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Taco John's testing new restaurant design to cut costs

July 31, 2013

Taco John's is testing a smaller building design with a heavier focus on the drive-thru. The location is in Cheyenne, Wyo.

The idea to test the prototype came about when the chain's development team found a location on a small parcel of land with "an irregular shape."

"It's on a great traffic corridor and across the street from a brand new McDonald's. It offers great visibility. But the lot is small," said Dan James, chief development officer for Taco John's. "So we decided to test a small building, forego the inside seating and focus on the drive-thrus next to a very busy street."

Seating inside the new restaurant accommodates seven customers. Outside, two drive-thru lanes and order stations improve traffic flow while feeding into a single pick-up window.

"We believe this building design will, in the long term, save money for our franchisees," James said. "It gives us the opportunity to cut costs for franchisees and still be able to maintain really good sales levels. And it opens the door to markets across the country that we would have turned down previously because the real estate wasn't cost effective."

Taco John's plans to test the smaller footprint model with as many as five locations throughout the next year and a half. The company says since opening in June, sales numbers for the first prototype have been strong with nearly two-thirds of the business coming from the drive-thru.

Taco John's operates and franchises more than 400 quick-service restaurants in 25 states.

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