Dutch Bros Coffee gets informal nod for spot between two restaurants along Milwaukee Avenue

The next coffee shop chain to set stakes in Vernon Hills could be one that got its start in Oregon and has grown to 1,000 shops nationally.

Village leaders in an informal discussion last week gave the go ahead to Dutch Bros Coffee to proceed with review and a public hearing before the advisory planning and zoning commission.

As planned, the drive-through/walk-up store would be built at 1000 N. Milwaukee Ave., the vacant outlot between Perry's Steakhouse and Yard House on the Hawthorn mall campus.

Mall owners have a signed a letter of intent with Dutch Bros to develop the property, according to the village.

The concept is for a 1,275-square-foot building on the west side of the lot with a dual-lane drive-through to accommodate about 26 vehicles. A walk-up window and outdoor patio also are in the plan.

According to information provided to the village, the company uses two lanes to reduce wait times. The setup allows employees called runners to take and transmit orders from both lanes to drink stations inside the building and accept payments from vehicles in line before they merge into a single lane.

The company was founded in 1992 by brothers Dane and Travis Boersma with a double-head espresso machine and pushcart in Grants Pass, Oregon.

Espresso-based beverages are still at the core, but Dutch Bros offers a variety of customizable cold and hot beverages.

Vernon Hills village Trustee Craig Takaoka said he encountered lines at a Dutch Bros in Arizona a few years ago while a competitor across the street wasn’t so busy and became a fan.

“You guys are like the In-N-Out Burger of coffee,” he joked during the presentation.

Dutch Bros opened last week in a former Burger King in The Clove, a mixed-use development at Lake-Cook and McHenry roads, in Buffalo Grove.

It also operates stores in Rockford, Melrose Park and New Lenox, as well as in Valparaiso, Munster and Crown Point in Indiana.

mzawislak@dailyherald.com