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Portland fans of Shake Shack’s burgers, crinkle cut fries, and frozen custard won’t have to wait much longer: The New York-founded burger and frozen custard chain will open its highly anticipated downtown Portland location on April 24.
The restaurant is situated along SW 10th Avenue and West Burnside Street, directly across from Powell’s City of Books, one of downtown’s most bustling blocks. It will include a courtyard with outdoor seating and a ping pong table. Diners will be able to order from kiosks or pre-order through the restaurant’s app.
The fast casual chain, founded by celebrity restaurateur Danny Meyer, offers a core menu of burgers made with Angus beef or fried portobello mushrooms, chicken, hot dogs, milkshakes, and frozen custard. Certain Shake Shacks are known to serve location-exclusive menu items, such as Tokyo’s black sesame milkshake and a cracklin-topped burger in Nashville.
Shake Shack culinary director Mark Rosati hinted that the Portland location will have some exclusive menu items up its sleeve, but those have yet to be revealed. “Coming into a city like this with an incredible culinary scene, we’re like kids in a candy store,” Rosati says. “If we can do something fun that reflects back our love for Portland on the menu, we’re going to try to.”
Shake Shack’s original location opened in New York City’s Madison Square Park in 2004, and has since expanded worldwide, opening over 400 locations in cities from Seattle to London to Istanbul. The chain opened its first Oregon location in 2021 at Cedar Hills Crossing in Beaverton. In 2020, news broke that the chain would open its first location in Portland proper; the Oregonian broke the opening date news Tuesday.
“It’s taken us a while to get into Portland, but if we can’t bring the experience that people want from us, we take our time,” Rosati says. “We always want to up the game and live up to the New York hype, but we also want to build something super custom.”
Shake Shack will open at 1016 W Burnside Street.
