The rapidly growing drive-thru coffee chains like Dutch Bros are now trying to figure out how to add food to the equation.
But, up in Washington state, the operators of soon-to-be four-unit Moe’s Coffee feel they’ve nailed it.
Kaitlyn and Craig Davis are the founders and “chief do-ers of things” at Moe’s. They are also married and creators of a young fan of the brand (who appears to enjoy the purple-tongue effect of eating one of Moe’s acai bowls).
Moe’s story begins in 2015, when Kaitlyn was just 24, she bought a drive-thru coffee stand called Moe’s. She decided to keep the name.
Kaitlyn had worked in a drive-thru coffeeshop while in college. It was a one-off, she said, not one of the big brands, like Dutch Bros, which also was born in the Pacific Northwest. But she just loved it. And when the Moe’s stand became available, she said, “I just knew it was the right place I needed to be.”
It was a good enough experience that Kaitlyn went on to open a sit-down coffeeshop in 2018. That’s when husband Craig joined in the business.
Called Moe’s on Olympic, the second unit had more of a food menu. The Davises brought in sandwiches, pastries and acai bowls, for example.
“We went from drive-thru coffee with no food to a café with food. Learning that whole space was a fun, fun journey,” she chuckled.
A year later, the couple went on to open a pizza and cocktail concept but that was short lived. They sold it in late 2024, deciding instead to move forward with Moe’s.
In 2020, during the COVID shutdown, the couple bought a third location for Moe’s in an old historic building near the entrance of North Cascades National Park in Darrington, Washington. Opened in 2021, it’s a large property, on about an acre, with outdoor fire pits and a concert stage. There’s table service with breakfast in the morning, burgers in the afternoon and a full cocktail bar.
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It was a long way from the simple drive-thru coffee concept that started their journey.
After taking some time to have a child and figure out what’s next, now the Davises feel ready to move forward with the Moe’s model for growth.
Soon, the couple will open the fourth Moe’s in Blaine, Washington, that will return to the drive-thru model. Only this one will have food alongside drinks.
On the menu will be bagels, sandwiches and acai bowls, alongside “an extremely elevated, delicious beverage menu,” Kaitlyn said.
Everything is fresh to order and cooked in units. The concept will target breakfast and lunch, as well as the all-day beverages that today’s consumers seem to demand.
Sure, there’s coffee, but the Davises have found that about half of beverage sales come from non-coffee drinks, like freshers, energy drinks and teas. (Although the Peanut Butter Moe, a peanut butter-coffee milkshake, has been a signature item since Day 1.)
The Blaine location is in a pre-fabricated modular building that’s about 600-square-feet, designed to scale. There’s a walk-in fridge and a small kitchen and beverage bar area. But no indoor seating.
Though the couple has no plans to franchise, they do hope to multiply this variation of Moe’s, targeting a 50-50 split in revenues between food and beverages.
Chains like the 1,225-unit Dutch Bros are on a growth tear, hoping to reach 2,029 units by 2029. Is there room for tiny young operators, like Moe’s Coffee, to get a piece of the pie?
The Davises believe there is. Blaine, for example, is opening in a new retail center in a neighborhood where population is growing.
When Kaitlyn bought the first Moe’s in Arlington, Washington, it was the only drive-thru coffee spot in the neighborhood. Now, eight years later, there are six within a couple miles, and a Starbucks opened down the street.
But sales have stayed strong, they said.
“We do look around at what’s going on around us, but we are also very honed in on what our customers are telling us, what they’re looking for, and what’s next. So we are always evolving,” said Kaitlyn. “We’re never stagnant. And I think that has just kept our customers coming back.”
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