Shake Shack

I was sadly disappointed by this Shake Shack.
Normally, I absolutely love Shake Shack (as a California girl, it’s probably a pretty big deal that I prefer Shake Shack to In’n’out). I came here with a group of friends after a long conference day, expecting to have the usual juicy burgers. I ordered a Shackburger with fries. Sadly, the meat patty tasted overcooked and was extremely dry. The lettuce and onions also did not taste as fresh as I’m used to. On the flip-​side, the crinkle fries were nice and crisp and not overly salted.
I will say that the location is amazing. It’s right across the street from Millenium Park and the building itself had a nice antique-​y feel. I felt like I was being transported back into history. There’s also a ton of seating everywhere (which can be a problem in places like New York).

Good burgers and shakes. Fast food style place with hand packed burgers. Burger and cheese fries were tasty. I am not a fan of crinkle cut fries so they weren’t the best.

With the way I have heard about this place, I was expecting nothing less of amazing. Finally one lovely rainy afternoon, I decided to give it a go.
There was a super long line trailing outside of the door wrapping around the front desk of the building. It’s ok, I told myself, this is worth it and it is going to be so delicious you’ll forget all about this silly olé line.
Nah. Wish I can say that’s how the story ends.
I ordered a SmokeShack cheeseburger. I was intrigued by the Shack sauce and chopped cherry peppers. Since everything is ordered separately (why do food places do this…) I got cheese fries and a chocolate malt. Costing me slightly under $ 20 (yikes).
When I finally got back to the office and took everything out I was already a little disappointed. My $ 5.29 shake was smaller then I expected. My $ 6.84 cheeseburger was very small. And my $ 3.99 cheese fries barely filled the little cardboard box they were placed in. Seriously?
The cheeseburger was simply ok. Nothing grand about it. There wasn’t enough sauce and way too much chopped peppers, which I wasn’t as crazy about as I thought I would be.
The chocolate malt, well, I don’t really know how to explain it, but it wasn’t creamy or smooth or rich like most. It was liquidy and just had bursts of chocolate, leaving the after taste intense. I had to down a lot of water to get it out.
The fries were decent. But crinkle fries usually are. But after they weren’t hot anymore they weren’t really worth eating. The cheese wasn’t amazing either.
Overall, I was very disappointed. I honestly think people who are out of towers love this place more then Chicagoans. Because Chicagoans know the real places to hit up for a malt or shake or burger or hotdog, etc. We know where the REAL GOOD FOOD is at. And sorry, those places aren’t usually in broad daylight on Michigan Avenue.

Please come to California!
Best burger, the shake shack, with yummy cheese sauce, great meat, and a crispy fried portabella in a bun that doesn’t fall apart.
Loved the milkshake and pretty good fries.

We were encouraged to try this little burger & milkshake joint while we were in Chicago, so we decided to go. Let me say, while it was a bit spendy, it was INCREDIBLE!!!
You had to wait a bit to order & 2 burgers, 2 fries, 2 shakes & a small coke was almost $ 42, but the ambiance & the food was fantastic.
So, if you have a few extra bucks to spend, GO (try the cheeseburger with the cherry peppers & a peanut butter shake)!!! They were very good.

Sometimes hype is totally warranted. In this case, I just don’t get it.
Burger was a near cousin of McDonalds with more grease. Couldn’t really taste the special Shake Sauce. I like the crinkle cut of the fries but they were surprisingly lacking enough salt.
The best thing about this particular venue and the only real thing it has going for it is that it’s in the lobby of the much lauded and newly renovated Chicago Athletic Association Hotel and nearness to Millennium Park.

Reasonably priced and perfect for a cheat day! If you don’t live in Chicago I would take it Togo and eat by millennium park!
The cheese fries and frozen custard is a must –forget what it’s called but the banana one was delicious :)

Solid meal. Got the Shack burger – service was quick, ingredients tasted fresh, the bun in particularly tasted quite buttery and soft (which I liked). A little pricey for the size I think, but yummy.

