Shake Shack is pulling into Grand Central Station starting Saturday.
According to Crain's New York Business, Danny Meyer's burger and custard chain will open a 2,300-square-foot outpost in Grand Central Terminal's lower level-dining area.
"Grand Central has been an iconic part of NYC for 100 years, and it's a hub that truly brings folks together from all over the City and around the world," said Shake Shack CEO Garutti in a press release. "We're proud to bring Shake Shack to such a landmark in our hometown. We hope commuting just got a little better."
After more than two years and a handful of lawsuits, Mexican café Zocalo left the area on the lower level of GCT that Shake Shack is going to move into, clearing the way for the restaurant to open.
"We are pleased to be able to move forward at last with our ongoing effort to re-bid the retail spaces in Grand Central," MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said.
Zocalo closed on April 28 and left the area by the court-ordered deadline of April 30, Donovan said, and Shake Shack officially took possession of the space May 1.
On the menu is Shake Shack's new fresh-cut fries, which are currently available only at the Upper East Side location. The fries are hand-cut, not crinkled, and are made on site with skin-on Idaho Russet potatoes. Also on the menu is a custom custard shake flavor called the GCT Crunch-stellation. It combines malt, Valrhona chocolate crunchies and chocolate toffee pieces with a frozen vanilla custard base." To drink, customers can grab bottles of Shackmeister Ale on the go.
"Grand Central is essentially a French building dropped on the corner of Park Avenue and 42nd Street, anything French could fit in," said Anthony W. Robins, a historian who has conducted weekly tours of Grand Central for the last decade and the author of "Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark".
According to Crain, the burger chain will pay an annual minimum rent of $435,000 for the 2,300-square-foot space.
