Goodbye Burger King, hello Shake Shack?

By Cory Garcia  2/19/2018 at 11:35am

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK/ FERNANDO TIRADO

I FEEL THAT ENOUGH TIME HAS PASSED that I can make the following confession: I never really understood why there was a Burger King so close to the intersection of Montrose and Westheimer. When it comes to the Great Burger Wars, I’m definitely more Team King than Team Ronald, but it just always seemed weird that of all the things that could have been on that plot of land it was a Burger King. A Taco Bell would have made sense, a Whataburger would have been ideal, but at least a Burger King isn’t a mattress store, so hooray for small victories.

Thanks to Swamplot, we now know have a good idea about what could be replacing the Burger King at Westheimer and Lincoln, and if the table of journalists that I was sitting with when the news came down is any indication, plenty of people are going to be excited about it: Shake Shack is taking over the lease. Should it become a proper Shake Shack, it will be the fourth location for the East Coast favorite here in the city, joining the locations at the Galleria, Minute Maid Park and the currently in-development Rice Village location.

Yes, that does mean Houston could have four Shake Shack locations before we have a single In-N-Out Burger, but that’s the way the burger battle goes sometimes. Shake Shack is in expansion mode, with reports saying they plan to have at least 200 locations open in the U.S. before 2020 arrives. How that’ll shake out for Houston remains to be seen, but we imagine there are a few more neighborhoods in the city that wouldn’t mind some attention from the company.

For now, you’ll just have to go to the Galleria for your Shake Shack fix. While you’re there, ponder this: If the Minute Maid location has an Astros Blast and the Galleria location has the Lockhart Link Burger, just how will Shake Shack represent the Montrose community on their menu?

By Cory Garcia  2/19/2018 at 11:35am

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK/ FERNANDO TIRADO