New Full-Service Starbucks Now Open on North Tuscaloosa’s Rice Mine Road

One of three Starbucks coffee shops that has been under construction in the Tuscaloosa area officially opened for business on Tuesday.

As the Thread has reported, Montgomery firm RJ Development has been working to add a Starbucks on 15th Street in Tuscaloosa, another on Lurleen Wallace Boulevard in Northport and a third on Rice Mine Road in north Tuscaloosa.

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That's the location which opened Thursday, a full-service store located between Emanuel Baptist Church and the Taco Casa on Rice Mine Road.

The location features a drive-thru as well as in-cafe seating for guests and was open for business on Thursday.

Developers are betting on its success as North Tuscaloosa is poised for rapid growth after the comlpletion of the city's extension of McWright's Ferry Road, which will open the area up for countless new residences and attract restaurants and retailers.

Brice Johnston, a partner at RJ Development, told the Tuscaloosa city council in 2023 that expansion in the Tuscaloosa market is one of Starbucks' highest priorities in the entire country.

The Rice Mine Road site is the only full-service store of the three - the other two are both drive-thru only with outdoor patio seating.

Of the other two stores, the 15th Street location is also almost ready to officially open at the site of the now-demolished T-Town Tire store.

The Northport location on Highway 69 has been on a bit of a backburner as the other two stores are built out and staffed, but work on that location is expected to pick up as the others come online.

For more exclusive coverage of restaurant and retail development in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.