Seattle may already be home to a beloved burger chain in the form of Dick’s Drive-In, but the growing city will have to make room for another rising upstart as Shake Shack has announced plans to open its first restaurant in the Pacific Northwest.
The New York City-based chain, which was founded in 2004, will take over a space at 2115 Westlake Ave and plans to open in mid-2018. The location, currently home to Wheelhouse Coffee, is in the heart of Amazon’s ever-expanding South Lake Union campus.
We're stoked to set up Shack in Seattle! The South Lake Union Shack is comin' in 2018. ? pic.twitter.com/BAiySoIcdy
— SHAKE SHACK (@shakeshack) August 9, 2017
Seattle Met magazine has more details on Shake Shack’s desire to set up shop in Seattle, and CEO Randy Garutti’s ties to the city. Garutti is on the board of directors for Canlis, one of Seattle premiere fine-dining establishments, and he previously served as the restaurant’s general manager.
Shake Shack, with the majority of its locations in and around New York City, had 86 restaurants around the world as of March 2016, according to a report by CNBC. Its western U.S. locations are in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, primarily.
Amazon’s growth has attracted a number of restaurants to the neighborhood around its campus. And the company itself has gotten into the act of making space for places to eat, partnering with the nonprofit Fare Start to open five new restaurants in the area.
