The Eater blog has its knickers in a knot about the new Shake Shack location on the Upper West Side, with not one but two posts giving readers a "walk-through" of the almost-completed space. Thanks, but call us when the burgers actually start coming off the griddle.
Posted by Ed Levine, September 17, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Photographs by Robyn Lee
Lord knows I have written extensively about Mitchel London's fine, fine burger and fries at the Fairway Cafe. Robyn and I paid a visit this week, and I can report that the burger and fries continue to rock, and the chairs are as uncomfortable as ever. There is a news flash about Fairway's burgers: the dinner cheeseburger, which costs $12—or $3.50 more than the lunch burger—is a hefty eight ounces, two ounces more than the lunch burger.
I had the dinner burger a couple of weeks ago and found the extra two ounces of ground beef extraneous. From now on, I'm going to stick with the lunch burger. The ratio of meat-to-bun is perfect, and the six-ounce lunch burger, ordered medium rare-towards-rare, is insanely juicy and beefy. If Mitchel wants to justify the higher price tag for the dinner burger, throw in some onion rings, dude, or a chocolate shake. Those would be my idea of value-added.
Fairway Cafe
2127 Broadway, New York NY 10023 (b/n W 74th and W 75th; map)
212-595-1888
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 8, 2008 at 10:15 AM
The New York Times takes a look at the soon-to-open Upper West Side location of the Shake Shack. What's interesting here is that the writer, Caroline Dworin, looks at how Shack owner Danny Meyer and company will handle the line, assuming that it's going to be as crazy as the line at the original Madison Square Park branch.
“What we’ve done here is triple the amount of griddle space; so from a matter of physics alone, this line will have to move faster,” said Mr. Meyer.
Meyer also talked about how they've worked on the interior to allow the line to snake in on itself inside the joint.
I don't know if the line is really going to be an issue the way it is in Madison Square Park. Sure, when the place first opens, it will likely draw crowds of curious folks (I'll be among them). But after the initial hype dies down, I think the line will, too. Not to discount the awesome burgers at the Shack, but I think a big reason the line is as long as it is in Madison Square Park is that it's in the park. It's a pleasant experience to get out of the office, go grab lunch, and eat outdoors on a nice day. You can't replicate that on the UWS.
Of course, people do wait in crazy lines in other less-than-picturesque settings, like Artichoke in the East Village and Di Fara in Midwood, so maybe the burgers themselves will be enough to draw the teeming masses.
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 14, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Fun Factoid
According to Wikipedia, "In the AMC Television series Mad Men, the employees of the Sterling Cooper advertising agency frequent P.J. Clarke's."
I've been to P. J. Clarke's a number of times—the original in Midtown East and the one near Lincoln Center (but not the one downtown). But the thing I always have to remind myself before I go is that, even though P. J. Clarke's is a pub, it does not serve a "pub burger."
What I mean is that P. J. Clarke's burger is not a gargantuan ten-ounce slightly flattened-softball-shape burger. You don't need a snake jaw to eat it, unlike so many of the sandwiches served at bars known for their burgers (I'm thinking Donovan's, Molly's, etc.).
Instead, you get what I'm guessing is closer to a five- or six-ounce patty, perfectly cooked to temperature, perfectly seasoned (OK, maybe just a bit too salty), and with just the right amount of char on it to give the surface some crunchy, chewy bits to play against the soft, juicy interior.
This is one great burger.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 23, 2008 at 4:45 PM
Eater is rabid over the upcoming Shake Shack on the Upper West Side, with posts showing plywood coming off, sign going up, etc. Just thought you should know.
Shake Shack UWS
77th Street and Columbus Avenue
Opening Date: October 1, Eater reports
According to Page Six in the New York Post today: "Danny Meyer just signed a lease to open its first branch at 366 Columbus Avenue (at 77th Street), which formerly housed Cajun eatery Jacques-Imo's NYC. Unlike the original open-air serving stand with the endless lines of customers in Madison Square Park, the new location will serve its brown bag fare in year-round comfort." But will it still be a "shack"?
