Canadians may soon no longer need to cross the border for crinkle-cut fries and frozen-custards as the famous Shake Shack announces its arrival in Canada by 2024.
Just six years ago the New York based burger ‘joint’ gave Canadians a teaser of their famous burgers and hand-spun milkshakes at the former Momofuku Daisho in downtown Toronto.
“Shake Shack has wonderful food. I’ve never had bad food from them—not a lot of fast food joint have mastered the burger and fries industry like Shake Shack when it comes to beef burgers in particular”,” said popular Toronto food critic Tasheka Mason.
Mason — with 13,000 followers on Instagram and 91,000 on TikTok — is known to her social-media following as ‘tashthemillionaire.’ She has gained her popularity for reviewing most if not all restaurants in the GTA in a comedic yet critical way and even now reviews food in the U.S.
On Wednesday Shake Shack announced that it will open more than 30 stores across Canada by 2035 with Toronto named for its first flagship location.
“We have been eyeing this incredible opportunity in Canada for quite some time,” said Michael Kark, Shake Shack’s Chief Global Licensing Officer, in a press-release.
Mason said she believes that Shake Shack will “shake things up” in the fast food market in Canada.
“Having a Shake Shack in Canada will be a lot of fun and I believe Canadians would want to line up for the fun of it.”
The company said it plans to introduce a new style of fast-food dining with an introduction to alcoholic beverages to its Canadian menus as well as their famous crinkle-cut fries and frozen custards.
“It is a great experience for Canadians — Shake Shack provides a restaurant style quality burger for a fast-food price,” said Jayquion Mitchell another Toronto based travel and lifestyle influencer who said he was very excited about the announcement.
“They hire really good employees that are knowledgeable about their menu and the food they offer is always made fresh despite the wait time.”
“It is nice and fresh and always hot!” Mitchell said, reposting the Shake Shack announcement by captioning it with “my heart” followed by two yellow heart emoji.
Toronto based investment company in charged operation Osmington Inc. and Harlo Entertainment was named as the prime investors for the company.
The question remains about how Shake Shack will do once it comes here.
It is on the list of companies such as Trader Joes, Ulta Beauty, Homegoods, and Sam’s Club are among a list of popular stores which Canadians visit the most when they cross the border.
Some Canadians are worried the burger chain may not succeed following the exit of Carl’s Junior another fast-food company that hyped up Canadians and left within a year of opening.
Mason said some firms fail because of high prices.
“Sometime dem come wid dem farin price and we nuh deh pan dat,” said Mason commenting on the reason why most U.S. companies tend to fail in the Canadian market.
“Come wid the Canadian decent price,” Mason continued.
Other companies such as Chick-Fil-A and Daves Hot Chicken seem to have a vast understanding of the Canadian market and have already began expanding within a year of opening.
“I’m more interested to see if the quality converts because a lot of times the quality changes when it comes to Canada—Mi nuh wah nuh old burger weh nuh taste good!”