Posted by Nick Solares, March 16, 2009 at 12:00 PM
The official start of spring may be at the end of the week, but the recent warm weather has meant that the lines at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park have begun to lengthen. It might be a good time to start checking the trusty Shack Cam via the Shake Shack website
Speaking of the Shake Shack website, it recently announced that the Shack's third location at the newly mined Citi Field is set to open April 13.
New York Times food critic Frank Bruni eats at New York City burger favorites Corner Bistro and the Upper West Side Shake Shack in the same day, with Shake Shack being the home of the better burger. The Corner Bistro's nine-ounce patty had "dull flavor, and was flabby through and through, with no crispness whatsoever on the edges," while the Shake Shack burger's thinner patties "weren’t dried-out or tough in the least, and they were loaded with beefy, fatty flavor."
"Will there be lines? Yes, there will be lines. We just hope people will be as patient to try to vote as they would be in waiting for a hamburger at one of the more fancy hamburger places. I understand the lines can be up to 2 to 3 hours."
This question came up in a comment recently, but it's worth breaking out into a separate post. I have it on good authority that the essential mixture of the Shake Shack's burger meat is a 50:25:25 ratio of sirloin:chuck:brisket. All 80:20 meat-to-fat.
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 23, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Here's a neat video made by Josh "Mister Cutlets" Ozersky showing the Shake Shack cooking process. I like the little inset "burger cam" that appears as the patty is slapped on the griddle.
The video illuminates a process that is somewhat behind-the-scenes and reveals that the Shake Shack uses the "smash" technique. I've talked about the smashed-burger technique here, but if you missed that, it may surprise you to know that I'm in favor of this method.
Although the Shake Shack on the Upper West Side was scheduled to open today, it already opened during the weekend. Its owners, Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, had been a bit coy about announcements, one assumes in the hopes of a) not giving any one journalist a jump on the story and b) generating as much excitement as possible.
The powers that be gave me a walk-through of the new Shack last week. Well before it took place, we continued our "Why do you serve frozen french fries when you know fresh are better?" debate. When I saw Danny Meyer at a book party last week he gave me his best "I'm a smoother politician than Barack Obama" answer; he said, "Because people love our french fries."
While it is true that people love just about any french fries except for the ones made with potato particles, that's not the point. The Union Square Hospitality Group would never sell frozen french fries at the Union Square Cafe. Why? Because the ultra-classy organization knows deep down in their food soul that fresh french fries are way better. They have very high standards and they know what good is, but they've obviously made a business decision I don't happen to agree with.
The debate continues at my walk-through after the jump. But even at this point I want to know: Do you agree with me that the Shake Shack french fries should be fresh and not frozen?
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 17, 2008 at 11:55 PM
Woo! Reader E. C. Stephens (aka Mamacita13) sent in these photos from earlier this evening, saying, "Hey, Shake Shake UWS had a soft opening tonight!"
Apparently this was a friends and family thing, so there's no guarantee that the new location is going to officially open early this weekend, as hinted at in this email from SS officialdom. After the jump, more photos of the joint.
From an email from Theresa Mullen, marketing manager for Union Square Hospitality Group:
We told you we'd share opening day news the second we knew, and here we are: Our official opening day for the Upper West Side Shake Shack is this Monday, 10/20. Shack’s hours on the Upper West Side will be in flux for the first few weeks (11:00 AM - 9:00 PM), but once the Shack is really shakin’, it will be open seven days a week from 11 AM - 11 PM. Our site will keep tabs on any hour changes.
Depending on how practice sessions go, Shack may open it's doors to the neighborhood a little sooner than Monday. But the official (read: definite) opening is Monday at 11:00 AM. Our full release will follow later this afternoon. Thanks for taking the time this week to come by and check out our new digs!
Yours in Shack, Theresa Mullen
Shake Shack UWS
366 Columbus Avenue, New York NY 10024 (at 77th Street; map)
Clockwise from top left: Spotted Pig, Shake Shack, Five Guys, and Corner Bistro.
