Anyone familiar with great fast food knows that Shake Shack is the place to be. This
amazing burger joint that started in New York counts celebrities like Tina Fey and even
Barack Obama among its many fans. The line ups for the food are famously long, but it's
worth the wait. These are the top ten untold truths of Shake Shack.
The name is from an unlikely movie
Shake Shack seems like the perfect obvious name for a restaurant that specializes in
burgers and, well, shakes, but the fact of the matter is that the inspiration for this
venerable restaurant's moniker actually came from somewhere you might not expect. Of course,
any major cinephiles might have already figured it out, especially if they also happen to
have an affinity for movie musicals. As it turns out, the name for Shake Shack came from
none other than the John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John starring vehicle, Grease. This
film, which was based on the musical of the same name, was, and still is, massively popular,
and had people dancing and singing along with many of its famous musical numbers. While
there are people who love "Grease Lightning" and "Beauty School Drop-Out," probably one
of the most popular songs from the movie is the final duet between the stars, "You're
The One That I Want.” At the end of the film, the two main characters, Sandy and Danny,
sing this famous duet while making their way through a carnival. They end up dancing on
a number of rides and attractions, one of which is a tilting platform called (you guessed
it) the Shake Shack. As it turns out, Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer is a huge fan of the musical,
and claims that he probably just came up with it because he had seen the movie so many times.
It just goes to show that inspiration can strike anywhere!
Shake Shack originally only sold hot dogs
Shake Shack first started as a pop-up in Central Park. It was part of an art installation,
and it quickly became a hit due to its legendarily friendly service and great food. However,
the Shake Shack of all the way back in 2001 wasn't known for its hamburgers. In fact,
it didn't even sell them! Instead, Shake Shack trafficked in an entirely different food:
hot dogs. These weren't even just your average hot dogs, either. Sure, anyone can get a hot
dog from a cart and slather it in ketchup and mustard, but these hot dogs were actually
made Chicago style. What?! Chicago style hot dogs in New York?! Surely people were not
on board with this sort of food blasphemy! You might think that to be true, but actually,
the hot dogs were a huge hit. So what exactly is a Chicago style hot dog? Well, you start
with a regular wiener on a regular bun, easy enough. Then, you add mustard, sweet green
relish, chopped onions, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices, sport peppers, and a sprinkle
of celery salt. Yeah, it's actually a lot of stuff on a single dog, and the way to order
it properly is to ask for the hot dog to be "dragged through the garden." While the hot
dogs sort of fell by the wayside to make room for hamburgers, one thing stayed the same:
the sport peppers.
The very first menu was written on a napkin
Danny Meyer, Shake Shack's founder, was so excited about the opportunity to permanently
open a restaurant in Central Park, that he pledged to donate some of the restaurant's
earnings to the park in exchange for a business permit. It was a done deal, and Shake Shack
was on its way to becoming a New York institution. Unfortunately, it had a bit of a rough start
in its original incarnation and actually lost money for its first three years. However,
Meyer was inspired by the number of people who came to the restaurant, and knew that
he had to keep going and chase his dream. He decided that he wanted the restaurant to
resemble the burger joints of the midwest, where he grew up. He decided that the restaurant
would do the standard burgers and fries as well as frozen custards. He was so excited
about the prospect of having an amazing new restaurant, that he came up with the original
menu and wrote it all down on a napkin. It only took him nine minutes to come up with
the entire thing, and when the time came for the real menu to go into effect, it was essentially
the same as what he had written down originally. In fact, the napkin became so famous, that
it is currently framed and hanging in the office Randy Garruti, the current Shake Shack
CEO.
There is a Shake Shack Running Club
Eating burgers, fries, and shakes is a lot of fun (it's also really, really delicious).
However, no one is denying the fact that those things are not exactly great for your health.
Really, is anything that tastes that delicious beneficial to your health? Probably not. So
what do these places do to balance out their not-so-healthy options? Well, some places
offer salads, grilled chicken, and other lean options that are probably just okay, but not
really that great for you either. There must be a better way, right? Well, apparently,
Shake Shack has figured it out: start a running club. Shake Track and Field is a community
run organized by the restaurant that is open to the general public. The club meets on the
second Tuesday of every month and generally, the run lasts for about an hour, according
to the Shake Track and Field website. It's a great way to get fans of the restaurant
out, moving, and getting some fresh air and exercise. Plus, when you get back to the restaurant
you get a free drink! That's not exactly a bad motivator either. It just goes to show
that some restaurants really want their clientele to balance both their indulgences and their
health.
There are different concretes in different locations
Shake Shack may be known for its amazing burgers and fries, but what good is dinner without
a little bit of dessert? The delicious frozen treats at Shake Shack are known as concretes,
and while the name may be a little intimidating, we guarantee that you would love the flavor.
Concretes are the restaurant's signature frozen custards with plenty of mix-ins to make any
frozen dessert fanatic lose their mind. While that would be good enough, the truth is that
Shake Shack isn't going to just stick to serving the same flavors at all of its locations.
No way! In fact, the concretes are often customized to match the local desserts of each city.
