Vegan fast food restaurant Shimmy Shack to open in January

The long wait for the brick-and-mortar version of Shimmy Shack is nearly over, as the restaurant prepares for a late January opening.

Owner Debra Levantrosser tells Metro Times the Plymouth Township location has passed all of its inspections, and she and her staff will spend the next few weeks training employees and making final preparations. However, no firm opening date is yet set.

When the doors do open, you'll find much of what the company has made its name on as a food truck — a retro, 1950s diner now with counter service and dine-in seating.

Shimmy Shack bills itself as metro Detroit's only 100-percent vegan and gluten-free food truck. It launched in 2013 and was named one of the nation's top five trucks by PETA.


The menu includes items like a "coney dog" smothered with black bean chili, mustard, and onions on a warm gluten-free hot dog bun. It also offers burgers like the Southwest Burger, made with a house-made black bean and rice patty topped with guacamole and salsa, and the Classic Burger — its version of a fast-food cheeseburger. The truck also serves french fries, sweet potato fries, chili fries, and chili cheese fries with special sauces.

For dessert, Levantrosser makes shakes that come in chocolate, pumpkin, strawberry, and cookie monster, and she also recently introduced a line of vegan cookies. Those include the Cowgirl Cookies (chocolate chips, oats, toasted walnuts, and peanut butter); Chocolate, Caramel, and Coconut (vegan shortbread cookie sprinkled with toasted coconut and drizzled with chocolate and housemade caramel); and Strawberry Loveprint (a sugar cookie topped off by Shimmy’s "loveprint" — a vegan strawberry jam heart).

The new restaurant is located near Ann Arbor and Haggerty roads in Plymouth Township. Check back for an update on the grand opening date.

Levantrosser also announced the return of Michigan's Sexiest Vegans calendar 2019 edition. For more info, check out Shimmy Shack's website here.


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