Like many restaurants these days, Shake Shack relies on order kiosks rather than employing order taker staff. That's where my visit began. When I walked in, the store was basically empty. A couple of people were in the dining room finishing their meals, but no one was waiting to order.
I almost began to order via the kiosk, but then I asked a staff person if she could take my order. She said yes and began taking the order. The first thing to notice are that the prices are higher than expected. I also think I may have been overcharged for the burger, but I may be misremembering the prices. A single patty ShackBurger costs $7.49 (see receipt). I also ordered a seasonal Mango Passionaide drink with popping boba and an order of onion rings. I ordered the meal to-go.
During the order process, the person taking the order couldn't figure out where in the order system to add onion rings. She had to call someone over. The fries were front and center, but the onion rings were buried somewhere deep. He added the onion rings. This person had to come over a second time to modify the order a second time to add boba.
All told, the meal including a single patty burger, onion rings and drink cost almost $20!
How was the meal, you ask? Average. The burger was of an average size sold at almost every other burger place, except White Castle. The burger reminded me most of a Wendy's single in size and in flavor, including the square patty. The bun wasn't any better than any other bun.
The onion rings were also of average quality. They were probably frozen. Considering the rings order cost nearly $5 for maybe 8 rings, they are definitely not worth that price. Though, they didn't charge me for dipping sauces. The ShakeSauce is basically a combination of mayo, ketchup and possibly a small bit of mustard. It's very thick. I also ordered BBQ sauce. I dipped using the ShakeSauce as this sauce is quite good.
As for the seasonal Mango Passionaide with boba, it was probably the best thing I ordered. It is fairly sweet and strong lemonade, tasting of Mango. The popping boba added a sourness to the drink as well. Though, this "small" drink (maybe 12 ounces) cost $4.49 + 99¢ for the boba, a total of $5.48 for the drink. Expensive for a flavored lemonade.
Was the order accurate? Mostly. The burger, onion rings and drink arrived as ordered. However, I also ordered both BBQ and ShakeSauce for the onion rings. I only received the BBQ sauce. I had to go back inside to request the ShakeSauce for dipping. The packing of the to-go order is top notch, with a sturdy cardboard tray that fits perfectly inside of their bag. This protects the food from being squished when carrying it around. That packaging doesn't justify an extra $10, though.
Would I go back? No, not at these prices. There are well enough equivalent burger places offering cheaper meal deal combos, providing the same quality and quantity of food for under or near $10. I'm willing to try new places once, but there is nothing that the Shake Shack offers that is worth double the prices of other fast food places.
What could improve? Clearly, the prices. Also, what's with that Brooklyn Shackmeister Ale sign when they clearly don't carry alcoholic beverages? read more