Shake Shack and Chipotle will replace the John Harvard’s Brewery and Alehouse location in Lake Grove.
Once awarded best craft beer brewery in New York State by TAP New York, John Harvard’s is now closing its doors. The small-chain brewery has six locations in the United States.
“The brews have their own cult following among Long Islanders,” the John Harvard’s website says.
Two larger chain restaurants will soon take its place in Lake Grove: Chipotle, an international chain serving Mexican food, and Shake Shack, a New York-based restaurant that offers milkshakes, hamburgers, hot dogs and fries.
“I’ve never been to either. There’s none by my house,” Brianna Crowe, a freshman nursing major at Stony Brook University, said. “I want to try it.”
Originally based in New York City, the closest Shake Shack is over an hour away from Stony Brook University. Shake Shack grew out of a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park in Manhattan and now has locations throughout the United States. The burger chain recently opened a location in Japan to keep up with its expanding popularity. The next stop is much closer to home.
“Shake Shack can confirm the rumors are true and that a new Shack will open in Lake Grove, Long Island,” Senior Marketing Manager Laura Enoch said.
The popular new burger location is “slated for late 2016,” Enoch said.
New prices may also impact customers. Shake Shack has already implemented two 3 percent price increases in 2015, according to a report on Seeking Alpha.
Chipotle has implemented even higher price increases in their San Francisco locations, up to 14 percent, to account for a 14 percent minimum wage increase, according to a July 6 post on the American Enterprise Institute’s blog AEIdeas. However, most locations only saw a 4 percent increase on beef prices.
In September, New York’s acting commissioner of labor Mario J. Musolino issued an order to raise the minimum wage to $15 for fast food employees based on the recommendations of the 2015 Fast Food Wage Board assembled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The order is expected to be fully enforced by December 2021.
Chipotle and John Harvard’s did not respond to emails or phone calls seeking comment before publication.
