Shake Shack: Upper West Side

I talk enough about my boyfriend and his eating habits on here that y’all who read regularly probably feel like you know him almost as well as you know me.  Well, a recent turn of events had me thinking maybe I don’t know him as well as I thought I did…

I frequently mention that he is not as into food as me, and that’s true.  Most people aren’t, actually.  It just makes me love him all the more because he balances my crazy food obsession… a little bit… I mean, he’s got his little food quirks, too, you know?  And despite his less-than-obsession with food, he generally indulges me in my nuttiness and my quest for better and better and more delicious food. 

BF’s birthday came to pass, and as is our general custom, the birthday person gets to decide what to do… for a few days (anywhere from a ‘birthday weekend’ to a ‘birthday month’ though it tends to land in the general range of a week).  The first day, we woke up early to have dim sum, which already is a surprise – waking up early on weekends isn’t something BF likes to do.  (Granted, he’ll wake up early, work a little bit, and then go right back to sleep…) 

Post-dim-sum and shopping at a toy store, we were on our way back to my place when he said, “Let’s do something,” and I rattled off a list of things: museums, animal habitats, movies, mall, I had a whole list at my fingertips and was prepared and ready to do any/all of these things.  After a moment’s thought, he said, “Nah,” then said, “How about the park?” 

I agreed, and suggested swinging by my place to pick up a bottle of wine, a blanket, the dog, but he asked me what park did I think we were going to.  “Central Park,” replied I, looking confused. 

Then, very slowly, he said, “I was thinking about, y’know, Shake Shack park… what’s it called?”
“Madison Square Park – Ohhh, we can go to Cosmic Comics!  It’s right there!” 

So off we went, and I teased him, “You knew exactly how to ‘talk me into’ going to the city… just mention Shake Shack and you know I’m there!”  He laughed, but soon enough, I would find out just how inaccurate my statement was…

We parked next to Madison Square Park, walking through it on our way to the comic store.  I noted the incredibly long line at Shake Shack, despite how disgusting it was out, and then we entered the comic store, where I then noted I could monitor the line from the store’s windows overlooking the park.  To our delight, the store happened to be entirely 30% off with very cold air conditioning, so we happily browsed for an hour, coming away with $100 worth of comics between us for the incredibly low price of $70.  We were both happy. 

Unfortunately, as we exited the store, I saw the line  for Shake Shack continued to be exasperatingly long; disgustingly so, considering the extreme temperature outside and the stickiness of the day.  “We don’t have to go to Shake Shack,” I offered.  “I don’t need a burger. I can just get frozen custard.”  I wasn’t even very hungry just yet, and if you know anything about me, it’s that I detest waiting on line.  Look, I love the Shake Shack burger, but waiting in a long line on a hot sticky day with no waterpark ride at the end of it doesn’t appeal to me.  BF actually turned to me, and said, “Actually, I want a Shackburger.” 

My eyebrows shot up in surprise.  A lightbulb went off and I realized he hadn’t been trying to bribe me to go to the city earlier, he’d been declaring what he wanted!  Imagine my surprise and quite a bit of delight… he’s starting to care about food more and more! 

I chewed on this for a brief moment and said, “Well, you know… we could go to the UWS location.  It’s indoors, and I hear the lines are never that bad.  Plus we wouldn’t have to eat outside… it’s indoors so there’s gotta be air conditioning…” 

I genuinely expected him to veto this idea, and we’d head somewhere else for our early dinner (it was just before 5 at this point).  But instead he looked at me, thought for a split second, and agreed, stating again, “I want a Shackburger.”

It was a few minutes before the statement really sunk in.  “Wait,” I said slowly.  “You want a hamburger (which he ordered the first time I took him to Shake Shack) or you want a Shackburger (which he’d ordered at Citi Field)?”  BF, you see, is a plain burger eater.  He orders hamburgers, plain, at McDonald’s (or did; he no longer eats there, though this has nothing to do with me nor my eating habits).  He ordered a plain burger at Taylor’s Refresher!  He likes his burgers plain (a squirt of ketchup), finding all the excess stuff too fussy, and I don’t fault him for it.  But this was an interesting twist… he wanted a Shackburger! 

We drove quickly up to Shake Shack UWS, where there was a line but it moved quickly.  Soon enough, we had our food. 

Before I could shoot a picture, BF moved everything on the tray, so ignore the funky configuration. 

Two single Shackburgers, a caramel hand spun shake, and a (plain) order of fries. 

BF asked me, “Don’t you have a million pictures of Shake Shack burgers already?”  (and how!)  “Why do you need more?”

“Because I haven’t been to this location yet, and I have to see if it stacks up to the original,” I explained.

(Again, BF gave me his slice of tomato, but didn’t remove anything else from his burger.) 

BF ate his, then turned to me and said, “That is one GOOD burger.”  I smiled.  He was happy, it was his birthday weekend, and I couldn’t argue with that.  It’s a damn good burger.  Is it different from Shake Shack Madison Square Park?  Yes.  I still find it a little softer than I recall the MSP location being, but not totally soggy like the one at Citi Field.  It’s a good size, fitting easily in my mouth, and yielding to my bite gently.  The flavors all work together to create what I consider, to my tastebuds, to be the perfect harmony of meat, tomato, cheese, Shacksauce, lettuce, and buttery bun.  Delicious. 

Considering the line moves quickly, and I’ve heard there usually isn’t even a line to begin with, this is a great option for those who want Shake Shack but don’t want to wait on line outdoors at Madison Square Park.  Its location directly across from the Museum of Natural History is great as that is one of BF’s favorite museums, but honestly?  I would only go here if I were in the area.  And I am never in the area.  Had we been on foot that day, taking the subway, it’s unlikely we’d have actually gone… (though even into the city we might not have gone, considering how sticky and gross it is to take the subway in this weather; waiting for the train on the subway platforms is completely brutal…) 

Yvo says: Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t quite measure up to Shake Shack original, but I’d say it is on par/close, and would beat out the original by a slim margin based on reduced wait time … and being indoors (air conditioning/heating!).  However, the location does throw everything off…
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