A new Dunkin location with a drive-thru is under construction at the southeast corner of Union Boulevard and Irving Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania, confirmed by Jennifer Gomez. The project has been years in the making, and no target opening date has been announced.
The site, long tracked by city planners under the address 902 Union Boulevard, was originally approved for a different restaurant concept before plans shifted to a Dunkin franchise, according to citizenportal.ai. On March 11, the Allentown City Planning Commission approved a 12-month extension for the project — the fourth such extension granted — citing progress on plan submittal and a recently issued PennDOT permit.
A Drive-Thru Years in the Making
Repeated extensions suggest the path from approval to actual construction at 902 Union Boulevard has not been quick, though the commission's latest sign-off pointed to concrete movement: paperwork progressing and a state highway permit finally in hand. As WFMZ reports, the forthcoming restaurant will feature a drive-thru and will join more than 40 other Lehigh Valley Dunkin locations once it opens.
The new shop will add to a brand that has become ubiquitous across the region. WFMZ notes Dunkin bills itself as the country's largest coffee and doughnuts brand, with more than 14,200 restaurants operating in nearly 40 global markets. The chain is owned by Atlanta-based Inspire Brands, whose portfolio also includes Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In and Jimmy John's, per the same outlet's report.
Allentown's Expanding Dunkin Footprint
The Union Boulevard project is just the latest addition to a market that already counts more than 40 locations throughout the Lehigh Valley. A Dunkin kiosk opened at Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township in 2025, and a Dunkin eatery moved to a larger location in Wind Gap in 2024, the station's report notes.
Downtown Allentown has also seen Dunkin growth in recent years. A Dunkin location opened at Ninth and Hamilton streets in downtown Allentown in 2023 — a project that, according to earlier coverage from WFMZ, was planned for the ground floor of the Cityplace apartment complex with an estimated opening in July or August of that year. That Center City shop was meant to supplement existing outposts in American Plaza, at Hamilton and North Second streets, and at the Allentown Transportation Center at Sixth and Linden streets.
The Cityplace location's operators, Diptesh Patel and Subhash Patel, also owned a Dunkin a few blocks away on North Sixth Street, per the same wfmz.com report. Dunkin itself traces back to 1950, when it was founded by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts, and its current menu spans coffee, doughnuts, sandwiches, wake-up wraps, Coolatas, frozen matcha lattes, bagels, croissants and muffins.
For now, the Union Boulevard and Irving Street project remains under construction, with no target opening date announced. Allentown residents watching the corner will have to wait for further word on when the drive-thru doors open for business.
