Shake Shack Opens Tomorrow — Better Get in Line Now

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Shake Shack cravings can finally be satisfied on Friday, October 20, when the burger giant officially opens the doors of its first local storefront at 11 a.m. at Westfield UTC. Shake Shack landed in Los Angeles earlier this year, and San Diego was always a major part of the company’s West Coast expansion plans says COO Zach Koff, who acknowledged our city’s reputation as “burger country”. Beyond the second outpost in the works for Mission Valley, Koff promises there will be more Shake Shack locations to comes, citing plenty of opportunity to open in several San Diego neighborhoods.

Each Shake Shack will have local representation on the menu, says culinary director Mark Rosati, who chose baked goods from North County’s Elizabethan Desserts and Betty’s Pie Whole to mix into frozen custard concretes including the S’more Peanut Butter Please with vanilla custard, peanut butter sauce and a peanut butter s’more bar and the Pie Oh My which features a slice of seasonal pie (it’s pumpkin for October) and sees 5 percent of its sales donated to I Love a Clean San Diego. Of course there’s San Diego beer too, from a rotating tap featuring Modern Times Beer and cans from Lattitude 33 Brewing, Mother Earth Brewing Co. and more.

If the 1,000-plus people who queued up at a recent San Diego pop-up were any indication, there will be lines. Cut down on wait times with the Shack App, available iOS and Android, which enables customers to order ahead and set a pickup time.