PHOENIX — Shoppers at Biltmore Fashion Park will soon have another spot to grab a burger in between stores or a shake to cool-off during the not-so-distant summer months.
In a few weeks, The Stand, a popular burger joint in Arcadia, will open in the courtyard near Saks Fifth Avenue. It will take over the kiosk that previously housed Short Leash Hotdogs (Short Leash moved to the Melrose District).
Owner Eva Hofstedt told ABC15 that the kiosk will have much of the same menu that the Arcadia location does -- hamburgers, hand-cut fries and hand-spun shakes -- and some new items, such as hot dogs, sundaes, floats and craft sodas.
"You can get a burger any way you can get it at The Stand, and the fries, but we'll be adding a little more variety on the shake side," she said. She was not ready to share specifics on the new items, but said those would be announced in the coming weeks.
The plan is to open in early May.
"[The location] fits with who we are. For us, it's a wonderful opportunity to expand into the market that already knows us very well," she said. "When we posted it today (Tuesday), when we actually posted it to Instagram, we got so many wonderful responses. All kinds of positive affirmation."
In May 2017, she opened a larger second location, The Grande Stand, in Scottsdale. It closed last December.
"It was a good try. We gave it a shot. And it wasn't what we wanted," she said. "We scaled back. We paid some attention to our original location. But, we decided once we were done doing that, we wanted something else. We knew we didn't want anything with a large footprint."
Goal accomplished.
The kiosk at the Biltmore is less than 200-square-feet. While that may seem like a small space, Hofstedt said it surprisingly allows them to be more efficient.
Besides some aesthetic changes, they have everything they need.
"For us, it's like running a little food truck. The kitchen is actually smaller than a food truck kitchen," she said.
