Shake Shack’s Online Ordering Should Help Cut Down Long Lines

Welcome back to Eater News, a semi-regular round-up of mini news bites. Have info to share? Email intel to seattle@eater.com.

• Shake Shack has released its ordering app for Seattle customers, which means hungry fans may be able to skip the interminably long lines. But there’s a catch: The app only accepts a handful of to-go orders every 15 minutes from 11 a.m. to 9:45 p.m., so it’s still no guarantee of service when diners want it. The restaurant says it’s also adding more self-service kiosks to help trim the wait time.
• Former Top Chef contestant Chad White, who runs a legit ceviche counter inside an incubator brewery’s taproom in Spokane, is opening a second restaurant in Eastern Washington. He’ll serve Kansas City-style barbecue at the new home of one of the breweries from the incubator program, TT’s Old Iron Brewery, in Spokane Valley, and make his barbecue sauce with TT’s beer.
• Anheuser-Busch Inbev subsidiary Elysian Brewing Co. has closed its downtown Elysian Bar to make way for a new skyscraper condo building.
• Frank’s Smoked BBQ has closed at 23rd and Cherry in the Central District. But Edward “Pookie” Whitfield, the longtime occupant of that space, has reopened his Barbeque Pit at 23rd and South Plum.
• And Mexican restaurant Chavez recently shut down its second location, which opened near Pike Place Market last December, but it sounds like the same owners will open a bar in that space instead. The original Chavez remains open on Capitol Hill.
• Bainbridge Island’s excellent sandwich shop, Hitchcock Deli, is expanding into the former shoe store next door. Owner Brendan McGill is combining the two spaces and making some modifications to the deli’s existing banquette and espresso bar, and suggests customers will soon be able to get cocktails with their sandwiches.