Shake Shack, the New York based burger mecca, announced via facebook and Twitter announced it's coming to Central Florida. This would be the fourth Florida location for the restaurant chain and the first for Central Florida. It just opened stores in Boca Raton and Washington D.C., with more in the works for Chicago, New Jersey, and Istanbul.
Lakeside Winter Park plaza, slated to open mid-2014, will be the home of the Winter Park Shake Shack location. This is the same plaza that will house Trader Joes. Other stores in the plaza will include Marilyn Monroe Day Spa, a Paddle board rental company, and Orange Theory Fitness. A gourmet cupcake cafe and an upscale coffee shop are also in the works for the plaza.
The popular burger restaurant began as a hot dog cart that supported the Madison Square Park Conservancy's first art installation. The cart became an icon of summer for New Yorkers before it opened its first permanent location in 2004. It is one of the most recognizable names to come out of famed restaurateur Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group.
There have also been rumors of a Shake Shack coming to the remodeled Downtown Disney, which will be known as Disney Springs. Internal documents that were leaked earlier this year show Shake Shack on the list of potential brands coming to the remodeled shopping complex. Shake Shack has not confirmed these plans, and many believe this leaked document was only showing the of businesses that Disney wanted to attract, not the specific brands.
