"One of the oldest, and arguably the most important, original Taco Bell locations left in the United States is about to serve its last hard taco, tostada and Quesarito. The Lafayette Taco Bell, which opened in 1968, is reportedly set to close its doors for good at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, employees at the location confirmed to SFGATE during the final afternoon of operation."
"It is a town landmark, a Bay Area icon and a tall-tale epicenter for the fast food chain, which has only a handful of survivors with its original three-window, Mission-style architecture. There are so few left that look like the Lafayette location that Taco Bell's corporate arm has, in the recent past, chosen to step in and preserve others like it."
"A group of cool kids - usually boys, usually one with a truck - nominated the most daring of them to shimmy up the very scalable brick facade of the Taco Bell, jump onto the slightly sloped Spanish tile roof with a pair of bolt cutters (or pliers, or maybe a blow torch and some rope) and step into the mission of all missions: take down the Bell."
The Lafayette Taco Bell opened in 1968 and is scheduled to close permanently at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, confirmed by employees during the final afternoon of operation. The location serves as a town landmark and Bay Area icon and is one of the few surviving original three-window, Mission-style Taco Bell buildings; the corporate arm has intervened to preserve similar locations. The site is closely tied to a long-running Bay Area urban legend about youths stealing the restaurant bell. The legend describes groups scaling the brick facade, accessing the Spanish tile roof with tools, and removing the bell; Lafayette's bell was reportedly stolen so often the facade was bricked over and a neon sign replaced it.
Read at SFGATE
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