Taco Bell employees filmed smoking inside empty restaurant as multiple cars wait at drive-thru

Hope Schreiber
·Writer
Two Taco Bell employees in North Carolina were captured on video smoking inside an empty store, despite a long line at the drive-thru. (Photo: Facebook)
Two Taco Bell employees in North Carolina were captured on video smoking inside an empty store, despite a long line at the drive-thru. (Photo: Facebook)

Footage of two Taco Bell employees sitting and smoking inside the empty restaurant as a long line of customers wait in their cars in the drive-thru has social media users saying, "That explains a lot."

The video was filmed outside of a Taco Bell in West Asheville, N.C., according to News 12 WLOS, on Saturday. And yes, for the record, smoking is prohibited in all North Carolina restaurants after the state's Smoke-Free Restaurants and Bars Law was put into effect in 2010.

"Just casually smoking a cigarette, inside the Taco Bell, you know," the person filming the incident can be heard saying. They pan through the restaurant, which appears to be empty except for the two employees, and added, "Check out the line, you know, nothing to see here though, just casually smoking."

While the customers may have been more than annoyed with the wait time of their now smokey-scented chalupas, social media users were quick with jokes.

"Those 2 cigarettes were the healthiest thing in that place!" one possible health-nut observed. Another added, "Can they have a smoke break in peace?"

Taco Bell released the following statement regarding the incident: "We are disappointed to see that this happened. This is a franchise location and the team members involved no longer work for the franchisee."

This isn't Taco Bell's first brush of viral video fame recently. Just earlier this month, a Taco Bell employee was captured on cellphone video not only berating a customer who complained about his overcooked food, but then trying to hit him. The employee of the Miami, Fla. franchise was pulled away from the man by her coworkers and ultimately fired for her outburst.

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