The good news for Tarrant County fans of Shake Shack, the popular New York-based burger-and-shake chain, is that Tarrant County’s first location will open before Christmas.
If you don’t live in Northeast Tarrant County, though, you will have a bit of a drive. The location (announced in August) will open at 11 a.m. Dec. 23, a press release says, “just outside” Southlake Town Square, although it will feel very much like part of the Town Square.
In case Christmas shopping has you in a tizzy or you’re just as addled as we are, it’s worth noting that that is this weekend.
Expect a line-out-the-door crowd for the grand opening, because Southlake Town Square is a busy, busy, busy place two days before Christmas, under any circumstances. A Las Colinas location is scheduled to open the same day. The first 100 people in line when doors open will receive a custom Shake Shack holiday ornament
“As part of Shake Shack’s mission to Stand for Something Good,” a release says, “both Shacks will donate 25 percent of proceeds from opening day to local charities.” In Southlake, Children’s Medical Center Dallas will be the beneficiary; in Las Colinas, it will be Kidd’s Kids, the charity founded by the late DFW radio personality Kidd Kraddick and now overseen by his daughter, Caroline.
Shake Shack has a relatively modest burger menu, highlighted by the ShackBurger, a single or double cheeseburger with “ShackSauce.” The burgers don’t get too fancy; the most elaborate thing on the regular menu is the SmokeShack, a single or double cheeseburger with applewood smoked bacon, chopped cherry pepper and Shack Sauce.
But there’ll be a special burger: The Lockhart Link Burger, a cheeseburger topped with a griddled Pecan Lodge jalapeño sausage link, pickles and ShackSauce. (That burger will also be on the Las Colinas menu.)
The menu also features a chicken sandwich, hot dogs, crinkle-cut fries and cheese fries, frozen custard and, of course, shakes. Dallas-based Emporium Pies will collaborate on the frozen-custard concretes at both locations; the Las Colinas location will also have a collaboration with Plano-based Sugar Ray’s Bake Shop..
Among the concretes in Southlake will be the Pie Oh My, vanilla custard with a slice of Emporium’s seasonal pie; Crunch Time, vanilla custard with dark-chocolate-covered pretzels, marshmallow fluff and salted caramel; and “Choc of the Town,” chocolate custard, fudge sauce, Mast Brothers dark-chocolate chunks and banana.
Beer and wine will also be available, including brews from Dallas’ Community Beer Co., Deep Ellum Brewing Co. and Four Corners Brewing Co. (Psst, Shake Shack: Tarrant County has breweries, too, and Grapevine Craft Brewery and Keller’s Shannon Brewing Co. are closer to the Southlake location.)
The Southlake location, at 125 Central Ave. near the southeast corner of the Town Square (near Trader Joe’s and Ginger Man Southlake), will be a 3,166-square-foot space with an outdoor patio. It enters an area where there has been some burger turnover this year: Austin-based Hopdoddy Burger Bar opened a location this year on the other side of the Town Square, which has long been home to a Five Guys.
But Dallas-based Snuffer’s closed a long-running location in the Town Square on Dec. 9, and further east on Southlake Boulevard, local favorite Johnny B’s closed in January.
The Las Colinas location will be at 7170 N. State Highway 161 (off the President George Bush Turnpike just east of MacArthur Boulevard), and will be slightly larger at 3,630 square feet. It will also have a patio.
For now, these are the only two locations that Shake Shack has confirmed for Tarrant County (a Dallas-Fort Worth Airport location is also planned, but you’ll need an airplane ticket to get to it). The Fort Worth location is scheduled to open in 2019 in the Stockyards. Shake Shack already has two locations in Dallas and one in Plano.
This story was originally published December 18, 2018 1:01 PM.