After months of speculation about unpaid back rent, a new Shake Shack outpost is finally set to debut at the space formerly occupied by Schiller’s Liquor Bar in the Lower East Side this week. This will be the fast-casual burger chain’s first Lower East Side outpost.
The 22-year-old New York City-based chain has had its eyes set on this site since last summer when What Now New York first reported on the corporation’s acquisition of the space. The unit has been empty since 2017 when the 14-year-old community restaurant closed. Earlier this summer a legal notice was posted on its front doors informing citizens that its landlord was seeking nearly $200,000 in back rent, as reported by EVGrieve, leaving locals questioning if and when the outpost would open. Shake Shack did not respond to information requests earlier this summer regarding the legal issue. However it just recently put a sign on its front doors declaring that it is finally set to debut this Friday, August 25.
Unlike the chain’s Grand Central location, this outpost will not serve breakfast. Newer fast-casual chains to the city including the Central American chain Pollo Campero, which opened its first New York City outpost in December 2022, has introduced their breakfast menu exclusively at its New York City sites for a competitive edge in the city that never sleeps.
The restauranter and founder of Shake Shack, Danny Meyer, has a meaty portfolio of restaurants he oversees through his company Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes but is not limited to Gramercy Tavern, Manhatta and Union Square Cafe.
His daughter Hallie also debuted her first solo brick-and-mortar concept Caffè Panna in her native neighborhood of Gramercy Park back in 2019. A second outpost of the gelataria is slated to open in Greenpoint next spring, as previously reported by What Now New York.
