Shake Shack is Now Completely Obsessed With Texas (For Good Reason)

Shake Shack is continuing its Texas takeover, with four new burger havens. The elevated take on smash burgers, run by restaurant tycoon Danny Meyer, once seemingly waited forever to get into Texas.

But now it can’t get enough of the Lone Star State. Now, Shake Shack is Texas obsessed. Who can blame them? 

Shake Shack opened a new restaurant in Southlake (outside of Dallas) last month, with a spacious patio and ample seating, featuring a unique selection of frozen custard concretes done in collaboration with local specialty pie shop, Emporium Pies. Shortly afterward, a Shake Shack opened in Las Colinas that dishes up frozen custard concretes with Emporium Pies and Sugar Ray’s Bakeshop.

Both these new Shake Shacks feature the Texas-exclusive Lockhart Link Burger, a cheeseburger topped with riddled jalapeño cheese sausage link, pickles and ShackSauce.

Shortly after, a Shake Shack location in the DFW airport opened, dishing up its modern day “roadside” smash burgers to hungry travelers.

Finally, this summer, Shake Shack will debut a downtown Houston location at 702 Main Street, with an outdoor patio and tabletops made from reclaimed bowling alley lanes.

Meyer’s elevated burgers, famous for their thin, smashed patties with soft buns, marks a sharp divergence from the thick, bloody burger patties of the early 2000s. Mostly gone are the days of chefs delivering burgers so piled with needless ingredients that you have to unhinge your jaw to get a bite.

However, if you’re looking for an over-the-top burger, Houston’s got what you need.

Meyer has made news lately for his heavily chronicled fight to end tipping in his higher end restaurants, in the hopes of changing the restaurant industry all-together. Although Shake Shack launched as a common hot-dog cart in New York City, Meyer’s strong skill in business and advocating for his employees has turned the burger brand into a dynasty.

Meyer famously says, “Put Your Employees First, Customers Will Follow.” Under a strategy he dubbed “Hospitality Included,” Meyer’s fought for a revenue-sharing plan for front of house workers, servers, as well as chefs, and busboys in his restaurants under the Union Square Hospitality Group.

His most successful franchise is clearly obsessed with the right state.