Shake Shack’s Third Bay Area Location Opens in San Mateo

Bay Area residents who crave Shake Shack’s smash-style burgers, crinkle-cut fries, and chicken sandwiches will get a new place where they can quell that desire this weekend, as the fast food chain will open its third local location. As of 11 a.m. on Sunday, December 15, Shake Shack’s third spot will start serving diners in San Mateo’s Hillsdale Shopping Center, a company spokesperson tells Eater SF.

The East Coast chain, which began as a New York hot dog cart back in 2004, has since opened locations in cities across the country. Its Bay Area expansion began late last year, when it opened its first local shop at Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center — exactly one year ago to the day from the San Mateo branch’s opening date. A second location opened in Larkspur in March, and — according to anecdotal accounts — is “always packed.”

In addition to the burgers, fries, and dogs Shake Shack is famous for, the San Mateo location will offer a local-specific twist on the chain’s dessert and drink menu. Working with Fremont-based Pie Dreams, San Francisco’s Dandelion Chocolate, and the Peninsula’s Manresa Bread, Shake Shack will offer items like the MB Malt (frozen vanilla custard, malted fudge sauce, and a Manresa Bread whole wheat chocolate chip walnut cookie); S’Mores made with frozen chocolate custard, marshmallow sauce, graham crackers, and Dandelion chocolate chunks; and Pie Oh My (vanilla custard, this time blended with seasonally-selected chunks of of Pie Dreams pie). Five percent of the sales of that last item will go to SF-based non-profit food business incubator La Cocina, Shake Shack’s spokesperson says.

The spot will also serve beer and wine, both its Shake Shack–branded varieties as well as brews from Fort Point Beer Company, 21st Amendment Brewery, and Drake’s Brewing Company. The 3,850-square-foot storefront — which was constructed with recycled, salvaged, and sustainable materials, will also include an outdoor patio with a custom mural from SF-based artist Fnnch.

Two more Shake Shacks are planned for San Francisco: one in Cow Hollow, and another in the Westfield San Francisco Centre, just outside the doors to the Powell Street BART/Muni station. It’s unclear when those locations will open, so until then, people in search of what started it all — Shake Shack’s flat-top-griddled hot dogs — will have to continue to make a trip out of town to feed their needs.

Shake Shack will open its 33 Hillsdale Mall location at 11 a.m. on Sunday, December 15.

• No, Shake Shack Isn’t Plotting an Inner Sunset Location [ESF]
• Shake Shack Will Inundate Downtown San Francisco With Burgers and Crinkle-Cut Fries [ESF]