Shake Shack

Shake Shack holds a special place in my heart… my fatty, clogged artery heart, but regardless, my still beating heart.  It remains, despite multiple trips to In & Out, my favorite burger ever.  I have not gone to any “high end hamburger” place in New York City, if only because I refuse to pay $15+ (sometimes getting up to $60, mind you, for a freaking hamburger!), and I think that defeats the purpose of a burger.  Having said that, Shake Shack is not cheap for what you get, but it is really damn good, so I think it’s worth it. 

On this particular day, because we arrived at an early hour, the line wasn’t that bad.  It moved quickly, for which I was glad, since this was B’s first time and I didn’t want him to get impatient and decide we should head elsewhere or that he didn’t want to wait.  He’d heard me, for a while now, talk about SS with loving caresses in my voice; I simply do not go here often because it is not very close to my normal stomping grounds and well, let’s face it, it’s not like I want to be fat. 

I may have mentioned before that B is very particular when it comes to burgers (and food in general…).  He likes them just burger patties on a bun, and he adds the ketchup.  No pickles.  No onions.  NOTHING BUT KETCHUP.  On this day, I didn’t harass him into trying the Shack Burger because it was humid out, hot and I just didn’t feel like being my normal bullying self.  (The odd thing is, he does order and enjoy a Big Mac on occasion, which I’m not sure how that works without getting the works on it…)  Me, I like my burgers juicy, with a slice of tomato on it, the juices from the burger mixing with the tomato to form its own ketchup.  YUM. 

In any case, our order wound up two root beers, two fries – one with cheese, one without, a hamburger with nothing on it, and a Shack burger for me.  This came out to $18.75, a bit ridiculous, but very delicious.

B enjoyed his burger thoroughly, adding his ketchup and telling me that I was right, this was indeed a very good burger.  Juicy enough, the buttery bread complementing the meat nicely… just perfect.

My cheese fries were a bit much, if only because of how humid and hot it was.  Otherwise, these are delicious, covered with more than enough cheese, and just delicious fries with a bit of a crunchy exterior with the potato-mealy insides.  On that humid day, I felt a bit more than gross while chomping on these but I quickly got over it.

Now the Shack burger…

was delicious.  As expected, but delicious nonetheless. 

It was just meaty enough to balance the toppings (butter lettuce, cheese, tomato slice, and “Shack Sauce”), but not so meaty that all I could taste was burger.  It was juicy enough to lend itself to mix the toppings, but not so juicy that my hand was dripping in oil.  Everything was just made right and gave me a delicious burger experience. 

I highly recommend Shake Shack for all your burger needs. 

Requisite cross-section:

burger utopia!

Yvo says:  What are you waiting for?  GO.  NOW.  Good day for a burger, too!  I love this place, and if I could eat without gaining weight, I would be here every day that it is open.  So good.  A bit on the pricey side, but depending on your values… this may just be the best lunch you’ll ever indulge yourself. 
highly recommended