Shake Shack Plans to Open First Staten Island Outpost in 2018

Good news for Staten Islanders: Shake Shack will open in March 2018 at Empire Outlets, a new mall development that will include around 100 retail shops near the St. George Ferry Terminal, the chain and the developer tell Eater.

It’s a year sooner than Shake Shack had first announced it would open on Staten Island. In the fall, Danny Meyer’s company announced plans to open at the Staten Island Mall, news that was met with lots of excitement from locals. But that location doesn’t have an opening date until 2019.

BFC Partners, the developer of Empire Outlets, will build a nearly 40,000-square-foot restaurant space for the outlet mall, including a 3,000 square-foot outdoor area that will offer views of the Manhattan skyline. Shake Shack will carve out 3,900 square-feet within the space, where it will offer the menu of burgers, frozen custards, and chicken sandwiches that has gained a legion of fans. The space will also house locations of Mighty Quinn’s, Nathan’s Famous, Two Boots Pizza, and a more than 12,000-square-foot artisanal food hall called MRKTPL that will feature at least 30 food vendors. Brokerage firm Douglas Elliman is running the lineup.

St. George in Staten Island is currently undergoing a $1.2 billion development, including the addition of a Ferris wheel that will be the world’s tallest, along with a couple hotels.

Shake Shack currently has 15 locations in New York City, with more on the way. The quickly expanding homegrown chain, which first opened in 2004, now has more than 100 locations globally. Despite its growing ubiquity, it’s still one of New York’s most watched chains. Soon, the Bronx will be the only borough without its own location.