Second Chicago Shake Shack Location Opens Thursday
By Rachel Cromidas in Food on May 26, 2015 3:20PM
The much-anticipated opening of Chicago's second Shake Shack is set for Thursday.
The New York-based burger chain is opening up at 12 S. Michigan Ave., across the street from Millennium Park and inside the new Chicago Athletic Association building luxury hotel. The restaurant will have a park-facing outdoor patio and entrances from the street and from inside the hotel's historic building.
The company is bringing in furniture and planters from New York-based makers, according to a press release, but many of the ingredients will be local. As with Chicago's first Shake Shack on Ohio Street in River North, this outlet will offer Publican Sausage on its menu. It will also have several custom custard mixes with toffee from Vosges (which will also have a shop in the hotel lobby), coffee from Intelligentsia, donuts from Glazed & Infused and Bang Bang Pie's pie. This Shake Shack will also have a beer menu with a mix of Chicago and Brooklyn drinks, including Goose Island 312 and Revolution's Anti-Hero IPA.
Roman and Williams, the firm behind the Chicago Athletic Association building's restoration, also designed the new Shake Shack. Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti said in a statement that the restaurant aimed to complement the hotel and nearby Millennium Park with upscale design and architectural elements.
The Chicago Athletic Association Hotel officially opens to the public Wednesday, with a ribbon cutting ceremony, tour and cocktail reception after 4 p.m. The 241-room boutique hotel features a rooftop bar with views of the park and four restaurants operated by the Land & Sea Dept., an interactive game room and a shopping area.
The Chicago Athletic Association building was built in 1893 as a social club and designed by famed Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb.