As thousands of hungry music fans roam Pike/Pine this weekend for the 14th annual Capitol Hill Block Party, the affordable and usually satisfying Rancho Bravo is sure to be a zoo. The combination of flavor and thrift has been a neighborhood hit since opening in the converted KFC in spring 2009. CHS has learned the taco shop loved by hipsters and north Capitol Hill fancy pants alike is making plans to become even more popular — or, at least, busier in a whole new way.

Everybody knows about the patio. We first reported on the plans for that construction last summer. The work is finally underway and should be complete in the next few weeks, owner Freddy Rivas tells CHS.

“I wanted it sooner but of course it took more time than anybody expected,” Rivas said.

Others have probably heard that Rancho Bravo hopes to get a liquor permit from the state to begin selling beer to go along with your torta. Rivas has not yet applied for that permit but it’s still the plan, he says.

Part of the hold-up, Rivas said, is another crazy plan that will probably work for the restaurant. In the spirit of the legendarily fantastic and odd experiences of the long-gone Broadway Jack in the Box, Rivas is considering his options on re-activating Rancho Bravo’s inherited drive-thru. It would undoubtedly create a scene — no offense to Dick’s but there’s nothing like it left on the Hill for the in-car crowd.

“I think it would be popular,” Rivas said. “But I don’t know.”

There’s reason to be hesitant. Pike/Pine’s rise as center of Hill nightlife coincides with shifts in party culture. Conventional wisdom says cruising is dead. Still, there are plenty of cars on Pine late on Friday night.

But pedestrian issues might present a more formal resistance. According to a Department of Planning spokesperson, if a business in Pike/Pine wanted to add a new drive-thru component, DPD won’t allow it. The neighborhood is a pedestrian designated zone. But Rancho Bravo might have a route around that roadblock. DPD says they would grandfather an existing drive-thru where the use was not discontinued for longer than 12 months. It might be possible that Rivas can benefit from what KFC parent Tricon Global left behind.

Another governmental agency Rivas won’t have to be concerned about is the Washington State Liquor Board. A liquor board spokesperson told CHS that a drive-thru does not preclude the state from granting an on-site permit to sell booze. He pointed at the example of a Burgerville that made headlines last year when it added wine and beer to its menu in Vancouver, Washington.

Burgerville might present another solution to Rivas. Another innovation tested at the Vancouver fast-food joint is a bicycle drive-thru. Don’t know how popular that is down by the Oregon border but, in Pike/Pine on a Saturday night, you’d have to think there’d be a line.