A Midwest coffee chain that specializes in the drive-through model has its sights set on Dallas-Fort Worth: Called Scooter's Coffee, it's a Nebraska-based chain which just opened its first location in Garland at 2904 Lavon Dr.

Scooter's serves coffee, smoothies, tea, "blenders" — the equivalent of Starbucks' Frappuccino — iced drinks, and pastries. Its signature drink is the Caramelicious, consisting of espresso flavored with caramel sauce, foamed milk, and whipped cream drizzled with caramel. You can also get a Caramelicious version of iced coffee, or a Caramelicious blender. Much caramel.

They serve hot and iced teas, single-origin coffee, a cold brew with cream, and a line of "candy bar lattes" that mimic any flavor of candy bar — Snickers, Heath Bar, Almond Joy — in a latte form.

For commuters seeking a bite, they have breakfast tacos and burritos, kolaches, cinnamon rolls, pastries, and muffins.

Scooter's was founded in 1998 by Don and Linda Eckles in Bellevue, Nebraska, and currently has more than 200 locations in 14 states.

Garland is the eighth Scooter's in the DFW area. Most are in outlying areas such as Rowlett, McKinney, and Colleyville, and most are drive-through only, with an emphasis on convenience.

The new Garland store follows the drive-through model, but they're opening another store in Frisco in the fall which will be more like a traditional sit-down coffeehouse, says franchisee Ted Straub.

"Drive-through is very much what our business model is — probably 90 percent of our locations are drive-through," he says. "But we have a sit-down location at the Nebraska Furniture Mart in The Colony, because that's what was needed there. It has no drive-through. Our new location under construction in Frisco will be both a coffee house and a drive through. We go with what's going to best fit with the location."

With their drive-through stores occupying a smaller footprint, they can open more locations, some even in the same area.

"In Nebraska, we'll put a Scooter's on every highway exit," he says. "We don't go by demographic. We've found that everyone likes coffee. We look at traffic patterns and areas that don't yet have coffee, and we've found a lot of great niches in communities that are under-served."