Dutch Bros Coffee plans to bring its popular drive-thru to a busy stretch of Shaw Avenue in Clovis.
The coffee kiosk is in the works for the street west of Peach Avenue. It’s headed for an empty lot between McDonald’s and I Love Sushi that was once home to a gas station and a car wash.
Dutch Bros hasn’t started building and must still get building permits from the city. If all goes as planned, the location will have a 1,452-square-foot building with a walk-up window, but no seating. The City of Clovis Planning Commission has approved a conditional-use permit for the Dutch Bros drive-thru .
There was no opposition to the project, including from the notices sent to 37 addresses within 300 feet of the location.
Dutch Bros locations are known for getting busy at times, with cars stacking up in their drive-thru lines.
It will be open 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
The coffee shop will have one entrance on Shaw Avenue and three exits — two on Shaw and one into an alley north of the business.
Dutch Bros will open a new location in this empty dirt lot on Shaw Avenue just west of Peach Avenue in Clovis. Photographed Monday, March 2, 2026. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Will Dutch Bros affect traffic on Shaw Avenue?
Both the city and Dutch Bros representatives say the business will not cause traffic to back up onto Shaw Avenue.
Plans between Dutch Bros and the city went back and forth two or three times on that topic, said the city’s economic development and housing communications director, Chad McCollum.
“Both parties took that part of the conversations very seriously, recognizing that Shaw is an important thoroughfare,” he said. “It also makes it that much more important that we get it right.”
Plans include the following precautions to make sure traffic is not affected:
There will be side-by-side lines of cars that will merge into one at the pick-up window. Drive-thrus are required to have space for 13 cars to wait between the menu board and the pick-up window. Because this is “a high-volume user,” it will have 18.Dutch Bros will use runners to take orders and payments, and when necessary, deliver drinks. It will have 20 parking stalls, more than the eight required.
When times get busy, “they will also have traffic control to actively manage vehicles in the drive-thru lane, and that’s to keep them as close as they can, to maximize queuing capacity to prevent anyone from blocking the road, or blocking any other parking lot,” said assistant planner Eric Garcia during the planning commission meeting.
“These are all mitigative measures to prevent any spillover onto Shaw Avenue,” he said.
The Dutch Bros will employ about 30 people, eight per shift.
Related Stories from Fresno Bee
The Fresno Bee
Bethany Clough covers restaurants and retail for The Fresno Bee. A reporter for more than 20 years, she now works to answer readers’ questions about business openings, closings and other business news. She has a degree in journalism from Syracuse University and her last name is pronounced Cluff.