For example, there is a Shake Shack in Philadelphia that utilizes crushed up cannoli shells from
the legendary Termini Brothers. Another example is the concrete at the Palm Beach location,
which uses broken bits of key lime pie. There are plenty of fast food restaurants that attempt
to have local fare incorporated into their menu, but so few of them actually utilize
these flavors for desserts. It's actually really nice to see that Shake Shack isn't
just serving up the same food all over, but rather embracing the flavors that make each
city so unique. If more restaurants followed this example, then fast food would probably
be a lot more interesting!
There is live surveillance monitoring the line
Shake Shack is so popular that people will wait in line for hours on end just to get
inside and order one of those delicious burgers and shakes. Now, not everyone has the time
or the patience to wait in a line that long. Of course, some people would argue that the
line is part of the experience and that the food is more than worth the wait. Really though,
who wants to be in a line anywhere, even if at the end of it is a delicious meal? Luckily
for shake Shack fans everywhere (and even just the kind of people who like to watch
this sort of thing), there is actually a live surveillance camera that monitors the line
at the Central Park restaurant at all times. That way, if you ever want to make sure that
the line isn't too long before you head over, you can take a look for yourself on the website
to see just how many people are ahead of you. Shake shack might just be the kind of place
where you either want to beat the lunch rush or go for a later meal, because at peak times,
that line is going to get very, very long, and you don't want to spend your precious
lunch hour waiting in line and never actually reaching the front. That's the kind of thing
that is just going to leave any burger lover feeling dejected and sad.
The fries are frozen, but people love them
One of the weirdest things about Shake Shack, considering how much they pride themselves
on their food, is their insistence on using frozen, crinkle cut french fries. You would
think that a place as great as Shake Shack would want to use freshly cut, beautiful golden
straight french fries, or even go the more unconventional route with curly fries like
Arby's (but way better, obviously). Well, the fact of the matter is that people really
do love those crinkle cut fries. They may not be perfect, but there's just something
about them that really appeals to people. Clearly, the fries are yet another throwback
to Danny Meyer's midwestern influences. Anyone who has stayed over for dinner at a friend's
place and had their parents make fries has probably had crinkle cut fries, albeit ones
that were most likely baked in the oven and therefore not as good. One restaurant critic
even had the audacity to openly insult the Shake Shack fries. This led to the restaurant
trying out a different type of french fry, one that was going to be a little bit better
than the standard crinkle cut variety. However, even though the new fries probably did taste
a little better, Shake Shack devotees were not having it. They immediately jumped on
the restaurant for daring to change their famous fries. The outcry was so loud, that
Shake shack eventually went back to their old, familiar fries, and everyone was that
much happier for it.
Bacon was not always an option at Shake Shack
It's hard to think of anything better than a Shake Shack burger. Wait, a Shake Shack
cheeseburger! No, wait, a double Shake Shack cheeseburger! No, Wait! A Double Shake Shack
cheeseburger... with bacon! Now that sounds like something we can definitely get behind.
After all, it's almost like bacon and cheeseburgers were made for each other, right? So it would
be weird to think of a world where Shake Shack didn't include bacon on its menu. However,
that was the sad reality for a long time. Originally, Shake Shack did not feature any
items with bacon on its menu, and even though people would have been fine without it, it
still probably would have felt like there was something missing. In fact, the restaurant
was up, running, and fully operational for a full eight years before bacon was added
to the menu. That may seem impossible, but it's true. That's due, once again, to Shake
Shack's rigorous standards and commitment to quality. Nothing gets added to the menu
at Shake Shack without first being tested by some of the greatest culinary minds in
the world of fast food. So while it may seem crazy that Shake Shack refused to put bacon
on its menu right away, it's only because they knew that they had to get it just right,
and they didn't want to dive right into having bacon on the menu without first seeing that
they could do a good job of it.
The peanut butter bacon Shack burger
Speaking of bacon, we need to talk about one of the most sought after secret menu items
at Shake Shack. As anyone can tell you, Shake Shack, much like other fast food joints like
In-N-Out, has an extensive secret menu, known only to those who are savvy enough to find
it. On this secret menu, lies one of the strangest, yet most intriguing burgers in the world of
fast food: the peanut butter bacon Shack Burger. So what is on this burger, you ask? It is
exactly what it sounds like: bacon and a special peanut butter sauce developed by the restaurant.
Is it a strange flavor combination? Definitely, but those who have tried it have described
the flavors as being perfectly balanced, and not as weird as you might think. While it's
true that peanut butter on a burger might not exactly be a new thing, Shake Shack definitely
made it popular with this secret burger. It's the kind of burger that you might not want
to try at first, but admit it: your curiosity is getting the best of you, and if you ever
find yourself at Shake Shack, you might just end up ordering one.
The rest of the Shake Shack secret menu
Speaking of a secret menu, the peanut butter bacon Shack burger is not the only secret
item that Shake Shack offers. There are plenty of other ways to customize your order and
make it even more delicious. Remember how we mentioned those sport peppers earlier when
we talked about the Chicago style hot dog? Well, Shake Shack still has them, and you
can ask for them on anything, including your burger or your cheese fries. If you are of
legal drinking age, you may also know that Shake Shack carries a wide variety of great
beers. They also make their lemonade, and if you order a 'shandy,' they will actually
mix one of their beers with a lemonade of your choice. It's a refreshing option on a
hot summer day, and would go really well with a quad burger. Oh we're sorry, did we not
mention the quad burger yet? That's four patties and four slices of cheese on one sandwich
for you. It's exactly the kind of thing that any burger lover should try to conquer.
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