Your local 7-Eleven might soon have a taco drive-thru, if it doesn’t already.

©Food Business News

We’ve spotted some strange food news recently! We’ve seen McDonald’s and Crocs team up for an apparel crossover, adult Happy Meals (with nostalgic toys), and even a new McDonald’s spin-off store, CosMcs where they offer some unusual (but incredibly tasty) menu items. However, this 7-Eleven update just might be the most unexpected news so far!

According to PR Newswire, 7-Eleven is now the proud new owner of a BUNCH of taco restaurants. If you’re left scratching your head at that sentence and wondering just how a convenience store company could acquire so many taco restaurant locations, allow us to fill in a few gaps for you.

©Laredo Taco Company

Just recently, 7-Eleven spent $1 billion to purchase 204 Stripes Convenience Stores from Sunoco LP, the gas company (CSP News). As part of this acquisition, 7-Eleven also came to own every operating restaurant of Laredo Taco Company, which are located inside the newly purchased Stripes locations. This latest sale to 7-Eleven now makes the convenience store company the sole owner of both Stripes and Laredo Taco Company brands.

©Stripes Convenience Store

In a press release statement, 7-Eleven’s CEO, Joe DePinto, said, “We’re excited to welcome the remaining Stripes stores and Laredo Taco Co. restaurants to the family.” He continued, “And we look forward to serving even more customers across West Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma” (most of the 204 stores sold to 7-Eleven operate out of these three states).

As strange as it may sound that 7-Eleven owns taco restaurants, this isn’t a new thing for the gas station chain! They previously purchased 1,000 Sunoco-operated locations in 2018 and were introduced to the Mexican restaurant at that time. The company first began expanding with Laredo Taco Company in 2021 when it opened a drive-thru window at a corporate-owned location in Dallas, TX.

©7-Eleven

Loredo Taco Company isn’t just known for its tacos, though. They also serve taco bowls, sides, and aguas frescas. At the drive-thru location, customers could also order 7-Eleven convenience items like Slurpees.

©7-Eleven

Apparently, things have gone well enough for the company to continue to evolve its brand since that first mash-up. Eventually, this led to 7-Eleven opening an Evolution Store prototype in 2022, which featured a full-service Laredo Taco Company restaurant complete with its own patio and a menu of beer, wine, and (of course) frozen margaritas.

©Retail TouchPoints

This convenience store chain’s expanding ventures couldn’t have better timing. Consumers are reportedly turning to convenience store food as an affordable, alternative meal option. In 2023, Restaurant Business reported that data collected by Technomic, a food service intelligence company, found that 54% of convenience store customers were visiting restaurants less frequently due to rising food costs. According to a representative of Technomic, customers find value in the food offerings at convenience stores, likely taking these customers away from fast food restaurants they typically patronize.

©Laredo Taco Company

Leaning further into a combined effort of convenience stores and full-service restaurants (even if only by drive-thru window), could prove to be a game changer if things continue looking up for the gas convenience store company.

Be sure to stay tuned with us at Disney Food Blog for the latest in foodie news!

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Do you think we’ll see more convenience store companies switch to this hybrid restaurant offering? Leave us all your thoughts in the comments below.