Vice Magazine gives their picks for best burgers in New York City. Except for Lever House, we've reviewed all of their favorite burgers on AHT. Here's how they stack up:
The Eater blog has its knickers in a knot about the new Shake Shack location on the Upper West Side, with not onebut 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.
A list of excellent hamburgers to be found in NYC. For more on NYC burgers, check out A Hamburger Today. I still maintain that NYC isn't a burger town, although with all the recent activity, it may be one soon.
So we asked him: What's the word these days, Jason?
His reply:
Maybe. It's hard to think of NYC as a [fill-in-the-blank] town for things other than media, fashion, and finance. Oh, and pizza. Maybe it's the pizza thing; like you can't have one city being known primarily for two different foods.
That said, the Shack Burger is and may always be my favorite hamburger on earth, so I'm glad I live only 11 blocks away from it.
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 24, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Today in the New York Post,Steve Cuozzo raves upFive Napkin Burger, but more interesting is his "overrated" list:
Corner Bistro: "... not a dish you couldn't make yourself at home with supermarket meat." Right you are, Mr. Cuozzo!
Burger Joint: "... like a football scrimmage at busy times and the beef can be full of the hard, stringy sinew ..." Haven't experienced the sinew, but I haven't been in a while. Maybe it's gone downhill?
Shake Shack: "Gullible tourists line up for 90 minutes in Madison Square Park for a 4-ounce, Los Angeles-style patty unredeemed by a hint of brisket and cooked only one way, medium ... " Wrong you are, sir. The Shack is awesome. And most tourists have more sense than to line up in a 90-minute line for burgers. Those are all New Yorkers, unfortunately
DB Bistro Moderne: "... loved the sirloin/braised short ribs/truffle burger that was introduced five years ago - until I found myself eating everything (bun, potatoes, etc.) except the burger itself ..." I'll give you that. These things are a bit much. I'd also say that people have pretty much ceased talking about the DB Bistro Burger and that it's a fairly irrelevant choice for an overrated list
My overrated list (not that you asked)? Paul's Burger Joint, Peter Luger's lunchtime burger, Royale.
Posted by Robyn Lee, September 10, 2008 at 2:00 PM
A nearly-empty Shake Shack; just the way I like it!
If you love eating at Shake Shack but hate waiting in a mile-long line, check out Vinicius Vacanti's Shake Shack Lunch Wait Time Graph. Using information from the Shake Shack Flash Mob on Twitter, he plotted wait times against the time of day. To endure the shortest wait for a Shake Shack burger he suggests going after 3 p.m. or during bad weather, with pre-noon lines being hit-or-miss. Make sure to check out the Shake Shack webcam to witness the horrifyingly long (or surprisingly short) line in real time.
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.
Editor's note: Kenji Alt is a food writer for Cook's Illustrated magazine who takes a special interest in burgers. He is also a madman. You might remember his post on The Blumenburger, where he followed Heston Blumenthal's burger recipe, which takes 30 hours, 4 minutes and requires 32 ingredients. He's back, this time with an epic feat that took only 8 hours but seems far more grueling in our book. I mean twelve burgers?
Don’t get me wrong. I love living in Boston, and the city’s got a lot to offer, but among those things, there are a few key items that are missing (particularly for a former New Yorker): delis, decent bagels, pizza (I’d settle for even vaguely edible pizza), good hot dogs, and great griddled burgers. Now there are a lot of locals who will disagree with me and point to any number of restaurants that serve acceptable but unremarkable chopped-meat sandwiches. I’ve yet to find one that I don’t take major issue with.