I don’t think I’ve been so underwhelmed in my life… That might be an overstatement, but I’m not completely sure. After hearing about how all of the east coast basically loves Shake Shack, I was excited to give it a try when my friends and I went to Chicago for a day trip/​food tour. I was surprised that there wasn’t really a big line, but when I saw the prices, I was tempted to leave. The cheeseburger is about $ 6, and their famous shack stack (cheeseburger and veggie burger) is $ 10. The plain hamburger is the cheapest, but you can still add lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions. and their shack sauce.
The burger is much smaller than I would expect, maybe the shack stacks are larger just because they have two patties, but the other single patty burgers aren’t the most filling. If I were craving a burger, Shake Shack probably wouldn’t even cross my mind.
The one thing Shake Shack does have going for it is the buns. These are some of the softest buns I’ve ever had, they taste more like something you’d get from a Chinatown bakery than you would from a fast food chain. I like their buns and I cannot lie.

This is an update to my previous review. I went back on a less crowded day and my food was a lot better!
I had a cheeseburger with cheese fries. Overall, it was pretty good! I would definitely come back for some custard!

I came here on a Friday night around midnight after having three drinks. There was no line when I came and we got our food right away. This might of happen because it was snowing outside and since we were California kids, we were all YES SNOW and still continued our adventures.
Burger and fries are never a fail and we enjoyed every bite of it. Thanks for the service!
Condiments are to the side of the wall. If the line gets too long, it wraps into the hallway near the lobby area.

I will not bore you with how good Shake Shack is. Just Go. You will love it. And it’s my favorite fast food burger at the moment.
This location is very close to «The Bean» — across the street and down a block or two. Standard menu with their city’s signature concretes, and local beers on tap.
Didn’t disappoint — nor has it ever. Fave!

The food is good, but it’s not worth the prices. I had the Shack Stack, which is a burger with a deep fried portobello mushroom filled with melted cheese on top of the patty. Order the Penthouse Sweet Concrete, which is chocolate custard, toffee, chocolate sprinkles and peanut butter– that shit is good. The crinkled fries look gross and soggy, but they’re surpringsly delicious and crisp— definitely get the cheesy ones— that cheese sauce makes them 100x better. So yeah, the food is delicious… even though I felt full still 6 hours later. But $ 36 for two burgers, one shake, one concrete and cheese fries is too much for a fast-​food joint.
Whoever is comparing this to In n Out is crazy because a burger at In n Out is half the price! It’s totally different.

Delicious! I was super excited to try Shake Shack. The cashier here was super friendly. i mean amazingly friendly. We ordered a chicken sandwich, shack burger and fries to split to experience it all. Loved the burger. The chicken sandwich was a little too greasy but it was still delicous. The manager walked around to check on everyone. It was a super fun time.

Hubby and I stopped here after having drinks at The Athletic Club’s Bar. We had never been to a Shake Shack and figured we could use a great burger. BIG MISTAKE. I ordered one with peppers and a special sauce. All the toppings were on one side of the burger. We asked for extra sauce and it didn’t come on the tray, so I had to go up and get it… which seemed to be a bother to the service folks. Speaking of the trays… mine was wet and yukky when I went to pick up my burgers. Thank goodness they come in a little bag so it wasn’t too soggy.
As we sat in a nearly empty restaurant, the manager was interviewing someone at a table. Everyone there seemed to be bored with working there. Not sure if the manager even noticed. This place was a yawn to me too…

