A 510-square-foot coffee stand is about to take root in a parking lot along one of Bergen County's busiest highways. The Paramus Planning Board has approved a site plan for a 7 Brew drive-thru at 211 Route 4, tucked onto part of the iFLY Paramus property, marking the Arkansas-based chain's 10th New Jersey location.
The application came from G7B LLC, which plans to redevelop a portion of the iFLY parcel located between the Forest Avenue ramp, Forest Avenue and Route 4, according to Jersey Digs. Attorney Jason Tuvel first pitched the concept to the planning board on January 29, explaining that the coffee stand could fit onto surplus parking spaces at the site without triggering the need for additional parking variances, per the Paramus Planning Board. The board granted formal site plan approval on September 3.
The project will reconfigure the parking lot so three lanes flow one-way around the new drive-thru building, removing the existing parking-lot island in front of iFLY's entrance in the process. Traffic will be routed from the Forest Avenue ramp toward iFLY, then south and east around the new building and an accompanying refrigeration shed, while the existing lot in the parcel's northern portion will remain untouched, the outlet's report states.
What's Actually Being Built
The 7 Brew building itself will span 510 square feet, paired with a 260-square-foot refrigeration shed, and the design calls for black, brown, blue and metallic grey elements. Like every 7 Brew stand, the Paramus location will have no dine-in option and is expected to employ up to eight workers.
Hours are set for 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, stretching to 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The application required two signage variances and will involve changes to the on-site landscaping and lighting scheme, according to the same Jersey Digs report. Once construction begins, the timeline could move fast: 7 Brew relies on prefabricated modular buildings built off-site and delivered to a prepared foundation, a method that lets franchisees open in roughly 90 days rather than the year or more a traditional restaurant build can take, according to Ironsite Capital.
Why This Stretch of Route 4
Route 4 through Bergen County is a major east-west commercial corridor carrying roughly 100,000 vehicles a day, funneling commuters and shoppers headed toward retail hubs like Westfield Garden State Plaza, per NYCRoads. That kind of traffic volume is exactly what makes highway-adjacent parking lots attractive to drive-thru beverage operators looking to slot a small footprint into an already-developed site.
Bergen County restricts most non-essential retail sales on Sundays. But food and beverage businesses are explicitly exempt from those restrictions, according to Wyckoff Township, meaning the new Paramus stand will be free to pour coffee seven days a week.
A Bigger New Jersey Push
The Paramus approval will make this 7 Brew stand the northernmost location of the chain in New Jersey, and it comes on the heels of a wave of Garden State expansion. The company already has locations in Clark, Toms River, Hazlet, Clementon, Egg Harbor and Vineland, and it is separately planning a franchise along Route 17 in Upper Saddle River, per a Boozy Burbs Instagram post cited in the Jersey Digs report. The Upper Saddle River site is described as a planned franchise along Route 17.
Commercial real estate broker Ripco Real Estate finalized several New Jersey lease deals for 7 Brew this year, placing new stands in high-traffic corridors in Clark, Flemington, Newton and Upper Saddle River as part of the chain's regional scaling strategy, according to Mann Publications. 7 Brew entered the New Jersey market in 2025 and hit a national milestone that October when it opened its 500th location nationwide in Toms River, per Restaurant Dive.
The Money Behind the Growth
7 Brew's expansion has been fueled by serious financial backing. Private equity firm Blackstone took a majority stake in the chain in 2024, according to Blackstone. Industry data reported in 2025 also addressed the chain's sales performance, per Nation's Restaurant News.
The chain operates exclusively as a drive-thru concept with no dine-in seating, offering drinks across categories like coffee, energy drinks, teas, sodas, lemonades, smoothies and shakes, according to The Local Girl. For Paramus commuters used to sitting in Route 4 traffic, that means a caffeine fix could soon be just a lane change away.