R. F. O’Sullivan is too damn big to eat with your hands. (Why don’t Boston burger joints understand the concept that bigger is not necessarily better?) Once you get past the atmosphere, Bartley’s Burger Cottage patties, while juicy and greasy, are underseasoned, mealy, and frankly, bland. And despite (or because of) UBurger's spurious claim that their burgers are made of fresh ground beef (don’t believe it—they buy preground chuck just like most other places and mix it together with a nominal amount of house-ground stuff), they cook up with that rubbery feel that only an overcompressed, overworked patty gets.
Yes, I have ground beef envy. New Yorkers have been blessed by a burger renaissance, and every couple of weeks, when my slight burger pangs become uncontrollable fits of sandwiched chopped-cow lust, I’m moved to take the 200-mile trip to the city. (Of course, my New Yorker fiancé believes me when I tell her that I’m coming down just to visit her.)
Like an alcoholic who gets wasted the night before jumping on the wagon, I decided to try to cure my burger cupidity by going on a daylong feeding frenzy. A burger bender, if you will: 12 burgers in 8 hours.
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
And you gotta love Richman for some of his inspired wandering within his blurbs. On Big Nick's:
Thank goodness for the internet. For almost two decades I’ve been sitting in the same scarred booth at Big Nick’s, under a medley of obscure celebrity photos, secretly harboring a crush on Vicki Darnell, an impressively endowed starlet. I never knew anything about her until now—I just Googled her and learned that she played the role of Sugar in the 1990 classic Frankenhooker. (If you see this, Vicki, dinner at Big Nick’s is on me.) I love this place, New York City’s signature dive. The half-pound burger is surprisingly good: Well-seasoned beef is cooked on an indoor grill and served on a so-so bun. Order it with a milkshake, the real thing at Big Nick’s. If you’re used to the fake ones at fast-food joints, you might mistakenly complain that this one is too thin.
If it's Tuesday, it must be time for another review from Nick Solares. Nick is also the publisher of Beef Aficionado, his blog that explores beef beyond burgerdom.
The Shake Shack
Southeast corner of Madison Square Park (corner of 23rd Street and Madison Avenue; map); shakeshacknyc.com The Short Order: One of the best burgers in the Big Apple. Inspired by West Coast-style burgers but with a unique New York spin. These days there's almost always a long, long line. The signature Shackburger is very good, but the plain cheeseburger is even better, as it allows the great flavor and texture of the sirloin-brisket beef mixture to stand alone Want Fries with That? No. They blow. They're frozen, pre-fab, and OreIda-like. Get a tasty shake or frozen custard instead Price: Shackburger, $4.75; cheeseburger, $4; double cheeseburger, $6.50
I was sitting in Los Angeles's famous Apple Pan restaurant a few weeks back talking with a lady who was curious as to why someone might be taking pictures of hamburgers. We got to talking about burgers, blogging, and A Hamburger Today, and when she found out that I lived in New York, she immediately asked about the Shake Shack. As I finished expounding my thoughts on the place, I heard a polite "excuse me, did you just mention Shake Shack?"
It turns out the gentleman asking the question was a friend of none other than George Motz, author and director of Hamburger America, the book and the film. It's a small world, and Shake Shack has managed to become virtually synonymous with hamburgers in New York. Even if they can't quite put their finger on the name, out-of-towners will often effuse about the great burgers they had in the park.
Upon returning home to New York after an extensive education in L.A. burgers (many, many reviews to come) I needed two things. The first was a bit of exercise, and the second was a frame of reference. Something to put into context what I had sampled on the West Coast and relate it to my hamburger experiences in and around New York.
The owner of the popular Madison Square Park stand - famous for its juicy burgers, frozen custards and unbearable lines - wants to bring a mobile "shake truck" to downtown Brooklyn, sources said yesterday.
The Brooklyn truck could set up shop in the MetroTech plaza for lunch by the end of the summer. The truck is expected to hit other spots on weekends and at night. [New York Daily News]
My friend Jeff Ruby just had his Top 10 U.S. Burger List published in Playboy. No word on whether he dined with any of the Bunnies while researching this piece. Here's some of the ground he covered:
Ann's Snack Bar, Atlanta
Christian's Tailgate Bar & Grill, Houston
Dyer's Burgers, Memphis
The Shake Shack, New York City
Town Topic, Kansas City, Missouri
Click through and check out the rest—if the porn filters on your machine aren't too sensitive. This is that rare occasion where you really are reading it for the article.
