Having recently read about the Shake Shack’s plans for world domination, I came to the startling realization that I haven’t been to the Shake Shack in over a year. Yikes! Josh and I used to go a few Saturday afternoons during the spring and summer, taking the train from our Battery Park City apartment to 23rd St. and then waiting in the inevitably long line at Madison Square Park. Once our bellies were full of burgers and fries, we’d walk over to the Union Square Greenmarket and pick up some fresh produce or a few herb plants.
Now that we live in the Lincoln Square/Columbus Circle area, I figured that we would start going to the Upper West Side branch of the Shake Shack, especially because with the indoor seating, weather would no longer be an issue for us. But for some reason, we never went. We always had a good excuse – the line is too long, it’s too far to walk, I’m not in the mood for burgers, etc. Finally, we both had a craving that we couldn’t quell, so the Sunday after the first major snowstorm of the season, we trudged out in the wet slush and made our way uptown.
The line appeared to be out the door when we first arrived but upon closer inspection, the crowd was created by the line to pick up food mixed with the line waiting for seats. The actual food ordering line was quite short, and we only had to wait a few minutes before we placed our order. While Josh waited to pick up our food, I went downstairs to check out the seating situation in the “rec room.” There was a line out the door down there so I headed back upstairs and joined the line waiting for seats in front. Surprisingly, that line also moved fairly quickly and I was able to nab two tall seats in the table by the back a few minutes before Josh came over with our food.
Josh went with the single Shackburger, which features American cheese and Shack sauce (kind of like the special sauce at In N Out). He got all the usual toppings (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle) as well. He liked that the burger wasn’t too greasy and devoured the whole thing in about a minute. I managed to snag a bite and while I still don’t like American cheese on my burger, I did enjoy the flavors of the Shack sauce mixed in with the other ingredients.
Single Shackburger
I kept it simple with a single hamburger but topped it with all the fixings. My burger wasn’t greasy either, but I thought it was way too well done and super dry as a result.
Single hamburger
The patty was missing the nice char that usually graces Shake Shack burgers, and sadly, it was closer to hockey puck texture. I ended up putting a ton of ketchup on my burger just to moisten it up a bit. Flavor-wise it fell short as well, and needed a bit more seasoning on the patty.
Autopsy shot
We got two orders of fries, which are the crinkle cut frozen variety. These were delicious, as always, freshly fried, hot and crispy. I love the little nubs that you find at the bottom of the container which are super crunchy and salty.
Crinkle cut french fries
To be honest, I was disappointed by this trip to the Shake Shack. It’s not my favorite burger in the city (currently Corner Bistro, but we haven’t been there in a while either. It’s time to make a trip!), but usually it satisfies my burger craving. This time the burger was really poorly prepared, and I missed the juicy, seasoned, charred burger patties that I’ve always had at the Madison Square Park branch. I don’t know if it was just because of how crowded it was or I just got an off patty, but it made Shake Shack fall further down in my burger standing. I don’t plan on writing it off completely though, as this may have just been a fluke. I’ll report back the next time we go again, and hopefully it won’t be another year from now.
Shake Shack (multiple locations)
366 Columbus Ave. at 77th St.
New York, NY