worldwide will be sending you their very best offers on exactly what you’re looking for. You’ll have your choice of the highest quality shipping containers at the lowest possible prices. Visit the Shipped.com Marketplace and submit your container request now.

Once your containers arrive, contact us and we’ll be happy to point you in the direction of people who can help you get started refurbishing your containers and build your own pop-up restaurant.

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Taco Bell’s Shipping Container Restaurant at SXSW

building out the restaurant

the kitchen

Taco Bell’s Shipping Container Restaurant at SXSW

Taco Bell’s Shipping Container Restaurant at SXSW

Taco Bell’s Shipping Container Restaurant at SXSW. But the main focus is take out. By the looks of things, it’s not a stretch that a drive-through window could be added at future sites.

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