New Hampshire’s first Shake Shack opened up on Monday, October 30, 2023 at the Tuscan Village shopping center in Salem. This was a long time coming! I heard about the grand opening and I thought that I would give them some time and then head down in about a month’s time, but then FOMO set in and I thought……. “what if?” What if I went? How fun would that be to attend the grand opening?
It was a bleak rainy morning, but when I arrived (my first time at Tuscan Village) I was soooooo excited to see all the green balloons! I just absolutely love Shake Shack and it felt like Christmas morning to see those festive garlands. Could I even believe my eyes? This was really in New Hampshire?
The restaurant opened at 11am, and the ribbon cutting was scheduled for 10:30. I was there just a little before 10 waiting in my car, because I didn’t know how many people would be there. There were visions of crowds all the way down the street in my mind. But there was nobody there! So I just sat in my car for a while since it was cold and rainy. Finally I got out and went into the restaurant. I didn’t see any other customers, just employees running around getting everything ready.
Time passed, and there was much rejoicing among the employees when the confetti canons went off, spraying the whole dining room with shiny green streamers. And they opened the doors and I was first in line! Too funny. It was great to place the first order in New Hampshire.
I got my usual order of the Double Shack Burger and Cheese Fries, and I got the spicy version. The spice seasoning does indeed have a kick! The only hiccup was that my order was lost. I guess the first order didn’t stick. After a while of waiting at my table, and seeing everyone else behind me get their orders I realized that something was wrong. So I went back and they had to resubmit it, because it was gone. But once it came out, it was great! They even had the cute little wooden fork in the cheese fries, and I was glad to see that, because none of the Massachusetts locations ever have the wooden forks in my experience.
I’m so thrilled that there is now a Shake Shack in New Hampshire! Granted, it’s still not close to me at all and it’s less than 2 miles from the Massachusetts border, so it’s barely in New Hampshire. But it counts. It does save me like 25 minutes on the occasions that I want to take a long drive for some Shack. Woburn is 1 hour away, and now this one is 35 minutes away. Much improvement!
I even got some sweet Shack swag for being one of the first customers! They gave out some nice NH branded merch: a glass water bottle and keychains that said “Live Free or Fry.”
