Shake Shack

• 1. Introduction

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  Shake Shack, an American fast casual chain based in New York City, keeps a webcam on its own website. The camera points at the line outside its original kiosk, so anyone can check the wait before leaving home. On a pleasant summer weekend, that line can stretch past an hour. Behind that kiosk now stands a company that owns and operates over 400 locations around the world. How does a single counter in a city park grow into something like that? Who built it, what do customers line up for, and where did it travel next? The answers begin with a neglected park and a rolling cart.

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• 2. From Cart to Kiosk

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  In 2000, New York City began rebuilding Madison Square Park, which had fallen into a state of disrepair and misuse. Restaurateur Danny Meyer helped spearhead the Madison Square Park Conservancy to bring the park back. One of the Conservancy's first acts was an art exhibit called "I <3 Taxi", staged to raise awareness of the renewal effort.

  Randy Garutti, Meyer's Director of Operations, set up a hot dog cart in 2001. It ran out of the kitchen of Eleven Madison Park, one of the restaurants in Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, or USHG. The cart became extremely successful and stayed in operation for nearly three years.

  In 2004, the city began taking bids for a new kiosk-style restaurant inside the park. Meyer outlined his idea for the space, and the first Shake Shack opened in July 2004. With a permit for a permanent kiosk, the menu grew from New York-style hot dogs to hamburgers, fries and the milkshakes that gave the place its name.

  The restaurant was never meant to be a chain. It was designed as a single shop built specifically for New York City. Sales kept climbing, though, and the group came to see that a wider market existed. Shake Shack has since become the largest part of the USHG portfolio.

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• 3. The Menu

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  The ShackBurger is the company's most famous product. It comes in a single or a double, with a beef patty, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and a proprietary sauce called Shack Sauce. The shakes have been reviewed as "some of the best in the industry". The menu also lists fries, hot dogs, frozen custards, beer and wine. In each new city, the beverage menu is customized to local flavors.

  In May 2015, Shake Shack filed for a trademark on the term "chicken shack". That sparked speculation that chicken sandwiches were coming. On the 7th of July 2015, the company briefly introduced them at its Brooklyn branches. By January 2016, chicken sandwiches were on offer across its locations in the United States.

  Culinary Director Mark Rosati is known for creating exclusive burger and shake collaborations with local restaurants. They appear at The Infatuation's EEEEEATSCON food festival, where Shake Shack has often been the headlining restaurant. The festival has been held in Santa Monica, California, and in Forest Hills, New York. In 2018, Rosati teamed up with Emily, a Brooklyn restaurant, on a Shack-style burger. It carried American cheese, caramelized onions and a special "Emmy" sauce. Tickets for the event sold out a week in advance, and one description called the burger a "mash-up of pizza and burger flavors". In 2019, he paired with Petit Trois in Santa Monica and Uncle Boons in Forest Hills.

  The company even sells branded T-shirts, sunglasses and other accessories under the name Shack Swag.

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• 4. Beyond the Park

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  In June 2010, a Shake Shack opened at the Lincoln Road Mall in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach. It was the first restaurant outside New York City. In April 2017, that location finished a month-long renovation that added 586 square feet and brought seating to 106.

  On the 12th of July 2010, two more Shacks opened in the Theater District and on the Upper East Side. The Upper East Side site sat on East 86th Street, a shopping district that had fallen on hard times. The space had been vacant, and a neighbor remembered it as "never anything good there...dingy and dilapidated...almost an eyesore." The opening was seen as lifting the street.

  In July 2011, Shake Shack announced a deal with the MTA for a spot in the lower level of Grand Central Terminal. The current tenant, a Mexican eatery called Zocalo, refused to leave after its lease expired. Zocalo sued, arguing that the "bidding process (for retail space in Grand Central) is corrupted." The suit was dismissed and Zocalo appealed. In October 2012, Zocalo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It vacated in early May 2013, and the new outlet opened on the 5th of October 2013.

  The first airport location arrived in May 2013, in the newly expanded Terminal 4 at JFK.

  Hotels came next. On the 31st of August 2016, Shake Shack announced room service at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, the first hotel in America with in-room Shake Shack. Then came a run of firsts for individual states and cities. Houston got its first location in November 2016, inside the Galleria. Delaware followed in mid-December 2016 in Newark, and Detroit opened Michigan's first in February 2017.

  On the 10th of May 2017, Lexington became home to the first in Kentucky, at The Summit at Fritz Farm. California's first five locations were all in Los Angeles County until the 20th of October 2017. That day a sixth opened in San Diego at Westfield UTC.

  The 7th of June 2018 brought the first Ohio location, in Orange Village near Cleveland. A Cleveland Hopkins International Airport outlet followed. In October 2018, Seattle opened the company's first in the Pacific Northwest, and it drew long lines. By late 2023, the Seattle area had four locations, with a fifth planned.

