Taco Bell serving alcohol to open this week in Wicker Park

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A Taco Bell in Wicker Park will be the chain’s first restaurant to serve alcohol. | Diana Novak Jones/Sun-Times

What wine would pair best with a Doritos Cheesy Gordita Crunch?

The beef might point sommeliers toward a red, though some diners might skip the wine in favor of an after-dinner Frozen Freeze with vodka.

Both will be possible when a Wicker Park Taco Bell becomes the first of the chain’s restaurants to sell alcohol this week.

The restaurant at 1439 N. Milwaukee Ave. received its liquor license on Friday and will serve alcohol as soon as it opens, according to franchise owner Neil Borkan.

Borkan said his restaurant would open this week but he didn’t know what day.

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On Monday, workers were putting the finishing touches on the restaurant, which has signs in the window for Cerveza Dos Equis and New Belgium Brewing.

Beer, wine, Sangria and the slushy Frozen Freezes with rum, vodka or tequila will be served, according to a Taco Bell spokeswoman. Prices range from $4 for beer and wine to $7.19 for a Frozen Freeze with tequila, she said.

Alcohol will be sold from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday, the spokeswoman said.

The Taco Bell will have a security guard present Thursday through Sunday from 9 p.m. to midnight, according to a plan of operation Borkan filed with the city.

All restaurant workers will take the state’s responsible beverage server and seller program or a similar training, the plan said, and signs will be posted preventing people from leaving the restaurant with their drinks, according to the plan.

The alcohol will be served in different cups than the soda, according to a Taco Bell spokeswoman.

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