Crime curbs Taco dine-in

Several Taco Bell restaurants in Oakland, Calif., have closed their dining rooms and are offering drive-thru service only as a surge in crime grips the city.

The Diversified Restaurant Group, which owns nearly 300 Taco Bell locations across California, Nevada, Kansas and Missouri, has closed the dining rooms at all four of its locations in Oakland due to safety concerns, KPIX reported.

One of the restaurants, located at 3535 35th Ave., has been robbed four times since November, twice when the restaurant was open for business, the outlet noted. Three weeks ago, robbers reportedly made off with a safe.

Kimberly Garibay, who works across the street, said the restaurant’s cash registers are not the only target.

“They just pull up out of nowhere, and it’s not like they only rob the store. They rob everybody in there as well,” she said. “So it’s not as safe as it used to be. There’s a lot of crime now.”

“It’s just — what is Oakland coming to? Everything is getting worse. Things are closing down. You know, it’s just terrible,” another resident, Aliyah Musa, told KPIX.

Cashless

Customers can still eat indoors at a Taco Bell operated by another franchise owner in the city; however, it has gone cashless in an attempt to discourage robberies, the outlet reported.

Taco Bell acknowledged changes were being made at the stores in Oakland.

“Providing a safe environment for team members and customers is the priority at Taco Bell restaurants,” the company said in a statement.

The Diversified Restaurant Group did not comment on the closures.

Taco Bell is only the latest fast-food chain to shut indoor dining in crime-ridden Oakland. Yaron Steinbuch