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"?
The New York Times' Diner's Journal blog is reporting from the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, where the second annual Burger Bash is set for tonight. According to the paper, defending champ Shake Shack is looking to stave off a hungry competitor in the Burger Joint.
According to Eater, the heat lamps are finally on at Shake Shack. Sweet deal, but it's kind of a bad news, good news thing (but mostly good). The bad: The heating technology will encourage more people to visit. The good news ...
The recent cold spell here in New York City had me wondering what effect below-freezing temperatures would have on the infamously long line at the Shake Shack, which just this year began operating year-round. But if I was going to stand around and wait for a burger in bone-chilling weather—and then eat it outdoors in the park (the Shake Shack offers only outdoor seating)—I needed a strategy. I'll share it with you—along with some winter Shack observations—after the jump.
Grub Street reports under the headline "Shake Shocker: No Lunch Line on Opening Day" that there was no line at the Shake Shack today, despite this being the first day of its winter operation. I hope that's mock shock on Grub Street's part, because it's absolutely freezing today and nobody in his right mind would queue up for anything in this weather.
It also points to something larger I've thought about since it was reported that the Shack would remain open all year. In doing so, I think the Shake Shack loses part of its charm and appeal. Sure, the burgers will still be great, but part of what was so fun about the place was that annual opening on the first day of spring and all the stupid hype that surrounded it.
The greatest hamburger mystery of our time has been solved: We have it from a high-level source near the situation that the location of the long-awaited sequel to Shake Shack is Citi Field, better known as the new Shea Stadium.
The nearest Whataburger: 13880 US Highway 19 S, Thomasville GA 31792; 229-551-9377. The nearest In-N-Out: As the crow flies, it would be in Tucson, Arizona, but as a human flies, via a jet, it's in Phoenix, about 21.2 miles from Sky Harbor Int'l Airport: 21001 North Tatum Boulevard, Phoenix AZ 85050
The Shake Shack, as it is famously and whimsically called, has now become an urban attraction of such renown that you could probably raise, slaughter and cook your own cow in the time it takes to get a burger and fries there. The last time I visited, I was offered one of those plastic gizmos that look like stun guns and was told it would throb when my order was ready. I stared disconsolately at it for 30 minutes before it made a peep, by which time I was nearly ready to give up.
Like many Brown Zoners, my feelings for the Shake Shack have progressed from enthusiasm and pride to distant affection and veiled dislike. I resent that it has relegated my adored Madison Square Park to being a backdrop to a fry joint.
The Shake Shack; southeast corner of Madison Square Park, 23rd Street and Madison Avenue
I missed this last week, but apparently The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Who Is Once Again Known as Prince had Pop Burgers served at a performance in the oh-so-tony Hamptons on Friday. Also from the same "We Hear ..." item in the New York Post was an aside that Pop Burger, the mini-burger burger joint in Chelsea, will be opening a location at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street in September. Seems like a gratuitous mention to me.Pop Burger; 58-60 Ninth Avenue, New York NY 10011; 212-414-8686
When the griddle is clicking on all cylinders, the Shackburger attains a modicum of flavor and a reasonable compromise between tender and chewy.
FALSE!When the griddle, grillmen and grillwomen, cashiers, and expediters are all firing on all cylinders, the Shack attains more than a modicum of flavor—it is downright delicious. The burger is moist (if not gushing with juices) with a crunchy, crusty, salty exterior and a great bun-to-meat ratio. Unfortunately, when you go at peak hours, it's a rare occurrence that all the meatslinging machinery's in tune. Burgers too often come out overcooked and lukewarm.
