Mudslingers Drive Thru Coffee will not open in Darien, reversing a June announcement that the chain planned a location at the 75th Street and Cass Avenue shopping center.
The city learned in late July that Mudslingers had pulled out, Patch first reported. No reason for the reversal has been made public.
Ryan Murphy, the city planner, said in an email to Patch that the site has no developer lined up. "There are no current developers for that space that the City is aware of, but it continues to attract interest," Murphy said.
The planned 1,000-square-foot, drive-thru-only building would have sat in the outlying parking lot of the Jewel-anchored shopping center, between Taco Bell and Concentra Urgent Care. Darien officials approved a zoning permit for the restaurant in early 2024 at the request of developer Vick Mehta, owner of Downers Grove-based Indvestia Capital.
Mudslingers announced the Darien location in mid-June alongside three others: Milliken, Colorado; Huntingdon, Tennessee; and Lincoln, Nebraska. At the time, the city said Mudslingers had submitted a building permit application, though construction had not started. Whether the other three locations are still moving forward is unclear.
The chain has about 16 locations nationally, according to a Google Maps search cited by Patch. None are in Illinois.
The empty pad site sits along the same 75th Street retail corridor where two other chains are making progress. Dutch Bros Coffee and Andy's Frozen Custard are expected to open by early 2027 at the former TGI Fridays site at 2201 75th St., according to the city. Dan Gombac, Darien's top public works official, told the City Council on Oct. 5 that demolition of the old TGI Fridays had been completed and construction permits had been released. Chicago-based Core Acquisitions is the developer on that project.
Mudslingers and Indvestia Capital have not publicly commented on why the Darien plan fell through.
