If you’re traveling between Downey and Irvine today, you might pass a Taco Bell, but don’t try stopping at the drive-thru.
This Taco Bell — the world’s first — will be on the move.
Known affectionately as “Numero Uno,” the 400-square-foot taco stand that opened in Downey in 1962 and gave a Mexican face to fast food will be carried 45 miles to Taco Bell’s corporate headquarters in Irvine tonight, saving it from the wrecking ball.
“This is arguably the most important restaurant in our company’s history,” Taco Bell Corp. CEO Brian Niccol said. “To think a business like ours that spans 6,000 restaurants around the globe started with a walk-up window no bigger than a two-car garage is truly inspirational. When we heard about the chance of it being demolished, we had to step in. We owe that to our fans, we owe that to (company founder) Glen Bell.”
The stand at 7112 Firestone Blvd. opened in 1962, anchoring a “Mexican- inspired” center. Its opening marked a shift in the burger-dominated fast-food world. As Niccol said, the stand brought “Mexican-inspired food to the masses.”
The eatery closed in 1986 as the chain grew with fancier locations outfitted with drive-thru windows. It re-opened as a series of other restaurants but has been vacant since December. The property was scheduled to be redeveloped, meaning “Numero Uno” was going to be razed.
A social media campaign to save the building ensued. The conservation group We Are The Next coordinated with the company to arrange for the building to be moved.
“This building isn’t designed by a famous architect, and it’s not particularly beautiful in the conventional sense. But it does demonstrate how even the most ordinary buildings can tell tremendous stories,” said Katie Rispoli, executive director of We Are The Next. “By saving and conserving structures like the first Taco Bell in Downey, we hope to set a precedent and demonstrate the great power that can come from unexpected histories in seemingly ordinary places.”
The move will begin at 10:30 p.m. today. The 20-foot-by-20-foot building will be transported from Downey and into Norwalk, Cerritos, La Palma, Buena Park, Anaheim, Tustin and Orange before arriving in Irvine Friday morning.
Taco Bell executives will keep the building in storage at its corporate headquarters until they finalize rehabilitation and re-use plans.
The building will be transported along the following route tonight:
— east from 7112 Firestone Blvd.;
— south on Bloomfield Avenue;
— east on Del Amo Boulevard and La Palma;
— south on Tustin Avenue and South Tustin Street;
— east on Chapman Avenue;
— south on Jamboree Road;
— east on Alton Parkway;
— north on Gateway;
— ending at 1 Glen Bell Way in Irvine.