It’s not like the food is remotely good enough to justify a standard, one- to two-hour wait. For me that day, it was one hour, 15 minutes - 45 minutes on the ordering line and 30 minutes more at the pickup station.
TRUE! See the photo above, people. If you wait in a line any longer than that indicated, you're an idiot. First, it's questionable that any burger is worth an hour-plus wait in line. Second, if the line is that long, you're probably going to get a subpar Shackburger.
The beef is ground at Meyer’s Eleven Madison Park across the street - gilt by association with one of the city’s finest restaurants. Cooked only one way - medium, which too often means medium-well - it’s topped with cheap American cheese, a mayo-based sauce, lettuce and insipid tomato slices inside a lightly-grilled bun.
TRUE and FALSE!
True: When it's cooked to medium, it's a great burger—but Cuozzo's right, at peak hours, the things get overcooked.
False: He is wrong, however, about the cheese; American "cheese" is the perfect cheesestuff for a burger of this type.
True: The tomato slices blow, but that's true of tomato slices at most burger joints. I almost never order mine with tomatoes. I think the standard Shackburger is vastly inferior to a standard cheeseburger with pickles and onions.
Left Unsaid: Cuozzo should have added that the Shack sauce is a tired old mayo-ketchup-based concoction that adds almost nothing to the burger.
I don't just talk the talk when I say "Take a chill pill—it's just burgers, people!" Check me out at left here. That's a Chicago Bird Dog. I hit the Shake Shack reopening today and didn't even eat a burger there. I walk the walk, suckas.
Actually, as I've said on AHT before, I gave up red meat for Lent. So damn if I can't have a Shackburger—until Sunday, when, as I understand it, the regular Lenten rules rest for the day. (This masochistic self-deprivation may explain my earlier-than-usual onset of Shacklash this year.)
Anyway, the rest of the Serious Eats crew dug in to the salty-crusted meaty goodness. And speaking of the salty-crusted meaty goodness, if you couldn't taste it, you could certainly smell it a good 20 feet or so from the order windows. It was tempting, indeed.
The new technology that Eater first reported on, the little vibrating pagers (right), worked like a charm. As I told Gothamist earlier today, "I think the new tech things are great. They'll go a long way to alleviating the pile-up around the pick-up window. And, instead of waiting to hear your name—while secretly worrying that someone will identity-thieve your order—you now have a secure wireless burger-notification system. Bravo!"
Plus, the magic wands allowed the Serious Eats crew the luxury of staking out a table and relaxing with some chit-chat while we waited. While I posed with the burger-pager (right), Richard Coraine (to my right in the photo), partner and COO of Union Square Hospitality Group (the Shack's parent company), approached Ed and the two started talkin' burgers, fries, and dogs.
Some nuggets from today's sojourn:
Coraine says the folks at USHG tried 32 kinds of frozen french fries before they settled on those now being served
The Shack gave out chocolate custard to the hearty folks waiting in line (right)
The steamed-and-then-griddled hot dogs (which were definitely better) were inspired by a trip to Birmingham, Alabama, that USHG's Coraine and Meyer took. While there, noted chef Frank Stitt (Highlands Bar and Grill) took them to Pete's Famous Hot Dogs downtown, where Pete's has been making hot dogs that way for since 1915
The Shack no longer has kiddie cones, so you can't even pretend to practice portion control any more when you order frozen custard
The buzzer system seemed to work
The place needs coffee or hot chocolate until the weather warms up (and will need it once it gets cold again in fall)
The fries were much better than what they were serving last year. Mr. Coraine pointed out that the Shack made the switch ahead of the trans-fat ban in New York City. These are organic, artificial-trans-fat-free fries, and they were noticeably darker, more airy, and more crisp (without being crunchy) than last year's model.
As for the burgers, lemme ask Ed ... "They were good. I wish I had ordered mine medium-rare, but they don't make them medium-rare, anyway. They had the crust, they had the salt. What more do you want? Everything else is punctuation."
