Months after a gut renovation of the former Schiller’s Liquor Bar space was completed, another location of the burger chain, Shake Shack, opened Friday at 131 Rivington St.
At one point over the summer, a legal notice from the landlord was posted on the building facade claiming nonpayment of rent. As EV Grieve noted, the landlord was demanding almost $200,000 in back rent.
According to the Shake Shack website, this outpost at the corner of Norfolk and Rivington streets is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. This particular part of the neighborhood is especially sleepy weekdays. Most restaurants in the area struggle to attract lunchtime business. Shake Shack is probably betting on lots of foot traffic weekend evenings when hungry Lower East Side bar goers are roaming the neighborhood. So hours seem likely to expand.
Schiller’s was open from 2003 to 2017, when a rent increase forced Keith McNally to shutter the popular spot. The space had been vacant ever since.
