Dallas burger fans, have you heard of Sky Rocket Burger? Possibly not.
But in less than three years, it may become the fastest-growing burger joint in North Texas that’s owned by a local operator. The CEO wants to open nearly 20 new Sky Rocket Burgers by the end of 2024.
Perhaps Sky Rocket was named correctly several years ago, when founders Scott and Tia Wagner opened the first one in Far North Dallas, near the University of Texas at Dallas campus.
It was a modest place selling quick-service cheeseburgers on a flat top. Restaurateur Imran Sheikh, who owns seven restaurant brands in Dallas-Fort Worth, took a liking to it. Initially, he was just a customer.
“I threw my kids in the car and drove to the original one, tucked behind a gas station, and was blown away,” he says. I just kept an eye on it.”
Sky Rocket expanded to Deep Ellum, where Sheikh’s company Milkshake Concepts operates a handful of restaurants, including Vidorra, Stirr and nearby Harper’s. He says he saw the potential to make Sky Rocket bigger and made an offer to buy it as the majority owner.
“I think it’s a beautifully simple concept,” Sheikh says. “... For a concept like this and for a burger like this, no one should have to drive too far. The idea is we take that simplicity and bring it to communities all over the Metroplex.”
After he bought a majority stake, Sheikh’s company licensed the original in Far North Dallas back to the Wagners. They still have a minority holding in the company, but it’s Sheikh’s business to grow.
Already, they have built a new Sky Rocket in Frisco, which opened Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Next up in 2022 are restaurants in Lewisville and in Northlake, a town near Argyle and Roanoke.
Does this sound familiar?
In 2020, Sheikh bought another Deep Ellum business, Serious Pizza, and has serious plans to expand it across North Texas.
The story of Serious Pizza is similar to that of Sky Rocket: Milkshake Concepts identified a beloved local brand. The food’s good, but the business plan could use a boost. So he makes an offer, then spruces it up a bit and starts looking for real estate. He leaves the menu largely the same.
With nearly all of Sheikh’s Deep Ellum restaurants, he’s expanded them from their home base in Deep Ellum to Addison, Grand Prairie and beyond. Serious Pizza, for instance, will be installed in the Epic Central development in Grand Prairie as a three-in-one concept called Serious Eats. Inside of it will be Serious Pizza, Serious Shakes and Serious Sliders.
But none of Milkshake Concept’s existing restaurants are slated for the kind of growth that Sky Rocket wants to create in a mere three years.
The new Sky Rocket in Frisco was the first of 12 openings in 12 months for the company.
The thing about burgers
After an initial burst of growth for Sky Rocket Burger in North Texas, Sheikh says he will consider franchising the business. He would like to expand beyond Texas to Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
If that happens, it would be the first franchise for Milkshake Concepts.
“You’ve got to remember, the beauty is its simplicity,” Sheikh says. As in: Burgers are an easy sell. And he thinks this small-sized business can be expanded quickly.
Among locally owned burger joints in Dallas, few have grown as quickly as Sky Rocket will attempt to. Longtime Dallas-born burger joints like Jake’s and Snuffer’s have eight restaurants each. And they’ve been around for decades.
Newer Dallas-area brands like Rodeo Goat, Liberty Burger, Village Burger Bar and Haystack Burgers and Barley have branched out into several suburbs of North Texas, but none of them are aiming for growth by the dozen. And not during a pandemic.
Sheikh is steadfast. “It’s going to be an exciting year ahead,” he says.
Sky Rocket Burger’s newest restaurant is in Frisco, at 6633 John Hickman Parkway. The other two Sky Rocket Burgers remain, at 111 S. Hall St., Dallas, and 7877 Frankford Road, Dallas.
