SHAKE SHACK SHOWDOWN!
Shake Shack, Madison Square Park, SE Corner, Enter at Madison Ave. & 23rd St. (212)889-6600. Daily, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
So the line really is that long. The former WWF space in Times Square (now the Hard Rock Cafe) proves that especially in tourist-trodden areas if you start a line of more than 3 people in New York people will start queuing up without knowing what they're waiting on. People just like lines.
So, there I was, on a line. I won't give the minute-by-minute play-by-play of the hour-and-four-minute-wait, and you can read about the Shack timeline elsewhere but it was bearable because...
- I wasn't expecting to eat for 45 minutes
- A cold sip of Acquavit New York's White Cranberry beforehand took the edge off the hunger pains
- It gives you enough time to figure out your order
- The wait is certainly something to talk about...while you're waiting
- If you're not talking about the wait someone else will
- I was in the company of two engaging young women
When we finally did get to the friendly but frazzled countergirl I ordered a Shack Burger ("American cheese, lettuce, tomato and shack sauce," $4.75), a Second City Bird-Wurst ("smoked chicken and apple wurst in Chicago clothing, dragged through the garden with lettuce, tomato, sport peppers, green peppers, pickles, onion, neon relish, cucumber, celery salt and mustard," $4.84), an order of Cheese Fries ($2.75), a two-scoop coffee bean brownie Concrete ($3.25) and a glass of ice-water ($0.00!).
WHERE'S THE BEEF?
A great burger. The bun was soft but not gummy. The ground sirloin and brisket patty (shoulda gotten a double) was nicely charred and tasted like it should, like a grill. The shack-sauce (ketchup, mustard, mayo and chopped pickles) was tangy but not overwhelming or slopped on. The cheese? Not gloppy. The tomato, pickle and lettuce? Fresh.
THE CHEESE FRIES? Crinkle-cut, crispy outside and a little meaty inside. Nicely done both with and without the cheese which was notches above the normal goo at most stadiums, movie theaters and beach burger stands.
HOW TO EAT CONCRETE...
Fast, before it melts. Actually, the custard was well set so we didn't have to rush through the burgers to get to them. The flavor was Coffee Bean Brownie. The soft-serve custard was creamy, the ~1/6" brownie bits plentiful and proportionate to the amount of ice cream, and what I liked the most about it, the bits were pleasantly moist and soft. The downside? No shakes can be made with flavors with bits in them.
20 WORDS OR LESS? Life changing? Eh. But, certainly someone can set up a Shack-cam one floor up across the street.
So the line really is that long. The former WWF space in Times Square (now the Hard Rock Cafe) proves that especially in tourist-trodden areas if you start a line of more than 3 people in New York people will start queuing up without knowing what they're waiting on. People just like lines.So, there I was, on a line. I won't give the minute-by-minute play-by-play of the hour-and-four-minute-wait, and you can read about the Shack timeline elsewhere but it was bearable because...
- I wasn't expecting to eat for 45 minutes
- A cold sip of Acquavit New York's White Cranberry beforehand took the edge off the hunger pains
- It gives you enough time to figure out your order
- The wait is certainly something to talk about...while you're waiting
- If you're not talking about the wait someone else will
- I was in the company of two engaging young women
When we finally did get to the friendly but frazzled countergirl I ordered a Shack Burger ("American cheese, lettuce, tomato and shack sauce," $4.75), a Second City Bird-Wurst ("smoked chicken and apple wurst in Chicago clothing, dragged through the garden with lettuce, tomato, sport peppers, green peppers, pickles, onion, neon relish, cucumber, celery salt and mustard," $4.84), an order of Cheese Fries ($2.75), a two-scoop coffee bean brownie Concrete ($3.25) and a glass of ice-water ($0.00!).
WHERE'S THE BEEF?A great burger. The bun was soft but not gummy. The ground sirloin and brisket patty (shoulda gotten a double) was nicely charred and tasted like it should, like a grill. The shack-sauce (ketchup, mustard, mayo and chopped pickles) was tangy but not overwhelming or slopped on. The cheese? Not gloppy. The tomato, pickle and lettuce? Fresh.
THE CHEESE FRIES? Crinkle-cut, crispy outside and a little meaty inside. Nicely done both with and without the cheese which was notches above the normal goo at most stadiums, movie theaters and beach burger stands.
HOW TO EAT CONCRETE...
Fast, before it melts. Actually, the custard was well set so we didn't have to rush through the burgers to get to them. The flavor was Coffee Bean Brownie. The soft-serve custard was creamy, the ~1/6" brownie bits plentiful and proportionate to the amount of ice cream, and what I liked the most about it, the bits were pleasantly moist and soft. The downside? No shakes can be made with flavors with bits in them.
20 WORDS OR LESS? Life changing? Eh. But, certainly someone can set up a Shack-cam one floor up across the street.
posted by Turo at 11:08 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home