Is this popular coffee chain drive-through coming to Lady’s Island? What to know
A fast-expanding drive-through specialty coffee company is the latest coffee chain to take an interest in doing business on booming Lady’s Island.
It’s not a done deal, but Ellianos Coffee has met with city of Beaufort planners about building a drive-through at 91 Sea Island Parkway. This meeting follows an announcement last year by Ellianos that it was opening a new store in Beaufort.
Curt Freese, the city’s Community Development director, said Ellianos has not submitted a development application to the city for the 91 Sea Island Parkway location on Lady’s Island, a small portion of which falls within the incorporated limits of the city of Beaufort.
But the city’s Technical Review Committee did meet with Josephy Dyches, an engineer and land surveyor, on June 8 about the possibility of building an 860-square-foot drive-through coffee shop on a vacant parcel at 91 Sea Island Parkway.
Dyches was representing Ellianos Coffee, a family-owned drive-through coffee chain serving specialty espresso, smoothies and energy refreshers across the Southeast since 2002.
The 91 Sea Island Parkway location is the third site Ellianos has looked at in the area, Freese said, “but it seems promising.“
Pre-application meetings before the TRC are informational and intended for city planning staff members to provide applicants guidance through the Beaufort development process.
If Ellianos decides to proceed, another TRC meeting would be required before a site plan would need to be submitted to the Planning Commission with a hearing, Freese said.
Ellianos currently operates in 33 locations in Florida, 28 in Georgia, and 11 in Alabama, with its first North Carolina location opening last summer.
Ellianos announced in 2025 that it was entering the South Carolina market with two new stores including one in Beaufort.
“Entering South Carolina is a natural progression for our brand, and Beaufort is the perfect community to welcome Ellianos,” Jonathan Morgan, director of Franchise Development at Ellianos Coffee, said at the time.
Lady’s Island’s rapid growth
Sea Island Parkway, the section of U.S. Highway 21 that stretches from downtown Beaufort through Lady’s Island and St. Helena Island to the coastal barrier islands, has seen strong interest in recent years from developers looking to build drive-through coffee stores. Lady’s Island is experiencing rapid population and commercial growth, with the island now home to more than 15,500 residents, according to Beaufort County.
Ellianos is the latest. The family-owned drive-through chain is known for its distinctive double-sided drive-thru design, a model it says allows franchisees to serve more customers during peak hours. The drive-through chain boasts that it serves high-quality coffee — lightning-fast.
The parcel being considered is located across Sea Island Parkway from the Huddle House restaurant, next door to The Shoppes at Hamilton Village and in front of The Retreat At Lady’s Island, an assisted living and memory care facility.
One issue that was raised at the initial meeting between city planners and the developer was a large oak tree on the property. The developer said it would like to save it but was struggling to meet buffer requirements in the city’s ordinance, according to the city’s preliminary paperwork.
City staff said in its initial remarks on the project that a traffic impact analysis would be required if it generates more than 50 trips during the peak traffic hours on adjacent streets.
Drive-through coffee shops on Sea Island Parkway
A coffee shop with a drive-through on Sea Island Parkway was a hot-button topic a few years ago.
In 2022, the Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals denied a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shop with a drive-through at 131 Sea Island Parkway, which is less than a half-mile to the east of the current proposal. The county killed the coffee shop drive-through after it received pushback from residents about its traffic impact on the already congested Sea Island Parkway. The previous project at 131 Sea Island Parkway fell under the county’s jurisdiction, while the current proposal at 91 Sea Island Parkway is under the city of Beaufort’s purview.
Starbucks also has received a permit for a stand-alone site on the south side of Sea Island Parkway, between Gay and Ferry drives, according to previous reporting. That’s just east of the Sea Island Parkway/Sams Point Road-Lady’s Island Drive intersection and just shy of a mile east of the proposed coffee shop at 91 Sea Island Parkway.
The Starbucks project will be developed on three lots that will ultimately be consolidated into one lot and consist of a 2,497 square-foot one-story coffee shop with dual rear-loaded drive through lanes for a 22 space queue, according to Beaufort County’s online development dashboard. The coffee shop building has an attached 821 square-foot covered patio on one end.
