Tcao Bell's Foray Into Fine(r) Dining

Taco Bell, the butt of many a joke about poor food quality, is testing a new concept called The U.S. Taco Company (click for more information). 

It will be interesting to see if they can pull it off successfully.  If I were giving them advice, here's what I

Some of the new US Taco menu items

would say:

• Stay a million miles away from the Taco Bell name.  Taco Bell is all about feeding your face, not dining. 
• Don't assume that what made you successful as Taco Bell is transferable to the new concept.  The demographics will be different ... the service levels will be different ... the operational controls will be different.  
• In fact, don't re-assign any of your existing management to the new concept.  They will only screw it up.  

When I worked as director of marketing for a Pizza Hut franchisee, I constantly reminded management that our expertise was not food ... but rather multi-unit operations and standardized procedures.  A real restaurant is a very different animal.