Taco Bell To Open 50 New York City Locations By 2022

NEW YORK CITY — Brace yourselves New Yorkers, gorditas are coming. Taco Bell — a company that once substituted both the taco shell and tortilla chip with fried chicken like it was no big deal — is planning to open 50 new restaurants throughout New York City's five boroughs by 2022, a Yum! Brands spokeswoman told Patch Friday.

New York City could soon find itself flavor-blasted with Doritos dust, as the first five restaurants in Taco Bell's massive expansion will open by early next year, a Yum! Brands spokeswoman said. The first five new Taco Bell locations will open in NoHo, Times Square, Corona, Bed-Stuy and Ditmas Park/Flatbush, according to the spokeswoman.

Four of the new locations — all except Corona — will be Taco Bell "cantinas," which means that booze will be served alongside the chain's regular offerings.

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Taco Bell is shattering it's own business model — thinking outside the bun, if you will — by targeting New York City for expansion. The fast food chain only recently planned to expand in urban markets, NASDAQ first reported in May. By 2022 Taco Bell will operate 300 more urban locations that it does today, NASDAQ reported.

Of the 50 new stores in New York City, most will be located in outer boroughs where the retail opportunities are spacier, a Taco Bell executive told Eater New York. The company is expected to open 10 new stores in Manhattan, Taco Bell's chief operating officer Mike Grams told Eater.

Photo courtesy Yum! Brands