A nationwide burger chain with New York City ties is set to close nine restaurants across the country by Sept. 25, and more than half of them will be in California.
Shake Shack, the Big Apple-based competitor to In-N-Out known for smash burgers, crinkle-cut fries and milkshakes, announced that six California storefronts, including the only Oakland location, would close by the end of next month. Ownership cited underperformance as the primary factor for the closures, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. Most locations will close around Los Angeles; the other three outposts to shutter are in Columbus, Ohio, and Houston, Texas.
Oddly enough, the announced Oakland closure at 1954 Telegraph Ave. comes a bit late: That Shake Shack has already permanently shuttered, according to the San Francisco Business Times. The restaurant, which opened to much fanfare in December 2020, has reportedly been empty and closed since at least July 2024. The company website does not reflect the closure, as of yet. A phone call to the location went straight to an automated message.
Despite the Oakland closure, Shake Shack is still investing in the Bay Area with two new-ish locations recently opening up in Walnut Creek and Santa Rosa, as well as in San Jose. The Bay Area is home to 11 Shake Shack locations.
The affected Los Angeles-area restaurants are in Downtown LA’s Bunker Hill neighborhood, at the Westfield Topanga mall in Canoga Park, and in Silver Lake, Koreatown and Culver City. While already showing as closed on Google, the Silver Lake location in particular was a highly visible outlet for the brand, located next door to the historic gay bar the Black Cat and just steps from actor and musician Donald Glover’s Jellyman boba shop.
Fear not, Shake Shack burger fans. There are still more than 20 locations in the greater Los Angeles area that are operating, including a first-in-the-state drive-thru that opened just this month. The company operates nearly 330 nationwide and over 400 restaurants across the world.