Job Summary

Shake Shack is known nationally for its craveable burgers—and its well-documented wait times. But when the city’s first Shake Shack was slated to open on Fillmore Street in San Francisco, extra time for construction delays was not on the menu. The high-visibility project was entrusted to Rylko for this very reason. Their reputation for delivering on-time and on-budget work with an exceptional eye for detail preceded them—much like the reputation of those worth-the-wait burgers.

Description

From the beginning, this project came with a side of unique challenges. The Shake Shack space started from a cold-shell condition with no infrastructure in place—and to make the situation more interesting, the entire surrounding building was undergoing a major renovation concurrent to this project. With no time in the schedule for delays, Rylko was tasked with carrying out a finely coordinated operation—replicating Shake Shack’s famous look and feel to debut to a new city of fans, while also juggling site logistics with the building owner’s contractor, arranging for deliveries, and timing all construction needs to keep traffic flowing smoothly outside of the site.

While future customers expected Shake Shack’s signature sleek, industrial/modern design at front-of-house, a tremendous amount of work needed to be done behind the scenes as well to prepare the restaurant for its grand opening. In the kitchen area, a full-scale commercial kitchen and prep zone had to be constructed from scratch—necessitating extensive Refrigeration, Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical components, each requiring their own inspections and permits.

During the course of the project, Rylko worked to build a close relationship with the city’s Building, Fire and Health Departments to ensure inspections were completed on time and went smoothly, preventing unnecessary delays. In the end, Shake Shack served up their inaugural San Francisco location on-time and on-budget to great fanfare from a burger-loving public...without a minute of additional wait time, thanks to Rylko.