Citi Field: Box Frites, Shake Shack, and Carvel

May 31, 2009: NY Mets v. Florida Marlins. 

A weekend full of burgers behind me, I wasn’t even that keen this day to try for Shake Shack.  BF wanted tuna salad on a bagel (he really likes the bagel place near me).  I was fine with not getting Shake Shack, and told him so, but he said “I’m here, it’s early, let’s go.”  We got to the park a bit early – just after 12 pm – and the line was to the end of the ropes.  It was hot.  The sun was beating down.  I said, “Forget it.  I don’t want to wait.”  I didn’t want to whine, but I was thinking, “I don’t wait on line for Shake Shack in the city, why the heck would I wait on line here?!”  But BF maybe misread my itchy/antsy signals and said “I’m waiting.”  I kept offering to go get other food while we waited – I really can’t stand waiting, but beyond that, it was really, really, really sunny and I have an allergy to excessive sun or something (if I sit in the blazing hot sun for 20 minutes or so, I get a massive headache and a nosebleed – isn’t that fun!).  He ignored me and kept reading his paper; I think he wasn’t sure what I was trying to really say (sometimes he doesn’t believe I mean what I say; part of being in a relationship for so long).  I told him the fries from Box Frites were so much better and don’t get Shake Shack fries, but he just looked at me oddly and didn’t say anything. 

So I walked away.

Box Frites’ line was in the shade, shorter, and it only takes a few minutes to get food from them anyway – seriously, the line moves really quickly!  I returned only 5 minutes later with a large fries and

two dipping sauces, bacon & blue cheese (which I really liked last time).  Honestly, because I was sharing with B, who doesn’t like anything but ketchup on his fries, I didn’t need two sauces, but I wanted them because I’m a sauce hog.  The cup with the bacon dipping sauce in it was only half full – grrr! – but was smokey, delicious, and added a really wonderful bacon flavor to the frites.  The blue cheese was whipped and delicious as I expected, a bit thin still so it kept dripping on me and on everything.  Mmm.  And yes, B did really like these frites – we love frites all the time! and probably realized I wasn’t crazy so much as hungry.  I don’t lie – I need food within an hour or two of waking up, or I turn crazy.  Rather, grumpy, and I can be a bit unbearable. 

While we continued to wait on line, the man behind us asked me if Box Frites was better than Shake Shack fries.  I immediately responded, “Oh yes!” and wanted to offer him one to try, but then I thought of how he’d have to reach into the box for his fry, and how a woman had recently contracted the H1N1 virus at Citi Field (actually, at the Mother’s Day game, which I attended), and I just decided it wasn’t worth the possible hassle.  I explained to him what made them so good, but couldn’t bring myself to share.  Sorry!!! 

Our order of two Shackburgers, singles each.  Once we ordered, it didn’t take that long to get our burgers – actually, it took longer for them to pour our drinks, to be honest.  The burgers were pre-made, but there was such a long line, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea – instead of taking your order and then cooking things right then, which would take forEVER (which is why the Shake Shack at Madison Square Park takes a while).  I do believe this means no special orders, though. 

There’s mine – actually, that’s B’s, he took his tiny slice of tomato off and gave it to me.  I realize now that he actually hadn’t previously had a Shackburger – he’d had a plain burger, the way he likes them.  He did remark, as he took the tomato off (without my prompting!), that “these are some tiny tomato slices, kind of cheap, no?” which amused me.  It’s true – the tomato was teeny tiny compared to the burger. 

I noted that my burger actually felt a little soggy and hard to take out of the wax paper bag it’d come in (well, I “peeled” the bag down, so I could hold it like so and not get burger all over me).  Okay.  I’ve mentioned before that Shake Shack (Madison Square Park) is my favorite slider-style burger in the city.  It is. 

This is not it. 

I swear I tasted butter on the bun as I was eating, which doesn’t make it bad, but it added to the oily/sogginess of the overall burger.  The bun was soggy and super soft, which also isn’t a bad thing (to be soft – soggy is a different story), but the burger itself – the meat! – was very soft as well and blended texturally together.  There was no char!  No crust!  What the hell happened to my burger?  What did I do to deserve this abomination???

Okay, I shouldn’t say that, the burger still was very tasty with the cheese, Shacksauce, and all that.  But I just felt a huge wave of disappointment at the Shackburger just not being as good as the ones I’ve had in the city.  It was floppy!  Who wants a floppy burger?!  Not me.  I won’t be waiting on line for this burger again.  Not at Citi Field.  Boo. 

Because it was really hot and I was feeling particularly oink-tastic, I went for some ice cream while BF went for another cannoli.  (He really likes the cannolis from Mama’s, I’m serious when I say he’s been back for a cannoli every game we’ve been to.)  They seem to have added a refrigerated case to house them (previously, they were just sticking boxes on top of a tray of ice… not good), but the cannolis were still a little melty.  BF didn’t seem to mind though! 

The funny thing is, on promenade level behind our seats, you can get ice cream from pretty much every hot dog vendor, AND there’s a Carvel!  So I smartly waited on a hot dog line, in clear view of three other lines that could get you ice cream… except a couple of other people had the same idea, and the line moved slowly since no one wanted a hot dog.  Hehe.  I got another fancy helmet for my Mets shrine!  Of course, this one has just the Mets’ logo on it, but I forgot to take a picture of it.  I don’t think I need to tell you how Carvel soft serve vanilla/chocolate swirl with rainbow sprinkles on it tastes… do I?  (If so – it’s alright.  A little chalky but satisfyingly cold and creamy on this really hot day.  Luckily, our seats are under the overhang, so I don’t need to be sun poisoned during games.) 

The wind up: Box Frites remains yummy and a fast line, if you go with a buddy, one of you should wait on the longer line and one of you should grab Box Frites to eat while you wait on line… Shake Shack Citi Field was FAIL that is NOT what a Shackburger should taste like!… and Carvel ice cream is as yummy as you’d expect 🙂

Citi Field
Shake Shack & Box Frites are in the Taste of the City area behind center field;
Carvel, various locations around the stadium