traded as nyse shak industry restaurants genre fast casual founded july 2004 ; 12 years ago 2004 07 new york city new york u.s. founder danny meyer headquarters new york city new york united states number of locations 100 2016 area served north america europe middle east australasia asia key people randy garutti ceo jeff uttz cfo products hamburgers hot dogs french fries milkshakes custards beer wine website shakeshack.com shake shack is an american fast casual restaurant chain based in new york city . it started out as a food cart inside madison square park in 2004 and its popularity steadily grew . it eventually moved to a stand within the park expanding its menu from new york style hotdogs to one with hamburgers hotdogs fries and its namesake milkshakes . the company prides itself and emphasizes its use of all natural 100 % angus beef only 1 and that its meat is completely free of hormones and antibiotics . 2 since its founding it has been one of the fastest growing food chains eventually becoming a public company filing for an initial public offering of stock in late 2014 . initial price of its shares was at 21 immediately rising by 123 % to 47 on their first day of trading . 3 4 5 6 contents 1 history 2 menu 2.1 collaborations 3 operations 3.1 domestic 3.2 international 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit the original shake shack located in madison square park in 2000 new york city began the rebuilding of madison square park which had fallen into a state of disrepair and misuse . as part of the redevelopment restaurateur danny meyer helped spearhead the creation of the madison square park conservancy to help redevelop it . one of the first things the conservancy did in its goal to turn the park around was to host an art exhibit called i 3 taxi inside of the park to raise awareness of the renewal effort . 7 meyer s director of operations randy garutti established a hot dog cart which was run out of the kitchen of eleven madison one of meyer s union square hospitality group ushg operations . over time the cart became extremely successful and remained in operation for nearly three years . 8 in 2004 the city began taking bids to operate a new kiosk style restaurant within the park ; meyer outlined his idea for the space and opened the first shake shack in july 2004 . from its beginning the restaurant was not designed to be a chain intended to be a single shop location designed specifically for new york city . however as the original location s sales continued to grow the group realized that there was a market for expansion . 8 since its opening shake shack has grown to be the largest part of the ushg s portfolio . its average store performance of us 4 million is more than twice that of mcdonald s average store performance within the united states . 9 its popularity is such that in the summer at its original location the wait in line for service can stretch to over an hour especially on weekends when the weather is pleasant . a webcam on the restaurant s web page shows the current line in real time . 9 10 in august 2014 reports surfaced that the company was preparing to go public with an ipo and was discussing an underwriting with a number of investment banks including j.p. morgan morgan stanley and goldman sachs . 11 12 on january 29 2015 shake shack priced its ipo at 21 per share . on the morning of january 30 2015 it began trading on the nyse at 47 per share under the ticker symbol shak . in april of 2015 shares hit prices of 72 and hit a high of about 90 in may of 2015 . 13 on august 31 2016 shake shack announced it would begin room service at the chicago athletic association hotel the first hotel in america to offer in room shake shack . 14 menu edit a shack burger and crinkle cut french fries shake shack s eponymous products are its milk shakes which have been reviewed as some of the best in the industry . 9 as it has grown the company has also added wine and bottled beers to its beverage menu . in each new location the beverage menu is customized to the local flavors of the city it is operating in . 15 when the company first began to expand it became famous for its burgers which are made from angus beef . 9 despite this popularity there were initial problems with the consistency of its sandwiches . 16 the company originally used pre made frozen crinkle cut french fries because its original location was only 400 sq ft 37 m2 in size and the limited area disallowed any other style of fry product . as the chain grew it was praised in multiple reviews for its high quality hamburgers but its fries were routinely criticized as not being on par with its other products . in response the company developed a new fresh cut french fry product in 2013 . however consumers preferred the frozen crinkle cut fries and the company reverted to those in the fall of 2014 . 9 in 2015 shake shack filed for a trademark for the term chicken shack leading to speculation that the company would serve chicken sandwiches . 17 the company temporarily introduced chicken sandwiches to its brooklyn locations during the summer of 2015 . 18 in january of 2016 shake shack introduced chicken sandwiches across locations in the united states having previously started serving them in locations such as charleston sc chicago and austin tx . 