Food & Culture

Shake Shack is Finally (!) Coming to Seattle

The beloved East Coast burger chain has found a spot near Amazon HQ.

By Michael Rietmulder August 9, 2017

shake-shack

It’s one of those burger joints that draws cult-like crowds whenever it comes to a new city.

We can expect the same ravenous masses when New York’s infamous burger chain opens its first Seattle location in South Lake Union in mid-2018.

Beloved fast food chain Shake Shack—the In-N-Out of the East—is at long last coming to Seattle, the company announced Wednesday. The patty pushers, led by renowned New York City restaurateur Danny Meyer, have apparently been eyeing a space near Amazon headquarters for some. According to Seattle Met, Shake Shack brass spent a year talking a dentist located at 2115 Westlake Ave. into moving so they could set up shop.

Evidently, Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti is a college buddy of Mark Canlis, of Seattle fine-dining institution Canlis, and served as the restaurant’s general manager for almost two years. He still sits on Canlis’ board of directors.

“It’s a dream come true to bring Shake Shack to Seattle!” Garutti said in an emphatically punctuated statement. “This city has held a special place in my heart since the early days of my career living here and working as the General Manager of Canlis. I love coming back here and seeing the continued growth of the city and its dynamic food scene.”

The Shake Shack anouncement means we can add one more name to the growing list of raved-about chain restaurants coming to Seattle. Among them, Salt & Straw recently dished out free ice cream outside its forthcoming Capitol Hill location as a friendly get-know-ya during this recent heatwave. We’re not expecting free crinkle fries, but according to Met Shake Shack will likely throw some buzz-generating pop-ups between now and its SLU opening, so stay tuned fast food connoisseurs.

 

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