Those rumors that all-conquering burger chain Shake Shack will open a Houston location are starting to look more concrete.
Last week, the company replied to an inquiry about a Houston location by Tweeting: "No Houston Shack at the moment, but never say never!" The time when Houstonians are lining up ShackBurgers and fries may be sooner than people realize.
A dedicated CultureMap reader discovered that the same corporate agent who established Shake Shack The Domain Austin, LLC filed to create Shake Shack The Galleria Houston, LLC in April. Shake Shack's Domain location opened in August.
Both The Domain and The Galleria are owned by shopping center heavyweight Simon Property Group, and it looks like they're about to have the restaurant in common, too. A rendering on the Simon Properties website shows Shake Shack as one of the future tenants for the renovated Galleria III (first spotted by an eagle-eyed user of the Houston Architecture Info Forum).
Houston would be the third Texas city to host the burger chain that's grown from its first outpost in New York City's Madison Square Park into a global phenomenon with revenues that have grown at an astonishing rate. In addition to two locations in Austin, the company announced in October that it will open in Dallas in 2016.
This development also helps The Galleria keep pace with recently opened luxury shopping destination River Oaks District, which recently confirmed the rumor that Austin-based burger chain Hopdoddy will open there in 2016.
The ultimate question is, when will this happen? A retail source confirmed the rumor but couldn't comment on the record about the specifics. A representative for Simon described the rendering as "not accurate," adding, "We will keep you posted as soon as we have something to announce."
Shake Shack has yet to reply to CultureMap's request for comment. We will update this article as soon as more information is available.
This rendering on the Simon Properties website suggests that Shake Shack is coming to The Galleria.
