Odd doings in FV: what's with Dutch Bros?

[Not Heidi]

Strange car queuing is now a fixture at the NE corner of the intersection of Magnolia St. and Talbert Ave. in Fountain Valley.

A Dutch Bros Coffee - more an overgrown kiosk than a shop - was built in the parking lot of the corner strip mall there. It opened on February 9 this year.

People wait in unbelievably long lines for the drive through, snaking through the parking lot (across the painted parking spaces) in two improvised lanes. Dutch Bros employees stand in the lot, directing traffic. It seems that more cars are in line for Dutch Bros than are parked for the strip mall's other residents combined: Sprouts, fish & chips, pizza, ice cream, Thai food, children's martial arts, Dollar Tree, and more.

Most evenings there's also a very long line of standees awaiting their turn at the walk-up window.

The most absurd part of this coffee drink-driven spectacle is that, when the shop opened and for several weeks afterward, the line extended from the parking lot and east down Talbert Ave. Obtuse caffeine aficionados blocked driveways and entrances to residential streets. Fortunately, the city found a way to stop this.

I should note that I, too, love coffee. But I'm not going to waste 90 minutes of my life in my car, adding fumes to Earth's fragile atmosphere, just to satisfy my curiosity about the merits of a single cup.

All that (TL;DR?) is preface to my questions:

Why all the excitement about Dutch Bros Coffee? And do similar phenomena afflict cities in other states?

[ZZenith]

1. Their marketing is way, way better than their coffee.

They’re ubiquitous here in the PNW, in many towns outnumbering Starbucks.

Not sure what they add to the coffee but it always manages to leave a burnt feeling on my tongue and lips no matter the temperature.

[Not Heidi]

9. burnt feeling . . . yuck

Thanks for the warning.

[jimfields33]

2. Obviously they love the coffee. Good for them. I'd never wait 90 minutes either, but they don't seem to mind.

[Not Heidi]

10. No, they surely don't. n/t

[Midnight Writer]

3. Similar situation here. New shop opened offering only specialty soft drinks at a drive-thru window.

Cars were lined up for blocks, blocking streets, drives and intersections.

For about two months.

Then the fervor ran down.

Now you drive by the place and the employees are sitting outside waiting for customers.

[Not Heidi]

11. Specialty soft drinks?

Anyone can make those. Add freshly-squeezed lemon or lime juice to a Coke; puree some peeled peach and add it to a glass of club soda . . . with a little imagination those folks could've saved their money. And time!

[3Hotdogs]

4. This was also the case when Krispy Kreme expanded. --- Blocks long lines.

But the donuts WERE good. ---- filled blueberry ----. I remember when one opened up in Manhattan. S.I.L. bought 1/2 dozen to take home to New Jersey.
---traffic getting into the tunnel so she opens up the box. Conclusion, not one donut made it back to Parsippany.



Now, they are not even worth the 2 mile drive from my house.

[Not Heidi]

12. Not one donut made it

Being a fan of most donuts (I draw the line at mediocre), I understand your SIL absolutely.

[Susan Calvin]

5. I was wondering about that here a little bit south of Houston.

They opened one and people seemed to go crazy. I don't understand. Of course, I don't understand Starbucks either. You could buy yourself an awful good coffee or espresso machine with what you'd save in a year.

[Not Heidi]

13. I'm thinking of doing that very thing.

Today I was desperate for a cup of coffee but didn't want to bother with my tiny four-cup "Mr Coffee" (sorry, Joe). I poured a mug full of my sister's bottle of cold-brewed coffee and nuked it. It wasn't terrible.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

6. The kids love them (at least in AZ)

They are targeting high-school students and Dutch Bros coffee stands are now teen hangouts. There have been lawsuits w/ the city and massive fines on some locations because they are so disruptive to traffic. I used to like their coffee when they first moved into Phoenix about10 years ago, but their coffee seems to me to have gotten a lot sweeter to my palate and is almost undrinkable now.

[Not Heidi]

14. that makes a lot of sense

It's seemed to me that the long lines of people on foot were made of high school kids, just from the way they stand and interact.* And this overgrown kiosk is about a mile from one of the largest high schools in Orange County.

* There's time to watch them as I'm sitting at the nearby red light.

[Fichefinder]

7. Might be the young girls in shorts and tight shirts directing traffic, maybe I'm wrong

[Not Heidi]

15. I haven't noticed any such costumes/uniforms

but in this world, anything is possible.

No, wait: I demand that Joe Biden be reelected. So Joe, save us from what's-his-name. Don't let him be possible.

Besides that, anything is possible.

[HeartachesNhangovers]

8. Dutch Bros specializes in coffee for people who don't like coffee - especially children and young people.

Although you can apparently buy a cup of hot coffee at Dutch Bros, it doesn't make much sense to go there for that and wait in line with a bunch of teenagers. But if you want an iced chocolate raspberry crappuchino with extra pumps of colored sweetener in a giant plastic cup with a giant plastic dome lid and a giant plastic straw, that's where you want to go.

[Not Heidi]

16. Ew.

That's all I can say. Ew. Thanks for the warning, of which I've received a few here today.

[JoseBalow]

17. Sounds like every In-N-Out burger joint I've ever seen