"We really don't have anywhere for those cars in the drive-through, once you get behind the speaker, we don't have anywhere for them to be except for blocking the traffic flow." Josh Emory said that about the Sonic at 1681 East 70th Street. He is director of operations for DL Rogers Corporation, which the Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate describes as Sonic's largest franchisee.
He was explaining why Sonic is leaving its University Place spot. The same reasoning covers almost everything else that has happened at Youree Drive and East 70th Street this year. The businesses here are staying at the intersection. They are trading lots to get more room for cars to wait, and the buildings they leave keep going to tenants built entirely around a drive-through window.
A Line That Formed Twenty Years Ago Finally Got Its Own Lot
The Chick-fil-A on Youree was tight from the start. The Advocate wrote that the restaurant had been "uncomfortably tight since its doors opened and the first lines formed more than 20 years ago."
The fix was next door. The 15,000-square-foot former CVS at the southwest corner of the intersection had been empty for a couple of years, and it was torn down for the new restaurant. The new building is 5,924 square feet. The old one was 4,050. That's about 46 percent more floor space, but the building isn't the main story. Emily Trant, a senior planning coordinator with the Shreveport Metropolitan Planning Commission, said the bigger lot lets Chick-fil-A make its two waiting lines longer, adding more space for "vehicle queuing."
The site plan shows the route. The lines start on the Youree side, turn to run alongside 70th Street, then curve around the back of the building. The cars wind through the lot instead of spilling onto Youree. Owner and operator Brian Russell said the new lot would improve access and traffic flow.
The switch happened quickly. KSLA reported that the old restaurant closed on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at 5 p.m., and the new one opened Friday, August 14. If your map app shows a confusing address, there's a reason. The MPC's certificate of occupancy lists the new store at 7004 Youree Drive, while some news stories use 7010 or 7110. The new Chick-fil-A is on the old CVS corner, and the old restaurant's lot sits next to it. The reports don't agree on what happened to the old building. KSLA's opening-day story described the former location as demolished. The Advocate's reporting describes a 7 Brew plan that converts the existing site.
Sonic Is Crossing the Street for the Same Reason
Sonic's current location in the University Place Shopping Center sits between the new Chick-fil-A and a McAllister's Deli to the west. Emory pointed to the same problem Chick-fil-A had. Getting in and out of the site means merging with traffic from East 70th's right-turn lane, which he said makes the site hard to enter and leave easily and safely.
A lease is also part of the decision. "We don't actually own the building, that's one of the reasons we're moving," Emory told the Advocate. He said his franchise group usually tries to own its properties, and that the lease on the current site runs out next year.
The new site is 6614 Youree Drive, in front of Kroger. Longtime residents know the lot as On The Border and then El Potrillo Mexican Grill & Cantina. It sat empty from 2022, when El Potrillo moved to East 70th Street, and has since been demolished and cleared. The approved site plan is built around traffic flow:
- Two entrances from Youree Drive
- A curb cut on the Kroger parking lot side
- 23 carhop slots for pull-in ordering
- A drive-through lane
- A small patio with outdoor seating for walk-up orders
Because the lot is bigger, cars in the carhop slots won't get boxed in by cars waiting in the drive-through. Emory said Sonic will move as soon as the new location is finished. As of October 4, 2026, we found no public opening date and no confirmed closing date for the East 70th store.
A similar move happened on Line Avenue this summer. Taco Bell built a new restaurant at 6625 Line Avenue on a lot where a Sonic drive-through used to stand. The grand-opening ribbon cutting was Saturday, July 18.
The Buildings Left Behind Keep Going to Coffee
Usually when a busy restaurant moves next door, its old building sits empty for a while. The old Chick-fil-A at 7010 Youree already has a new tenant lined up. 7 Brew, the drive-through coffee chain based in Rogers, Arkansas, filed a site plan for it. That store will be drive-through only and will use the same entrances and exits the Chick-fil-A used. In other words, a lot that was set up for a long car line is going to a business that only serves a car line.
The Advocate called Youree at 70th "the next coffee corner." Here's what's already there:
- Starbucks on an outparcel of the Kings Crossing shopping center, plus Starbucks coffee shops inside the Kroger and the Barnes & Noble on the northwest corner.
- Dutch Bros at 6609 Youree Drive in the Eastgate Shopping Center, which opened in June 2026. The MPC approved its certificate of occupancy on June 12. Dutch Bros' own location page lists hours and order-ahead for that store.
- 7 Brew, planned for the old Chick-fil-A building.
Further east, Scooter's Coffee has an approved site plan for a drive-through at 2826 East 70th Street. It would sit just east of The Works Pediatric Therapy, across from Shreveport Cycles. When it was announced, the Advocate described the stretch of 70th from Youree to Barksdale Boulevard as having no coffee except the Dutch Bros that was then planned. The owner is Alan Rock, who spent 40 years in the Air Force, made brigadier general, and once commanded the 307th Mission Group, and he runs the business with his wife, Shelley. He hoped to open in the second quarter of 2026. That quarter has ended, and a later Advocate roundup still lists the store as planned.
Where Each Site Stands as of October 4, 2026
| Site | Address | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Chick-fil-A, new building | Former CVS corner, listed by the MPC as 7004 Youree Dr. | Open since August 14, 2026 |
| Dutch Bros | 6609 Youree Dr., Eastgate Shopping Center | Open since June 2026 |
| 7 Brew | 7010 Youree Dr., former Chick-fil-A | Site plan filed; no opening date announced |
| Sonic, new site | 6614 Youree Dr., former El Potrillo lot | Lot cleared and site plan approved; no opening date announced |
| Sonic, current site | 1681 E. 70th St., University Place | Planned to close when the new site is finished |
| Scooter's Coffee | 2826 E. 70th St. | Site plan approved; Q2 2026 target passed without a confirmed opening |
The MPC's posted certificates of occupancy run through August 2026. The August entries include none of the three pending sites. The 7 Brew report did say construction there would wait until the new Chick-fil-A was done, and that happened in mid-August. We found no public construction or opening date for 7 Brew.
What Changes on Your Drive
For now, the Chick-fil-A line runs on the Youree side of the old CVS lot and wraps behind the building, and the old restaurant next door has been closed since August 6. Once Sonic finishes on the Kroger side of Youree, its carhop traffic will move away from the East 70th turn lane Emory described. Its cars will use the two Youree entrances and the curb cut on the Kroger lot. When 7 Brew opens, its line will use the same driveways the Chick-fil-A line used for two decades.
The new Chick-fil-A seats 76 inside and has a patio and more parking, so it's also built for people who park and go in. Sonic's plan includes a patio for walk-up orders. Even so, most of the planning on these lots went into where the cars wait.
If you own a business, look at how this year's moves were planned. The site plans focused on lot depth, curb cuts, and how many cars can stack before the street, more than on square footage. Anyone considering a commercial site in Shreveport should check those details first, before reading the lease. When you want help comparing a corridor lot or storefront on those terms, Murcia & Co. can walk the site plan with you and coordinate the due diligence from offer to close. Let's Connect.