Obligatory Shacklash 2007 comment: I'm so f***ing sick of the Shake Shack. ALREADY. All you people actin' like you've never seen a burger before. Jeez.
Ai yah. It hasn't even opened yet (that'll be March 21), and I'm already getting sick of the frakkin' hype surrounding the Shake Shack. First it was Megnut, and now Eater is bloggingtrainingday there.
It's enough that I might even start my yearly moratorium on Shake Shack posts on AHT early.
Well, probably not. But, jeez. It's just burgers, people.
New York magazine just dumped its "Best of New York 2007" issue, and in it the weekly's food critics name their favorite high-, mid-, and low-end burgers in the Big Apple.
Here are their picks, in descending order from high to low. Oh, and Gael Greene just managed to shoot up even more in our estimation with her low-end fave.
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 5, 2006 at 11:45 AM
It's official: AHT reader Jason T. is the winner of our "Win a Danny Meyer–Autographed Shake Shack T-Shirt" contest. His time-stamped receipt showing 6:16 p.m. takes the cake (or should we say "shake"?).
We'll get Mr. Meyer's John Hancock on that, Jason, and send it to you along with a copy of Setting the Table and issue No. 5 of comic book The Boys, which features the Shack in one of its scenes.
Remember last Friday's "Win a Danny Meyer–Autographed Shake Shack T-Shirt" contest? Looks like we have a preliminary winner! AHT reader Jason T. has the latest time-date stamp on his burger receipt so far: 6:16 p.m.
Anyone else out there have a later time-stamped receipt? If so, you'll be the lucky winner of a Danny Meyer autographed Shack T-shirt and a copy of Mr. Meyer's recent book (non-autographed), Setting the Table — plus(!) a copy of issue No. 5 of gritty CIA-superhero comic The Boys, which features a scene that takes place at the Shack (left).
Any challengers to Jason T.'s 6:16 p.m. claim have until 6 p.m. today to send a photo of their receipts to adam@ahamburgertoday.com.
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 30, 2006 at 4:51 PM
Waaaah! The Shake Shack closes for the season tomorrow (December 1) at 7 p.m. Your next chance to get a Shackburger or concrete or frozen custard or Chicago dog after that will likely be March 21, according to Michelle Lehmann of the Union Square Hospitality Group, the Shack's parent company. "We don't have an exact date yet, but we try to time it to open on the first day of spring," Ms. Lehmann said.
Ms. Lehmann also said that Shack owner Danny Meyer will be on hand tomorrow for the closing festivities.
Speaking of closing festivities, we have a Shack-themed contest that we'll be posting about soon ...
I was just on Windows Live Local, Microsoft's answer to Google Earth, and typed in "Madison Square Park" to see if there'd be a satellite image of the line at Shake Shack.
There's no line in the photo because THERE'S NO SHAKE SHACK. Click on the image above for a bigger version.
We're breaking our halfhearted moratorium on Shake Shack postings to alert you to the debut of the ShackCam. The live image refreshes every five seconds.
9 p.m. Just after tonight's crazy thunderstorm let up a bit. No line. No surprise at that, though.
What was surprising, however, was the lag time between ordering and burgering. About seven people attacking the Shack, including me, and the joint was moving incredibly slow, even with four or five employees doing their thing.
Not only that, but my cheeseburger, which I ordered with onions and pickles, arrived with the o's and p's on the side in little plastic containers. Would it have been too much for the Shack to, oh, I don't know, actually place them on my burger? It's not like I had the luxury, with umbrella in one hand and to-go sack in the other, of sitting down at a table and assembling my burger myself.
And the burger was overdone. Definitely cooked beyond the default medium.
This was my first Shack attack of the season. It won't be my last, but tonight I can say the Shack was all wet.
