Uptown Dallas gets all shook up over Shake Shack

Have people in Uptown Dallas been locked in cages and forbidden food for days on end? Or maybe rents are so astronomical in all those high-rise apartments that there’s not enough spare change left over even for a pack of Lunchables and a bottle of Hawaiian Punch?

Whatever the case, Wednesday night’s opening-night party for Shake Shack -- the long-awaited New York burger joint making its entry into North Texas in a spot next to the Crescent Hotel on McKinney Avenue -- looked to be as popular as a new Frank Ocean download.

The place was mobbed with attendees -- including local movers and shakers like WFAA/8 anchor Jason Wheeler -- descending on servers handing out complimentary cheeseburgers, Chick’n Shack sandwiches, fries, and shake samples like walkers on The Walking Dead. (If the harried Shack servers were also handing out their flat-top hot dogs or frozen custard “concretes,” two items for which the chain is known, I missed those. I guess all the other zombies must have gotten them first.)

There was also a live band and a visual artist outside but the real show was inside near the counter where crowds waited anxiously for platters to come out of the kitchen. Woe to anyone in the back of the scrum.

While the samples were certainly tasty and much appreciated because, well, free food, it will be intriguing to see how Shake Shack -- which first came to Texas with its Austin restaurants -- does in this most competitive of burger markets.

After all, the likes of Five Guys, Smashburger, and In-N-Out Burger are all here as well as homegrown favorites ranging from Whataburger to Hopdoddy and Rodeo Goat. You can’t stagger five feet around here without stumbling over a new burger. In fact, both Hopdoddy and Smashburger are within walking distance of Shake Shack.

According to Mark Rosati, a New York-based Shake Shack culinary director who was here helping with the opening on Wednesday, North Texas diners can expect special touches like the Link Burger which is a beef patty topped with a jalapeño-cheese sausage link from Pecan Lodge, one of the most popular barbecue spots in Dallas.

If they want to make themselves distinctive, that’s certainly not a bad way to start.

Shake Shack is located at 2500 N. Pearl St. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; www.shakeshack.com.

This story was originally published September 1, 2016 at 12:59 AM with the headline "Uptown Dallas gets all shook up over Shake Shack."