19 collaborations edit shake shack has collaborated with other food and design companies as well as chefs to create products to serve at their restaurants . foods and beverages include a chocolate bar with mast brothers 20 a coffee stout with la colombe and yards brewing company 21 and limited edition burgers with atlanta chef ford fry and philadelphia chef marc vetri . 22 the company has also collaborated with staple design to create shake shack t shirts . 23 operations edit domestic edit in 2010 shake shack restaurants were opened in the theater district 24 and the upper east side . 25 26 the upper east side location s opening was significant because it lifted east 86th street an urban shopping district which had fallen on hard times ; the location had been vacant and even when occupied it was described by a neighbor as never anything good there ... dingy and dilapidated ... almost an eyesore . 25 in july 2011 it was announced that shake shack had reached a deal with the mta to open a location in the lower level of grand central terminal . 27 this project was delayed because the tenant occupying the space shake shack was to take over mexican eatery z calo refused to vacate after the expiration of their lease and filed suit arguing that the bidding process for retail space in grand central is corrupted . 28 the suit was dismissed and z calo appealed . in october 2012 z calo filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . 29 in early may 2013 z calo vacated the space and the new outlet opened for business on october 5 2013 . 30 in 2010 shake shack opened its first restaurant outside of new york city in miami beach s south beach neighborhood . 31 by august 2014 shake shack outlets had begun operating in connecticut washington dc florida georgia chicago maryland massachusetts new jersey nevada pennsylvania and texas . 11 shake shack plans to open a restaurant in lexington ky 32 and st. louis mo in 2017 and houston tx will see locations open in the galleria and rice village . there are also locations in phoenix and scottsdale az as well as one in west hollywood ca the only west coast location . in august 2016 the company celebrated the opening of its 100th location in boston serving free burgers to its customers that day to celebrate the occasion . international edit shake shack has outlets in a number of international cities including seoul tokyo london cardiff istanbul moscow muscat beirut dubai abu dhabi doha kuwait city riyadh manama and jeddah . 11 33 34 see also edit food portal companies portal list of hamburger restaurants references edit https www.shakeshack.com wp content uploads 2015 02 sha menu 8.5 x11 nwbry march 2015.pdf food and drink . shake shack . retrieved 2015 11 01 . burgerzwerg erobert die b rse . handelsblatt . 2015 01 30 . retrieved 2015 11 01 . ro sam 2015 01 30 . shake shack opens for trading . business insider . retrieved 2015 11 01 . burger mania shake shack stock up 120 % . cnn money . 2015 01 30 . retrieved 2015 11 01 . driebusch corrie 2015 01 30 . shake shack shares surge in market debut . the wall street journal . retrieved 2015 11 01 . shake shack s 1 . shake shack . retrieved 30 july 2016 . a b wolfe josh 27 january 2014 . the secret sauce of shake shack s success . forbes magazine . retrieved 27 may 2014 . a b c d e kramer katie 15 october 2010 . shake shack founder expands his empire . cnbc . retrieved 27 may 2014 . shake shack s 1 . shake shack . retrieved 13 july 2015 . a b c burger chain shake shack preparing for an ipo sources . reuters . 15 august 2014 . retrieved 15 august 2014 . lorenzetti laura 29 december 2015 . fast food chain shake shack files for an ipo . fortune . retrieved 11 january 2016 . galarza daniela 27 april 2015 . shake shack shares jump to over 70 per share . eater . retrieved 11 january 2016 . http chicago.eater.com 2016 8 31 12735962 shake shack chicago athletic association room service bartiromo michael 13 february 2013 . the man behind shake shack s menu . mox news . retrieved 27 may 2014 . levine ed 12 february 2012 . ny times shake shack review takedown or a rare bit of fair minded burger candor . serious eats . retrieved 27 may 2014 . shah khushbu 21 may 2015 . is shake shack adding chicken sandwiches to its menu . eater . retrieved 16 january 2016 . morabito greg 7 july 2015 . danny meyer enters top secret launch codes for nuclear chicken sandwich a bomb at shake shack . eater . retrieved 16 january 2016 . galarza daniela 14 january 2016 . shake shack releases chick n shack sandwiches nationwide . eater . retrieved 15 january 2016 . raisfield robin 9 september 2015 . mast brothers new shake shack chocolate bar comes out this week . grubstreet . retrieved 11 january 2016 . laban craig 7 january 2016 . shake shack la colombe and yards collaborate on a fundraiser coffee stout . philly.com . retrieved 10 january 2016 . mah evans 19 september 2015 . ford fry teams with shake shack for a one day burger special . atlanta magazine . retrieved 11 january 2016 . shack shake 12 september 2014 . shake shack x staple design ltd collaboration . shake shack . retrieved 11 january 2016 . levin sam july 12 2010 . burger lovers rejoice minichain shake shack opens in times square . daily news new york . retrieved july 12 2010 . a b gregor alison january 19 2010 . square feet new tenant lifts a manhattan street . the new york times . retrieved august 3 2011 . fabricant florence august 4 2010 . diners journal upper east side shake shack is open . the new york times