Although an NYC tradition, the first I heard of Shake Shack, was my Miami friends telling me the line was around the block for weeks when theirs opened. Intrigued? No. I was immediately suspect of anything Miamians would wait around the block for. Put a velvet rope up, and they will wait!
As others have commented, entry is a tad confusing– Don’t go In Through the Out Door on Michigan Ave. directly into the restaurant, wearing your Raspberry Beret– just enter through the lovely lobby of the Chicago Athletic Association. Went here on my lunch hour on a weekday. Filled with typical tourists, skewing younger (hype brings the FOMO young’uns out), the inside is nice, although not large. I like the wood paneling, the mural, the small neon sign. If this place was twice as large, it would be great.
This was my first visit and I ordered the Smoke Shack burger with bacon, cherry peppers and Shack sauce. I also ordered the Black and White Shake which has vanilla and chocolate ice cream, and Hot Fudge. The wait was really long. Service at the delivery window was nice once my order came up.
Verdict: good burger, I liked the peppers on it; but it definitely wasn’t the best burger ever, worth a Velvet-​Rope-​wait-​in-​Miami-​Good. The shake was excellent. I’m glad I work nearby, so I can hit this up once in a while at off times, when the hype has died down, and the Tourists have gone home.

Four stars for the unexpected: a giant fried mushroom stuffed with indistinguishable cheese! The ‘shroom burger is a totally suitable vegetarian option here, assuming you’re not a vegetarian for «health reasons.» I wish I could remember what type of cheese is stuffed in that ‘shroom, but at a temperature of «piping hot» and a texture of «liquid,» does it matter? The bun is yellow, grilled, and soft; fries are crinkly, crispy, and salty.
Employees here are super friendly, which makes ordering food a pleasure; the food pickup process leaves much to be desired: Buzzers? Numbers? Names? Is there a line? Where am I in the line? Very important questions for the hungry and impatient. But, they serve beer and shakes, and the to-​go packaging is simply delightful.
.Try it, you’ll like it. And please let me know if you figure «it» out, because I’m still scratching my head at the concept.

I don’t know if I always just go at the right time but this location never seems to have quite the same line as the first location on the mag mile… and that is FINE BY ME!!!
As soon as the news dropped that Chick’n Shack was available nationwide it was pretty much a given that I knew what I was having for dinner. Definitely a great choice on my part!!! The chicken is a big juicy breast with a crispy coating that adds great texture to that famous pillowy soft potato roll. The herbed mayo is not too heavy and the pickles give a great acidic bite to bring it all together for a perfect bite.
Pair it with an order of cheese fries because, shoot if you’re gonna have a cheat day make it a CHEAT day.
Thanks for bringing this tasty sandwich to my hood!!!

Sure, these burgers are 100% Angus beef, all natural, and hormone free but what makes Shake Shack stand out in comparison to other burger chains that do the same? It’s all about the Shack Stack.
Take their signature cheeseburger that comes with lettuce, tomato, and Shack sauce and then top it off with a fried portabella mushroom that’s stuffed with Muenster cheese. It’s all things ooey gooey cheesy goodness in burger form. Once you bite into it, hot gooey cheese oozes from the burger combined with pieces of fried batter. If you love fried mozzarella sticks growing up, then this is definitely for you.
Everything seems to taste better if you stuff it with cheese and deep fry it. Get the Shack Stack for hot cheesy goodness.

A travel mate and I decided to eat here after touring the distinguished hotel. At first I thought it was the typical burger joint, but this place has completely different offerings and I like them!
We both had SmokeShack burgers that were delicious: Cheeseburgers topped with Applewood bacon, chopped cherry pepper and a special sauce. We got light, crispy crinkle-​cut fries with it to share, and dipped it in a ketchup/​mayo mixture, my friends idea (I do like my solo ketchup).
After the burgers, we indulged in the dessert called Concretes. Mine was Millennium Perk, featuring Intelligista coffee beans, mixed into Vanilla custard, marshmallows and doughnut pieces. It was a good mix, and not too sweet as it sounds. My friend had Bang Bang Pie Oh My which had banana cream pie with vanilla custard and caramel sauce. Now those were tasty! His was better than mine even.
I must return to this place and try more items on the menu. It’s conveniently located and moderately priced.