In Starbucks void on Jacksonville's Westside, new coffee shops are moving in. The latest is The Human Bean.
Twenty-two years ago this month, Starbucks opened its first Jacksonville-area coffee shops in Atlantic Beach and Ortega.
Since then, it’s opened dozens of shops across Jacksonville — or at least much of it.
One area largely overlooked by the coffee shop giant is the city’s Westside. (And I suspect that some there are just fine with that.) You’ll find a couple of shops in the Argyle Forest area, another one in Chimney Lakes and another inside the Target store at Oakleaf Town Center.
In that coffee shop void, new players are finally moving in.
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A new player in the market: 7Brew Coffee bringing drive-thru-only coffee shops to Jacksonville and Neptune Beach
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Lake City-based Ellianos Coffee Co. has opened one of its dual drive-thru coffee kiosks on the Westside — at 1125 Lane Ave. — and has plans for two more there: one at 615 S. Chaffee Road and 3770 Blanding Blvd. Another shop is open in Orange Park and more are planned across the St. Johns River.
Arkansas-based 7Brew is planning at least three Jacksonville-area coffee drive-thrus, including one on Normandy Boulevard at Normandy Village Parkway.
Now Oregon-based The Human Bean is proposing its first Northeast Florida coffee drive-thru, at Normandy Square, the Winn-Dixie-anchored retail center home to Ace Hardware, Family Dollar and Pizza Hut. The site is less than a half-mile from the planned 7Brew and an existing Dunkin’.
According to a service availability request submitted to JEA, The Human Bean is planning a 562-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru carved out of an existing parking lot next to Pizza Hut. While some Human Bean stores have dual drive-thrus, this one appears to be a single drive-thru with a walk-up window.
Founded in 1998 in Ashland, Ore., The Human Bean offers freshly brewed coffee as well as a variety of espresso drinks, smoothies, Steven Smith iced teas, cold brews, cold foams, Matcha, Chai, Americano, Steven Smith hot teas and more.
Specialty drinks, available hot, iced or blended include Chocolate Macadamia Nut Breve, Irish Cream Breve, Salted Caramel, Vanilla Mocha, Caramel Hazelnut, Caramel Mocha, Mexi Mocha and Snowy Mocha.
The shop would be only the second in Florida, after Lake City. The Human Bean has more than 300 locations open or in development in 25 states, according to the company’s website.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: The Human Bean opening first Jacksonville coffee shop
