Will tacos, burritos and all the combinations in between work in a place where raw fish is the nation’s popular cuisine? One restaurant group in Japan seems to think so, with the announcement that it signed a franchise agreement with Yum Brands to open Taco Bell restaurants in the country.
Though Asrapport Dining Co. didn’t say when, where or how many restaurants it’d be opening in Japan, it did say the move would help expand its brand portfolio and usher in a new category of fast food in a place hungry for such fare, reports the Wall Street Journal. The company currently operates grilled meat restaurants called yakiniku in the country.
Currently the only Taco Bells in Japan are on U.S. military bases, which means the general public doesn’t have access to chalupas.
Asrapport isn’t alone in trying to lure in Japanese customers with fast food fare — though Burger King and Wendy’s both left the country a few years ago, they’ve both come back for another try. New York’s Shake Shack also recently said it would be opening several locations in Japan.
Please, please please — can we all just hope and pray that there will be no sushi burrito mash-ups on the horizon? Unless of course, you’re into that kind of thing, in which case, more power to you.
Taco Bell Makes a Run for Japan’s Border [Wall Street Journal]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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