Oak Park will soon be the home of Cook County’s first Dutch Bros Coffee location.
Oak Park’s village board unanimously approved the zoning variance requests from Dutch Bros, an Oregon-based fast-service coffee chain with more than 1,000 U.S. locations primarily on the West Coast. The chain plans to repurpose the site of the former Kentucky Fried Chicken location at 316 Madison St. as part of an early foray into Chicagoland.
“This is revitalizing a piece of property for a productive use that’s appropriate for the land,” said Village President Vicki Scaman.
The property sits near the intersection of Madison Street and Ridgeland Avenue, adjacent to Percy Julian Middle School. The company would construct a new 1,236 square foot building on the site, featuring two-drive through lanes and a walk-up window for pedestrian customers, according to its proposal.
“The project includes the redevelopment of a non-operational KFC restaurant into a Dutch Bros Coffee with a drive-thru service window,” the company wrote in its proposal. “Site improvements include demolition of the existing building, dual drive-through lanes with stacking for up to 13 vehicles, a bypass lane, and a trash and recycling enclosure. The building will include a customer walk-up window on the north side of the building with covered outdoor seating. Surface parking for 14 vehicles is proposed to serve the site.”
Trustee Chibuike Enyia said that redeveloping the site will also make the area safer for school children walking to class.
“Kids travel through that lot every day to get to school,” said Enyia, a Julian parent. “Some kids can get lost in the pack around that building and I think knowing that there will be eyes on that building, that there will be a use for it, will get kids back to walking on the sidewalk and not use those shortcuts that can potentially create a dangerous situation in the alley between the school and the building.”
The board’s vote comes after Dutch Bros shared plans for two downstate Illinois locations and made a pitch for a shop in a farther-flung Chicago suburb.
The chain opened its first location in the state last month in the Metro East St. Louis community of Glen Carbon, according to The Edwardsville Intelligencer. Dutch Bros announced in August that it’s on track to open a location in Urbana by the end of the year, according to NBC.
Dutch Bros representatives also appeared before Naperville’s Planning and Zoning Commission in August to pitch a new location, according to the Naperville Sun.
The chain has looked to expand across the country in recent years after amassing a dedicated following on the west coast. In the process, Dutch Bros has become well associated with its large, eclectic drink menu, viral online promotions and the peppy service provided by its “broistas.”