A Very Warm Welcome
I think I can speak for many people in Boston and say we've all been waiting for Shake Shack to expand within the city! We've been hearing talk about a Newbury Street location for quite some time and the soft opening weekend has finally arrived! This will be their fourth location in the Boston area - other locations include Chestnut Hill, Dedham and Harvard Square. In a sea of trendy fast food burger places, Shake Shack is definitely my top choice. On Saturday, a friend an I were lucky enough to snag a ticket for some free food on the house.
For anyone who hasn't been, they have two lines - one for concretes and shakes, and one for hot food. This was a little bit confusing at first, as the area for the line seemed a bit smaller than other Shake Shack locations I've visited. The rest of the space was minimally designed and large, with plenty of seating. I believe there is a downstairs area as well. We waited less than minute for a seat for a seat to open up!
Given the fact they are just opening, the food wasn't exactly "fast". It took between 10-15 minutes to receive our food, but there were no complaints about that. Seemed about the same speed as other locations, especially given their busy circumstances. Props to them.
Doubleshack, Smokeshack, fries, coffee shakes x2.
Double Smokeshack with cheese fries.
The food was excellent, in fast food standards, and exactly what you would expect from Shake Shack. The cheese fries were perfect. I'm usually not a fan of the "fake" nacho style cheese, but these work. It is a harmonious blend of american and cheddar and didn't make the crispy crinkle cut fries soggy. No need for extra sauces for me, even on the plain fries, but they do offer your typical condiments. At the condiment station, they have a filtered water station too which I thought was nice.
The coffee shake was slightly thinner than I would have liked, but the coffee flavor was perfect. They have such a variety of shakes and concretes to choose from that I would try another next time, but it was still a yummy choice. They also offer beer and wine for those that want an alcoholic option, and the list seemed fairly decent for a burger joint.
Onto the most important part, the burgers. We each ordered a double cheeseburger - one Doubleshack and one Smokeshack. The Smokeshack was great, had a good smoky flavor from the bacon combined with the tasty Smokeshack sauce. My friend had the Doubleshack that comes with the basic burger toppings (cheese, lettuce, tomato, sauce) and loved the freshness. The burgers were cooked to about medium with a nice crispy sear on the edges from the grill. The buns were good, nice and buttery but we both agreed that the bun to burger patty ratio was off. The buns were a bit too small to hold all the ingredients in.
Besides the one gripe of the buns being a bit too small, all in all we loved everything at Shake Shack! Although we did not pay for this meal, we did think that the prices were a bit high. We would have each paid about $17 for a burger, fries and shake. Burgers run between $6-9, shakes run around $5. I suppose that is expected with a location on Newbury Street and fresh, high quality ingredients. You definitely get your moneys worth though - portions are solid. I was extremely satisfied and full for the remainder of the day! If you are craving a burger, fries and a shake, this is the place to satisfy you. This location may be hyped up for a while - its official opening is today, March 2nd, but I urge you to check it out at a later date if you are in the Back Bay neighborhood.
A welcome addition.
M
Shake Shack
234 Newbury Street, Boston, MA, 02116.
$$ (under 10, 10-25)
Good for: fast food, burgers, shakes