Shake Shack Ready to Make Its Northern California Debut
New York fast-casual burger chain Shake Shack announced it will soon have three Bay Area three locations. The first Northern California restaurant will open later this fall in Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center, followed by a second location in Larkspur, and third expected in San Francisco in 2019, likely in the Marina district.
The company’s CEO Randy Garutti says the Marina district has appeal as a community gathering space. Shake Shack has seemingly taken a conservative approach to expanding into San Francisco because of the city’s eclectic restaurant landscape and competitive burger market. For example, Super Duper, Gott’s Roadside, and Roam all offer gourmet burgers at multiple Bay Area locations.
Shake Shack started back in 2004 as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park and is known for its milkshakes. Although the company still sells hot dogs, their burgers helped the brand grow in popularity beyond the east coast market, leading to a coastal debate over which burger reign supreme? Southern California’s burger chain In-n-Out or Shake Shack.
There are currently 160 Shake Shack locations worldwide, of which 100 are in the United States and seven are in California—but all seven are in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas.
I think this is a funny story headline, and misleading, since they’ve opened 2 in the South Bay and both were only open for less than 4 months last year. Definitely not the community builder they were hoping to be!