7 Brew plans to open on former Mount Prospect Steak ‘n Shake site
A fast-growing drive-through coffee chain is poised to occupy the long-vacant Steak ‘n Shake site at the edge of the North end of Randhurst Village.
7 Brew Coffee is headed to the Mount Prospect Village Board for approval at an upcoming meeting. It passed through the planning and zoning commission unanimously last week.
Instead of late-night burgers and shakes, the focus will be on early morning lattes. Food items will be limited to prepackaged muffins.
The building at 201 E. Euclid Ave. has already shed most of its iconic Steak ‘n Shake branding, although the doors still retain the logo. Other than that, it is a white painted ghost of a building with long-empty picnic tables.
Steak ‘n Shake began operating in the late 1990s, but the building has sat empty for nearly four years.
7 Brew plans to keep most of the 3,600-square-foot building. The difference is there will be no indoor seating and no sit-down dining. The franchise’s standalone buildings are normally one-fifth the size of the current building.
Franchise representative Matt Nyweide told the commission the extra space would be for storage for such items as promotional T-shirts.
The chain has 12 locations open in and around Chicago and seven under construction, Nyweide said.
Village Planner Charlie Hogan said the site will offer a dual-lane drive-through with enough room to stack up to 48 vehicles — 10 is required by code.
“It is proven to be a popular product that attracts large queues,” he said. According to a traffic study, the Lake Zurich location has peak queues of 45 vehicles, he said.
“We do get [walk-up orders] very occasionally,” Nyweide said. “We won’t turn anyone away, but they just get served at the door.”
Two sliding doors under a new drive-through canopy will serve as pickup points. Each door will handle one lane, with employees walking drinks out to drivers.
“They have employees that stand outside with tablets and take orders at doors,” Hogan said. “Then the orders are taken and they can wrap around and pick up at the window on the other side of the building.”