Cult favorite burger grill, salad restaurant to open side-by-side in Fort Worth
Fort Worth’s second Shake Shack and the city’s first location of California-based Sweetgreen will fill two vacancies in the WestBend shopping center near the Fort Worth Zoo and TCU.
Shake Shack, one of the nation’s original “better burger” concepts founded 22 years ago as a kiosk in Madison Square Park in New York, will open in WestBend at 1601 S. University Drive, according to a permit application.
Next door, a Sweetgreen salad shop will open at 1605 S. University Drive. That’s across the street from a soon-to-open location of a competitor, Arizona-based Flower Child, in University Park Village.
The two restaurants replace a location of the Zoe’s chain, which was sold and has closed stores, and East Hampton Bay, a New England-style sandwich shop.
Another Sweetgreen will open in Southlake’s Park Village shopping center at 1111 E. Southlake Blvd.
The first area Shake Shack drew long lines when in opened in 2016 in Dallas. Since then, chef Danny Meyer’s burger concept has brought ShackBurgers and SmokeShacks with crinkle fries and frozen custard to 10 locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
A 2018 opening in Southlake was the first Shake Shack in Tarrant County, followed by the prominent Mule Alley location at 122 E. Exchange Ave. in the Fort Worth Stockyards.
Texas Shake Shack locations also serve a “Link Burger,” a burger with jalapeno-cheese sausage.
The description from the news release is New York over-the-top:
“Shake Shack is a critically acclaimed, modern day ‘roadside’ burger stand known for its 100% all-natural Angus beef burgers, chicken sandwiches and griddled flat-top dogs (no hormones or antibiotics — ever), fresh-made frozen custard, crispy crinkle cut fries and more. A fun and lively community gathering place with widespread appeal, Shake Shack has earned a cult-like following around the world.”
The company is proud of eco-friendly construction such as wooden booths certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and tabletops from salvaged walnut tables.
In WestBend, the restaurants join a growing selection that includes anchors Silver Fox and HG Sply Co. along with the Australian-inspired Ascension coffee cafe and the forthcoming Quince, a patio bar and restaurant from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Sweetgreen’s slogan is “Inspiring Healthier Communities.”
It offers salads and bowls, including a newer blackened chicken salad with remoulade, miso bowls with sunchokes or beets, and a roast-chicken “harvest bowl” with apples and sweet potatoes.
There’s also a kale Caesar, a traditional Cobb and a blackened chicken platter.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
