Warsaw's Coffee Scene Split Into Two Kinds of Morning This Year

Before sunrise on Monday, August 31, cars were lined up at South Buffalo and Prairie streets waiting for Warsaw's first Scooter's Coffee to hand out its first drink. Four months earlier, a block west of the courthouse square, The River Coffee had gone the other way. It moved into a building with a working roastery and a back room where anyone can sit down and have a free cup. Warsaw had more coffee options in 2026 than it has ever had. The new shops sorted themselves neatly. The chains built for people in cars, and the local operators built for people who want to stay a while.

Three Chains, One Business Model

All three chains that picked Warsaw this year chose sites by traffic counts. They didn't pick foot traffic.

Scooter's is the one closest to downtown, and even it sits on a corner lot meant for cars. The franchise took almost 20 months of preparation before it opened on a landscaped piece of the southeast corner of the old Marsh parking lot, just north of Conley's Barber Shop, according to News Now Warsaw. Brothers Eric and Brody Ewert run it. Eric is the owner and operator, and Brody manages a staff of 30 to 35. Eric told the outlet they chose the spot partly because it's just down the street from the high school, where he used to teach and coach and where Brody was a standout basketball player. The city sold them the lot. Warsaw had bought the whole Marsh property years ago so it could market the site, and the city says plans for an antique mall in the old grocery building are still moving forward. That corner may have a second act yet.

Dutch Bros. went out to Lake City Highway, near the Wendy's. Before this fall, the closest Dutch Bros. was in Auburn. It held a soft opening and a Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting on September 16 and opened officially the next day. Operator Austin Hermanson told the Times-Union, in a story carried by InkFreeNews, that there's no indoor dining room. Customers order at the drive-thru or the walk-up window, and a couple of parking spots are set aside for mobile pickup. He explained the location in one sentence:

"I don't know how many people drive this highway every day, but I'm sure it's a lot."

Its hours follow the highway too. The window is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Besides coffee, the menu has the chain's Rebel energy drinks, teas, smoothies, and nine food items, including a chorizo wrap and cookie dough cake pops.

Biggby will make three drive-thrus. The plat filed for the site calls it The Grounds at Coffee Creek, and the Biggby goes on a 1.61-acre commercial lot on Parker Street across from the Lassus gas station. Dustin Sturdevant owns the property, and RW Kidd Construction is building it. At the Warsaw Plan Commission meeting on March 9, John Kidd described the building as "a Biggby Coffee drive-thru portal." He said Biggby does about 70 to 80 percent of its business before noon, and that a two-lane road would loop around the building, one lane for through traffic and one for cars lining up at the order kiosk. Commission members asked a lot about traffic on that part of Parker Street, and the site plan goes to the city's tech review committee before anything is built. As of the July 29 report in InkFreeNews, no opening date had been announced. Until now, the closest Biggby shops have been in Goshen and Plymouth.

Starbucks and Dunkin' were already in town. Add this year's openings, and Warsaw now has several national coffee brands built to serve you without you ever turning off the engine.

Downtown Spent the Year Adding Seats

The local operators made the opposite move, and they made it first.

The River Coffee, run by Amanda and Jamel Meerzo, celebrated its new downtown shop on Saturday, May 9. It moved from the corner of Buffalo and Center streets one block west, to 121 W. Center St. Amanda Meerzo told News Now Warsaw that the old corner shop had charm, but its food prep was on a lower level, which made serving customers more complicated. The new building has unrestricted parking just around the corner.

The move also put The River under the same roof as its roaster. Generous Coffee is The River's exclusive roaster and has been at 121 W. Center St. for two years. The roastery takes up the back half of the building, with seating open to the public. Generous started in 2017 as a "fundraising engine" for nonprofits. It sends its profits to a different organization every three months, and a local business sponsor helps cover operating costs. Right now that sponsor is Lake City Electric. In the roastery, coffee drinks come with an invitation to donate instead of a price.

So the downtown answer to a wave of drive-thrus is a counter in the front, a roaster in the back, and tables where nobody is rushing you.

The River isn't small, either. Meerzo said the business employs more than 70 people. Along with the downtown shop, it has locations in Winona Lake, North Webster, Milford, and at the Warsaw YMCA, plus a counter that opened in May at Jellystone Campground near Pierceton and another planned for Oakwood Resort in Syracuse. It could have chased drive-thru traffic. For its downtown flagship, it went with a shared room instead.

The Next Move Heads Toward Center Lake

Three Crowns Coffee is planning a move in the same direction, and its plans show it most clearly.

For more than six years, Three Crowns has served customers from North Detroit Street, in a building that used to be a gas station. Under earlier owners it was downtown on South Buffalo Street. On April 27, the Warsaw Board of Zoning Appeals voted 4-1 to grant a use variance for 347 N. Buffalo St., the former Refior Law Office, in a residential zoning district. The board limited the approval to a coffee shop, not a restaurant.

The Times-Union's account of the hearing laid out the plan: about 15 tables, 11 parking spots, and the same hours as now. Petitioner John Foster said the family that owns the shop wanted a better view, safer traffic patterns, and less noise, along with being close to downtown, Nye Park and its cabin, and Center Lake Park. The building looks over the south shore of Center Lake, about two blocks from the courthouse.

Look at what the shop is giving up and what it's getting. It's leaving a former gas station on a busy road for a lakeside building where the selling point is the tables. The plan was a summer move, but the Three Crowns contact page still lists 941 N. Detroit St. Check that page before you head to the lakefront address.

Picking Your Kind of Morning

• Commute or school run: Scooter's on South Buffalo is on the way for anyone driving south of downtown. Dutch Bros. on Lake City Highway opens at 5 a.m. every day.
• Late night after a game or a show: Dutch Bros. is open until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Sitting down with a friend or a laptop: The River at 121 W. Center St. has the roastery seating in back and parking around the corner.
• Coffee and a walk: Once Three Crowns opens at 347 N. Buffalo St., its tables will sit next to Nye Park and Center Lake Park.

The sit-down side ties in with the rest of downtown. The same few blocks host the Saturday farmers market and a busy schedule of street events, so a cup at The River fits easily into a morning on foot. If you'd rather stay in the car, there are more ways to grab coffee and go than Warsaw had a year ago. Biggby on Parker Street is next. For more local spots, see the Warsaw neighborhood guide.

If you have a favorite coffee stop I should try, or you're curious how downtown and Center Lake are changing near your street, I'd love to hear from you. Shelley Binney is always up for a coffee and a conversation about Warsaw. Let's Connect.