The long-closed Burger King at 2170 Monterey Road may be headed for a caffeine-fueled second act. Dutch Bros has filed plans to turn the shuttered fast-food restaurant into a drive-through Dutch Bros coffee shop, adding another blue-windmill outpost to central San Jose if the city signs off. The filing calls for reusing the existing building and keeping the operation primarily drive-through, with no interior seating on the menu. City review and permits are still required before anything changes on the ground.
How The Dutch Bros Makeover Would Work
According to The Mercury News, the proposal would trim the parking lot from 46 spaces under the old Burger King layout to about 33 spaces and set up a single drive-thru lane with stacking room for roughly 20 vehicles. The plan spells out that there would be no interior seating and no exterior speakers for taking orders, in line with Dutch Bros' usual drive-thru-focused format. In other words, customers would roll through quietly, not shout into a squawk box.
From Whoppers To Walkups
Commercial listing materials from Meacham/Oppenheimer peg the existing building at roughly 2,650 square feet on a 0.8-acre lot and emphasize the site’s drive-thru potential. The application, prepared by Core States Group, identifies the former Burger King as the existing structure. David Taxin, who arranged the lease, told The Mercury News that Dutch Bros “will be very successful” at this location, signaling plenty of confidence in the Monterey Road makeover.
Part Of Dutch Bros' South Bay Caffeine Push
The Monterey Road plan is not a one-off. The chain opened a Santa Clara County shop in Gilroy at 301 E. 10th Street last year, per KSBW. Earlier filings show Dutch Bros also pursued a separate San Jose site at 2624 S. Bascom Ave, according to San José Spotlight, suggesting the company is steadily staking out territory around the South Bay.
What Has To Happen Before Coffee Flows
For now, it is all still on paper. The Monterey Road proposal is at the preliminary review stage and would require additional entitlements and any needed traffic studies before construction could start, as noted in local coverage by The San Jose Blog. Residents and city staff will be able to weigh in during the formal review process, and the developer must secure the necessary permits before any work begins. Until then, the former Burger King sits in limbo, caught between its burger past and a possible cold brew future.
