The new QSR restaurant has opened at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) as the brand’s 225th location, although only its second in Southeast Asia after Singapore.

“It is known for quality and consistency in taste,” said the president of the exclusive franchise holder SSI Group Anton Huang. “As far as SSI is concerned, we want to be the purveyor of lifestyle choices to the Filipino consumer. In keeping with that goal, we identified Shake Shack as a brand or concept that would really resonate well with the Filipino consumer.”

“Filipinos are already clamoring for it to begin with and it would be a must do part of their pilgrimage to the US,” he added.

The restaurant’s Instagram announcing the Manila launch achieved 16,000 likes, the highest-ranking post on its account.

Huang expressed confidence that the new store will meet revenue and sales targets, and is keeping a tight focus on the performance of the first outlet before making expansion plans.

“We’re concentrated on doing well to serve our customers and meet their expectations,” he said. “Once we’ve done that, and I’m pretty sure we are going to get that right from the beginning or the get go, then, we will look at expansion. As I am sure you can sense, with the kind of demand there is for Shake Shack in the Philippines, I think the expansion opportunities are in fact endless. You really just have to select properly where we will expand.”