South Carolina finally has a Shake Shack, and the first one is in North Charleston.
The New York-based burger chain opened its first restaurant in the state on Sept. 23 at Tanger Outlets Charleston, 4840 Tanger Outlet Blvd., Charleston.com reported that day. The restaurant fills Suite 791, the former Lucky Brand Jeans store at the end of Fashion Avenue, facing Centre Pointe Drive, the site reported.
Opening plans called for a 9:30 a.m. ribbon cutting with Mayor Reggie Burgess before the doors opened at 10 a.m., WCSC Live 5 reported. Shake Shack pledged to donate $1 for every sandwich sold that day to the Lowcountry Food Bank. The 3,500-square-foot restaurant is open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, and a second South Carolina Shake Shack was set to open two days later in Greenville, the station reported.
Shake Shack opened its original restaurant in New York’s Madison Square Park in 2004 and now has more than 710 locations, including about 460 in 35 states and the District of Columbia, according to its August earnings release. The menu centers on burgers, crinkle-cut fries, chicken sandwiches and hand-spun milkshakes.
When the restaurant was announced in August 2025, the nearest Shake Shack to the Charleston area was in Charlotte, North Carolina, The Post and Courier reported.
Tanger, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, opened the 382,000-square-foot Charleston outlet center in 2006, according to that report. The company announced Shake Shack along with Lululemon Athletica, Auntie Anne’s and The Children’s Place as it finished a major renovation of the center. Its dining and entertainment push is meant to keep shoppers at the center longer and get them to spend more, the newspaper reported.
The center had few places to sit down and eat beyond food trucks and kiosks, Charleston.com noted.
Shake Shack and Tanger have worked together on at least three other restaurants: in San Marcos, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and on Long Island, New York, The Post and Courier reported.
