Ben Conniff, vice president of Luke‘s Lobster, stands in front of the restaurant‘s latest location, a shack stand in front of Fashion Show mall on the Strip, on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015. It‘s the Westernmost location for the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based chain and the 19th for the company.

Dining Out

Luke’s Lobster’s first Western expansion takes it to Strip

By Alan Snel Las Vegas Review-Journal

November 12, 2015 - 6:26 am

Another national restaurant chain has picked Las Vegas to open its first location in the western United States. This time, it's Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Luke's Lobster has opened a shack stand outside Fashion Show mall on the Strip.

Las Vegas is the concept's 19th location. It began with a $35,000 initial investment at a site in Manhattan's East Village in October 2009, said Ben Conniff, Luke's Lobster vice president. The Fashion Show location cost in the low six figures to open, he said.

Conniff said brothers Luke and Bryan Holden, Scott Bullard and himself are partners. The most Western location before Las Vegas was Chicago, Conniff said Wednesday. He said Fashion Show's owners, General Growth Properties, reached out to Luke's Lobster about opening an outdoor shack site.

Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com Find him on Twitter: @BicycleManSnel