Right now, a morning coffee near Willow Lawn means parking and walking in. Some places have a bagel counter, some have a breakfast table, and some have a pastry case. Two chains have filed plans for this stretch of W. Broad Street, and neither one will have a counter. 7 Brew is planned at 4905 W. Broad St., near Staples Mill Road. Dutch Bros is planned at 5816 W. Broad St., at Bremo Road. Both are drive-thru-only.
That is the real change coming to the Willow Lawn morning. The corridor is gaining a second kind of coffee stop, one built around service lanes, on parcels that used to be a car lot and a fried chicken restaurant. 7 Brew's target is January 2027. Dutch Bros has not given a date. Until then, here is how the morning works.
The Morning, Hour by Hour
These are the opening times each business lists on its own location page, plus the one recent change reported in local news. The order runs from earliest to latest.
| Opens | Spot | Address | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 a.m. daily | Einstein Bros. Bagels, Libbie & Broad | 5607 W. Broad St. | Egg sandwiches, coffee; closes 2 p.m. |
| 7 a.m. daily | First Watch | 5310 W. Broad St. | Sit-down breakfast; closes 2:30 p.m. |
| 7 a.m. daily | IHOP | 1601 Willow Lawn Dr. | Sit-down breakfast; open until 10 p.m. |
| 7 a.m. Mon–Sat | Chick-fil-A, The Shops at Willow Lawn | Willow Lawn shopping center | Breakfast service |
| 8 a.m. daily | Taco Bamba | 1601 Willow Lawn Dr. | New breakfast burrito as of August 2026 |
| 9 a.m. daily | Ben Wong's Tea | 1700 Willow Lawn Dr. #111 | Coffee, milk tea, house-baked breads and pastries |
Einstein Bros. at Libbie and Broad opens first, at 6 a.m., an hour before anything inside the shopping center. It also closes first among the all-day options, at 2 p.m. First Watch, a few blocks east at 5310 W. Broad, runs 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. That is a breakfast-and-lunch schedule built for the first half of the day. IHOP opens at the same hour but keeps going until 10 p.m., so it is the one spot on this list that covers breakfast and a late dinner from the same booth.
The shopping center's tenant roster also lists Starbucks in suite 700 and Panera Bread in suite 702. That roster has no date on it, and neither location's current hours could be confirmed for this post. Check their own apps before you build a 7 a.m. routine around either one.
The Shopping Center Has Been Filling In Its Mornings
The two newest morning options at Willow Lawn both came from businesses already in the center that started opening earlier or added baked goods.
Taco Bamba moved its opening time to 8 a.m. daily and added a breakfast burrito to go with it, Richmond BizSense reported in its August 4, 2026 restaurant roundup. That puts it on the center's breakfast map, alongside IHOP and Chick-fil-A.
Ben Wong's Tea had opened its second location at Willow Lawn by late April 2025, according to Richmond Magazine. The shop bakes its own breads, pastries and desserts and serves them with milk teas. A September 2025 Richmond Magazine profile describes croissants, breads, cakes and coffee drinks at 1700 Willow Lawn Drive #111. On opening time, that profile said 10 a.m. The shop's own website now lists 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The website is the more direct source, but a quick check before a first visit costs nothing.
So the pattern inside the center so far is existing tenants adding morning hours, with coffee and breakfast served at a counter or a table. The new chains along Broad add a different format.
Two Drive-Thru Sites on W. Broad
Both incoming projects sit on Broad Street parcels, not inside the shopping center, and both are designed around cars moving through lanes.
- 7 Brew at 4905 W. Broad St. The half-acre site near the Broad and Staples Mill intersection was a car dealership for years, operating as Basic Auto RVA and more recently as Car Stop Auto. The site plan Richmond BizSense reported in September 2025 calls for tearing down the dealership building and putting up a 7 Brew with two drive-thru lanes. Entrances would come from Broad Street and from Caskie Street at the rear of the property.
- Dutch Bros at 5816 W. Broad St. The corner of Broad and Bremo Road was a Zaxby's for nearly a decade before it closed. The Dutch Bros plan filed with Henrico County reuses the existing 3,000-square-foot building and adds two service lanes for a drive-thru-only operation. The menu covers coffee drinks, lemonade, iced tea and smoothies, plus muffins and granola bars.
The Caskie Street entrance at the 7 Brew site is a detail that matters on a busy stretch of Broad. A rear entrance gives cars a second way onto the lot, so the line doesn't depend only on a Broad Street curb cut.
7 Brew's own menu runs beyond coffee. BizSense describes the chain as franchised and drive-thru-only, selling hot and iced coffee, smoothies, teas, milkshakes and a house energy drink called 7 Energy.
How Firm the Dates Are
The two projects are at different stages, and their timelines are different too.
7 Brew has a date, and it has already moved once. In September 2025, Brenda Creamer, part of the local franchise group behind the region's first 7 Brew locations, said the 4905 W. Broad site was slated to open in summer 2026. Summer 2026 has come and gone. Richmond BizSense's September 21, 2026 update says Creamer's group now plans to open near Willow Lawn in January 2027. That group opened its first 7 Brew in 2024 near Winterfield Crossing in Chesterfield and now runs five locations across Chesterfield, Ashland and Colonial Heights.
Dutch Bros has a property deal and no date. The former Zaxby's at 5816 W. Broad sold in July 2026 for $2.3 million, according to Henrico records cited by BizSense. The buyer was an LLC tied to Florida-based Palmetto Capital Group, which develops locations for Dutch Bros and other chains. The sale price compares with the property's most recent assessment of $1.5 million and the $1.6 million the seller paid in 2015. A Dutch Bros spokesperson said in June 2026 that the Henrico location was in early development and gave no expected opening date, and BizSense's July report on the sale still listed none.
The Henrico store is one of at least two Dutch Bros locations planned for the region. The other is on Route 1 in Chester.
The Corner That Hasn't Been Claimed
One nearby site from the past year has no announced next use. Amigos Family Restaurant at 1808 Staples Mill Road, near Broad and the city-county line, served its last day on September 30, 2025, after its owner retired. When BizSense reported the closing, no redevelopment plans had been filed for the building, which was put up for sale. That puts a vacant restaurant building close to the Staples Mill end of the corridor, near the 7 Brew site. No public plan for it surfaced in this research.
A Practical Map for This Fall
Until the drive-thrus open, the morning options around Willow Lawn sort by time of day.
- Before 7 a.m.: Einstein Bros. at 5607 W. Broad is the confirmed option, opening at 6.
- 7 a.m., sit-down: First Watch at 5310 W. Broad or IHOP inside the center.
- 7 a.m., quick: Chick-fil-A breakfast at the center, Monday through Saturday.
- 8 a.m., something different: Taco Bamba's breakfast burrito, new since August.
- 9 a.m. and later, pastry and tea: Ben Wong's Tea, with house-baked breads and croissants.
The first drive-thru in the mix is 7 Brew at 4905 W. Broad, with a January 2027 target. Watch for construction activity on the old dealership lot near Caskie Street as the first sign that date is holding.
When a dealership lot becomes a coffee drive-thru or a closed restaurant sells for $2.3 million, the change reaches the people who live nearby too. Whether you are thinking about selling, buying or renting out a home in the Willow Lawn area, Option 1 Realty can show you how the corridor's new projects factor into what your property is worth today. Start Saving Today. Get Your Free Market Analysis.
