When Shake Shack opens its newest location in the East Village this month, customers will be ordering and getting their burgers in a whole new way: all digital and all by themselves.
The restaurant at 51 Astor Place will be the burger chain's first-ever cashless kiosk, CNBC reports, meaning there will be no cashiers and no cash. Instead, guests will use digital kiosks or their mobile phones to place orders.
Orders will go directly to the kitchen, and then diners will receive a text from the restaurant letting them know when their food is ready.
CEO Randy Garutti tells CNBC the newest Shake Shack will be a place for the company to test out a variety of digital innovations and ways of connecting with its consumers.
The new Shack will have a similar dining room and waiting area as traditional Shacks, he said.
There will still be people overseeing the kiosks; the so-called "hospitality champs" and other employees will be paid at a higher minimum wage, of at least $15 an hour at the East Village, Garutti said.
Shake Shack will likely transition other stores in big cities to higher minimum wages over the next year or two, Garutti told CNBC, and adopting the new payment policy in Astor Place will give the company a chance to work out the kinks before it does so.
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Other tests that Garutti expects this Shack location to tackle include delivery speed and delivery packaging. He said the company is working to cut down the time it takes to get food to the customer and how it is brought to them, according to CNBC.
