No place loves a new chain restaurant like Utah. We have lots of good home-grown restaurants, but we love it when we are noticed by the guys who made it big on the coasts. Remember when In-N-Out moved here? That line of cars jamming up the parking lot to get through the drive-thru lane?
Our thrill over the West Coast Burger Invasion has waned. But now the East Coast Burger Invasion has begun: Shake Shack, the much bally-hooed burger place dreamed up by restaurant magnate? Guru? Danny Meyer has opened in Sandy, thus Shake Shack Sandy, Sandy Shake Shack? And while there’s not a drive-thru window, the line of people standing in the hot August sun to order a burger, fries and frozen custard shake is daunting.
In nice weather, the big garage doors on the east side open and there’s a shuffleboard court outside. Corn hole is also available and the concrete space is considered a playground. There’s also a stack of board games—remember how to play Sorry!—if you want to linger over your burger meal. Right now, the dining area, when all 143 seats are taken, sounds like a school cafeteria; it’s a little hard to imagine lingering. But, again according to the manager, Shake Shack isn’t a fast food restaurant, although the kitchen aims for an eight-minute serve time.. It’s a genre called fine casual—“We have our roots in fine dining.”
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