Drink mas? Taco Bell to serve alcohol at Chicago location

NEW YORK -- Taco Bell says it will serve beer, wine and “mixed alcohol freezes” at a new location set to open in Chicago this summer.

The chain, owned by Yum Brands Inc., says the restaurant will have a new design it’s testing in urban markets. It says the layout has already been launched in South Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom.

A rendering of the design shows a row of lime-green stools along a bar that peers into an open kitchen, flanked by an exposed brick wall. The chain says the location “will highlight the work of local artists” to give it a neighborhood feel.

The new layout is the latest sign Taco Bell is working to shed its fast-food image and appeal to millennials, who marketers say prefer places and products that seem less cookie-cutter and more “authentic.” Wendy’s, which is also trying to recast itself as a step up from traditional fast-food, has also been pushing a remodeling of restaurants that features more inviting and mixed seating options.

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