  The Utah debut, on the 3rd of August 2019, took place in the suburb of Sandy. The restaurant was built into a historic elementary and high school that was 90 years old. Oregon followed on the 16th of April 2021 with a Beaverton restaurant, and a Downtown Portland shop opened in April 2023 after several years of planning.

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• 5. Going Public

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  By August 2014, Shake Shack outlets were operating in New York and in Florida, Texas, Nevada, Illinois, Georgia, Massachusetts, Virginia and a number of other states. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were on the list as well. That month, reports surfaced that the company was preparing an initial public offering. It was discussing an underwriting with several investment banks, including J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

  On the 29th of January 2015, the offering priced at $21 per share. The next morning, the stock began trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol SHAK at $47. That was a jump of 123% on the first day. In April 2015 shares reached $72, and in May they hit a high of about $90.

  The IPO filing laid out a target of 450 company-operated stores in the United States. No end date was given. The company said it would open at least 10 restaurants each fiscal year. It later raised that to 12 a year, and in 2016 to 14 a year. At that pace, 450 stores would take roughly 25 years.

  Leadership changed in March 2024, when Shake Shack named Rob Lynch, the CEO of Papa John's, as its next chief executive.

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• 6. Overseas Shacks

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  In April 2011, a Shake Shack opened in the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, the first outside the United States. In July 2011, another followed in The Avenues in Kuwait. London got the first European location in mid-2013, soon after the first Five Guys opened in the same area. By 2024, the United Kingdom had 16 Shake Shacks.

  Asia came next. Tokyo saw the first Japanese store in 2015, and a second opened in Umeda, Osaka, in 2018. By 2024 the company ran 14 stores in Japan. In June 2016, a store opened near Gangnam Station in Korea. By 2024, Korea had 26.

  In July 2018, the company announced a Philippines expansion through a franchise partnership with the Rustan Group of Companies. The first store opened on the 10th of May 2019 in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Metro Manila. In October 2018, Shake Shack said it would start in Singapore at Jewel Changi Airport in 2019. By 2021, the city-state had eight locations.

  On the 27th of June 2019, Mexico City received its first Shake Shack, on Paseo de la Reforma, one of Mexico's busiest streets. Customers on opening day waited about two hours. The company expects 30 Mexican locations by 2029, and by the end of 2024 it had 18.

  On the 10th of January 2022, Shake Shack and the South Korean food conglomerate SPC Group announced plans for 10 Shake Shacks in Malaysia within 10 years. The first store opened on the 10th of April 2024 at The Exchange TRX mall in Kuala Lumpur. Thailand's first opened at CentralWorld mall in Bangkok in March 2023, with about 15 branches planned by 2032.

  On the 22nd of March 2023, the company said it would enter Canada, with a flagship in 2024 and 35 Shacks planned by 2035. The Toronto flagship opened on the 13th of June 2024 at Sankofa Square.

  Israel drew sharper attention. Shake Shack announced the move on the 19th of April 2023, and the first restaurant opened in February 2024. The plan had been made before the attacks of the 7th of October 2023 and the Gaza War that followed. The launch still stirred controversy, with critics saying it looked like support for Israel.

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• 7. Pandemic Aid and Criticism

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  In April 2020, Shake Shack applied for the Paycheck Protection Program because the COVID-19 pandemic had cut its business. It received $10 million. Critics said it had used a loophole that let it qualify for money meant for small businesses. The company ran 189 locations in the United States, with only around 45 employees at each. CEO Randy Garutti then said the company would return the money so that "restaurants who need it most can get it now".

  In July 2020, it emerged that Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group had taken between $11 million and $27 million in PPP funding. The group employs a total of 2,300 people. Meyer was unapologetic about it. He had earlier said on at least one podcast that taking such funding was irresponsible.

  In June 2020, police organizations falsely accused workers at a Lower Manhattan Shake Shack of poisoning two police officers with bleach. The officers had reported a strange taste in their shakes. The claim began online with the Detectives' Endowment Association and the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York. It spread across social media and was picked up by numerous media outlets. A police investigation found no criminality, and the restaurant was cleared. Shake Shack later said faulty cleaning of a milkshake machine may have caused the taste.

  Animal welfare groups have also scrutinized the supply chain. In 2015, the company pledged to end the use of battery cage eggs in its U.S. supply chain by the end of 2016. In 2020, it widened that promise to every franchise location worldwide. In 2023, The Humane League and the Open Wing Alliance named it for failing to report progress on the transition.

  In 2016, Shake Shack adopted the Better Chicken Commitment, which covers living conditions and slaughter practices for broiler chickens. It also called for ending the sourcing of fast-growing breeds by 2024. In 2021, it co-founded a working group with six other brands and Compassion in World Farming to spread the commitment across the food industry. In 2024, Animal Equality said the company had made progress toward eliminating gestation crates in its pork supply chain, but had not finished. In 2025, Shake Shack reported compliance with some parts of the Better Chicken Commitment. It also stated that 0% of its chicken supply met the genetic or slaughter requirements.

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