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October 30, 2007

Another Sox parade: Crowds line up in Taco Bells

While the Sox players paraded through Boston today, a whole other kind of parade wound through -- and, in at least one instance, out the doors of -- several Taco Bells around Rhode Island.

Some local outlets of the national chain were swamped with customers this afternoon -- all thanks to a World Series stolen base by Red Sox rookie sensation Jacoby Ellsbury. Taco Bell agreed to give customers one free taco from 2 to 5 p.m. today if someone stole a base in the series.

More than 40 cars lined up at the drive-through of the Taco Bell on Reservoir Avenue in Cranston -- a line-up that stretched out onto Aqueduct Road. At the peak of things, five police officers were on scene to keep traffic flowing.

In North Providence, at the Taco Bell on Mineral Spring Avenue, manager Erika Duarte estimated the outlet had given out about 1,000 tacos in the first 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. She said she initially called the police out of concern for the potential for things getting out of hand but that in the end people were well behaved. One detail officer was on scene to keep traffic moving.

In Cranston, Lisa Ruggiero and her three sons Brian, 10, Daniel, 8, and Andrew 3 waited in line to go through the drive-through. They had watched most of the series on video because the games ran past their bedtimes.

"We love Jacoby Ellsworth, we're glad he's the one who own this for us. We saw him in Pawtucket [for the minor league Pawtucket Red Sox] and we know he's going be a big star," said Lisa Ruggiero.

But others coming and going did not display the red "B" one might expect. Yes, there were peole dressed in Yankees garb and even a car bearing a Yankees sticker seen exiting the Taco Bell.

However, another patron in Cranston, Hector Cabrera, swore to a reporter his loyalty to the Red Sox despite wearing a Yankees cap. A friend's hat, he explained, while eating a free taco.

The line stretched from the counter to the door at the Taco Bell in the Wakefield section of South Kingstown, said Stephanie Histen, assistant manager of the restaurant on Old Tower Hill Road.

At least 200 customers have gotten free tacos at an overflowing Taco Bell on Post Road in Westerly since 2 p.m., said Stephanie Thompson, the assistant manager there. She said the restaurant ordered 650 to 1,100 extra tacos in preparation for today.

In Warren, the Metacom Avenue Taco Bell has had a full parking lot and six or seven cars waiting in the drive-through.

In Attleboro, Mass., the police reported traffic slowdowns in the area of the Taco Bell there.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writers Barbara Polichetti, Richard C. Dujardin, Maria Armental and staff reports

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 4:18 PM | Permalink

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