The New York Sun gets around to discovering the Shake Shack today. While we have an unofficial moratorium on blogging Shack shenanigans on AHT, I thought this story offered a new take on the popular joint. Ira Stoll holds the stand up as a paragon of New York values. Among others:
New York is egalitarian. The Wall Street types from the nearby offices of Credit Suisse First Boston are standing in the same lunch line as dyed-haired college students with backpacks and a woman whose plastic name tag identifies her as a service clerk at Walgreens.
Forget the gravy train, you've booked a ticket on the Burger Express. Next stop: Listburg, where the populace is obsessed with notations and rank. The latest resident to settle in our sleepy hamlet is Jason Perlow (left), founder of eGullet.com and publisher of Off the Broiler, where this list is also available. Mr. Perlow's list, he tells us, is in no particular order. Beefy thanks to Jason! —The Management
MY TOP BURGER LIST | Words and Photos by Jason Perlow
White Manna, Hackensack, New Jersey Got to have it as a double with grilled onions and cheese with extra pickle. Your stomach is going to rumble big time after eating four or five of these, but the indigestion and heartburn is well worth it. They look unattractive, lopsided and smooshed up. But they'll kick the crap out of you if you disrespect them. Kind of like most people from Jersey.
Louis Lunch, New Haven, Connecticut They got weird rules, the burger is bizarre, both in preparation and in presentation. It doesn't matter, it makes sense, in an almost proto-evolutionary way. Its like eating the missing link in burger anthropology.
O'Rourke's Diner Steamed Cheeseburger, Middletown, Connecticut Connecticut is home to the strange burgers. While Ted's in Meriden is the steamed cheeseburger everyone has heard about, O'Rourke's really is the original. Make this place part of your lifetime burger pilgrimage.
NationWide Meats, Sacramento, California Sacramento is hot as hell, but its also got one of the best burgers anywhere. The beef they use here is top quality, there's plenty of it, their burger dressing is outstanding and their super thick-cut fries are magnificent.
Burger Joint, San Francisco The menu is minimalist. The neighborhood is weird. Don't miss this place.
Blue Smoke Jazz Standard Burger, New York City Before there was Shake Shack, there was the Blue Smoke Burger. Can't think of a better burger to have when listening to Jazz and having a cold beer.
Shake Shack, Madison Square Park, New York City
Yes, the place is hyped beyond belief and the lines are infuriating. Doesn't matter. Go, go, go. Even if you have to camp outside overnight to get a place in line the next day.
McSorley's Burger, Greenwich Village, New York City
It's cheap, but its beefy, topped with raw onion, and it's the perfect accompaniment to some of the best beers in town, in the oldest, surliest Irish Bar in the city.
Johnny Rocket's #12 Burger, various locations
Something about the Red sauce they put on this thing, combined with the thin-style burger with crispy edges makes this one unique and worthy of mention, edging out the other Micro-chains.
White Castle Double Cheeseburger, various locations
Perhaps I have saved my favorite for last. Before there was Harold and Kumar, college students have been making late night inebriated treks to the Castle for over six decades. Its the ultimate working class burger, which proudly features grease as an ingredient. Don't forget the extra pickle, it brings everything into Zen-like balance.
Well, there's Mr. Perlow's list. Dig it? Got a beef with it? Leave a comment. Better yet, submit your own list and take up residency in Listburg.
Time for another trip to Listburg, boys and girls. All aboard the beef train! —The Management
Ed Levine, aka "The Missionary of the Delicious," known for such books as New York Eats, New York Eats (More) and for his various best-of pieces for the New York Times (best pizza, hot dogs, ice cream, etc.), offers up his own Top of the Pops New York burger list on his blog. They are:
1. Peter Luger: "But only when they can figure out how to serve a burger medium-rare." 2. Shake Shack: "I know it's a cliche, but nobody gets the bun to meat ratio right except these guys, and that salty crust is so damned fine.... " 3. Telepan: "Where Bill Telepan is now serving that great burger he perfected at The Judson Grill...." 4. Prime Burger: "Tell them to make it from scratch, and don't waste any calories on the french fries...." 5. The Good Fork: "Great burger in Red Hook, but alas, only fair onion rings."
