Famous New York burger chain Shake Shack made its highly anticipated Singapore debut at Jewel Changi Airport yesterday by opening to a snaking queue.
When The Straits Times visited the outlet at 10am, half an hour before it officially opened, an orderly line of more than 90 people had already formed.
New York native Ted Toth, 52, joined the queue with his wife Nova, 53, at 10am.
Mr Toth, who is based in Singapore and owns an energy services company, said: "I go back to America four or five times every year and eat at Shake Shack at least twice during each visit.
"I couldn't be happier that it has opened in Singapore, and I'm sure I'm going to gain a lot of weight."
The queue saw an estimated average of 200 people through the day, with an average waiting time of 1½ hours.
A spokesman for the restaurant said the most popular items of the day were the Shack Burger and 'Shroom Burger.
Fast-food chain A&W - which opened on Thursday last week, the first day of the six-day public preview of Jewel - continued to see long queues, with at least 50 people in line during lunchtime.
To manage the crowd, diners are allowed to enter the outlet only in batches, said Mr Kelvin Tan, A&W International's director of marketing and communication.
There was also a queue at Taiwanese bubble tea store The Alley, which has sold 1,200 cups daily since opening last Friday.
Its most popular drink is the Brown Sugar Deerioca Fresh Milk, for which sales engineer Gabriel Pek, 25, spent 15 minutes queueing.
"I've tried the drink at one of their stores in Malaysia, and since this is their first outlet in Singapore, I wanted to find out if it will taste the same here," he said.
For some eateries that hit two-hour-long queues last week, such as Chinese restaurant Yun Nans and roast meat specialist Kam's Roast, the frenzy has calmed down.
Yesterday, the waiting time at Yun Nans was just half an hour, as kitchen and service staff have had time to get used to operations, said chief operating officer Reuben Chua. He added that Yun Nans crossed the $10,000 daily sales mark within the opening week.