Be sure to click through for Mr. Levine's honorable mentions....
Our kick-off Best Burger List comes from George Motz, director of burger documentary Hamburger America. For his film, George crisscrossed the country looking for the perfect patty, the best buns, etc. You can order a DVD of the flick here. You can view George's list below. — The Management
In No Particular Order
(These are all places that I drool just listing them, and I can't wait to visit again)
The Apple Pan, Los Angeles
Father's Office, Santa Monica, California
Pie 'N Burger, Pasadena, California
Shake Shack, New York City
Schnäck, Brooklyn, New York
White Manna, Hackensack, New Jersey
Solly's Grille, Milwaukee
Bobcat Bite, Santa Fe
Ted's, Meriden, Connecticut
Dyer's, Memphis
Top Notch, Chicago
Louis' Lunch, New Haven, Connecticut
Casino El Camino, Austin, Texas
Town Topic, Kansas City, Missouri
Steak 'N Shake
Well, there's George Motz's picks. Love 'em? Got a beef with 'em? Send us a list of your own or discuss in the Comments section below. — The Management
Shackwatchers: a site that monitors the length of the line at the Shake Shack in New York City's Madison Square Park via images posted to Flickr. Here are the three latest views of the line:
Thanks for your interest in the Shake Shack. I work for Union Square Hospitality Group and just noticed your blurb suggesting a web cam. I wanted to give you the heads up that we have purchased a web cam for our website, www.shakeshacknyc.com, and we expect this to be live on our site by Monday. It will display a new still shot of the line every 15 seconds. Let me know if you have any questions.
Believe the hype. Said hype, which was reported on before, made the entire staff of AHT twitch with desire. The long lines held us off for only so long, but the staff gave in last week.
The burgers at Shake Shack, like Blue Nine, follow the west-coast style. What really separates them from the pack is their choice of meat. Instead of ground chuck or something similar, they use a mix of sirloin and brisket, which is freshly ground across the street at Danny Meyer's Eleven Madison Park. The unusual choice results in a higher fat content, which produces a fantastically tasty burger. Although it's fun to pile a burger high with condiments, this one can stand alone. My favorite part is that although the burger is juicy, the hot griddle seals it in so the juice gets in your belly and not on your plate.
Having been twice now, I tried both a plain burger and a Shack Burger, which includes their Shake Shack Sauce. The sauce is mayo-based, but the ingredients are secret. It was good, but not an essential part of the experience. I'm more of a mustard guy, anyhow. All of the other condiments—lettuce, tomato, bun—were tasty. The bun was very plain, but a perfect compliment for the flavorful burger.
The line is, as expected, long. From my local scouts, the line is still about half an hour during the peak lunch times (12 p.m. to 2 p.m.), but when I've visited at 2:30 p.m., I was ordering in about 10 minutes. When I visited for dinner —Shake Shack is now open until 9 p.m. for the rest of the summer—I hardly waited at all. Don't worry about grabbing a table right away as there are usually some available and turnover is quick if there aren't.
Shake Shack is an essential part of the NYC burger experience. It is not to be missed.
Good question: 
Forget the gravy train, you've booked a ticket on the Burger Express. Next stop: Listburg, where the populace is obsessed with notations and rank. The latest resident to settle in our sleepy hamlet is Jason Perlow (left), founder of 
In No Particular Order 
Believe the hype. Said hype, which was 
The burgers at 
Having been twice now, I tried both a plain burger and a Shack Burger, which includes their Shake Shack Sauce. The sauce is mayo-based, but the ingredients are secret. It was good, but not an essential part of the experience. I'm more of a mustard guy, anyhow. All of the other condiments—lettuce, tomato, bun—were tasty. The bun was very plain, but a perfect compliment for the flavorful burger.
