
Shake Shack Bets Against Peak Burger - JumpCrisscross
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-24/shake-shack-bets-against-peak-burger
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techsupporter
I love the idea of more "fast casual" burger places but I wish that people
would have a _normal_ burger on the menu if they're also going to experiment.
Regular bun (ciabatta or sourdough is really hard to bite through and sends
the ingredients fleeing out the sides), regular cheese (even Anthony Bourdain
agrees[0], use something that _melts_ like American or some other "fake"
cheese), regular toppings (you can experiment with the other stuff but have
lettuce, tomato, pickle, uncooked sliced or diced onion, and
mustard/mayonnaise/ketchup available), and for all that is good and wonderful
REGULAR MEAT (80/20 ground chuck with nothing "ground in," please).

I'm not saying that's the perfect burger, I'm saying it's becoming
increasingly difficult in Seattle to find that as a "normal" burger. Something
without the addition of kale, beets, sprouts, buffalo/bison/turkey/emu mix, or
on some unholy bread that was never meant to sustain the stuff on a regular
burger. Two places do an amazing job of "your basic burger and fries for a
good price with nothing crazy" that I've found so far: A Burger Place and
Burger/Kabob Hut, both in the U District.

0 - [http://store.anthonybourdainontour.com/product-p/burger-
prin...](http://store.anthonybourdainontour.com/product-p/burger-print.htm)

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androck1
Disagreed. Lil Woodys, 8 Oz, Great State, etc.

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doublerebel
Also Red mill. And super secret the burger at Nordstrom #1 grill (downstairs)
makes the best medium 1/2 lb burger in town. At least when I frequented it.

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santaclaus
The Shake part of Shake Shack is honestly better than the burger part. Shake
Shack can't even shake a french fry at Burgerville.

Edit: Definitive nationwide fast casual burger total ordering is Burgerville >
In n Out > Cook Out > Shake Shack > Five Guys

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Artemis2
I've always found Five Guys to be much, much better than Shake Shack. The
Shake Shack burgers are dry, tiny, and lack flavor.

Love In-n-Out of course.

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AznHisoka
same here. five guys burgers are better and their fries are much better.

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Tempest1981
At Five Guys, I always order my fries "extra crispy". Otherwise they tend to
be almost raw inside.

Also a fan of half-frys half-onion rings at the Habit. With ranch dipping
sauce. Oh, and sweet potato fries.

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lvs
It's getting ridiculous. In my neighborhood alone, there are 8 "trendy" burger
places within a few blocks, at last count. The majority of them are
indistinguishable in food quality from mcdonalds despite all sorts of
ingredients/supply chain marketing claims.

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bogomipz
Tangentially related - For anyone flying international out of JFK in New York
there's a Shake Shack in terminal 4 the international terminal now.

Its a nice option to option to have among otherwise bleak choices.

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RileyJames
I'm not sure about peak burger, but peak burger chain would be nice.

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prawn
Is the prevalence of fast food chains unique to the US? I spent three weeks in
France earlier this year, I saw 1-2 recognisable fast food brands from afar
and that was it. In 1-2 weeks in the US, you would see multiple franchises
each of 20 brands comfortably? Here in Australia, there might be 5-8 quite
common ones.

I know why they are popular - predictability for one thing - but why
significantly less so outside the US? Regional populations? Developed earlier?

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chrismcb
The burger is basically "American food" it really is hard to find outside of
USA. And usually it isn't good, the meat tastes odd. This is even true at
places like McDonald's outside of USA.

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cylinder
What? No. McDonalds in the US is amongst the worst. In Australia, not only is
McDonalds of better quality but there are lots of new burger places doing
better American style burgers than I can find here in the center of
Manhattan...

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contingencies
One of our[0] US competitors, _Momentum Machines_ [1], has apparently been
trying to do a custom burger machine for 5+ years and spent many millions on
the effort. Apparently they want to open a robotic sit-down burger restaurant.
I'm glad we're focused on more global and less polarized/unhealthy-perception
area of noodles+soups, and are sticking to a pre-order + take-away model. I'm
also glad we don't have to deal with US regulations.

[0] [http://8-food.com/](http://8-food.com/) [1]
[http://momentummachines.com/](http://momentummachines.com/)

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jgalt212
It's my perception that McDonald's has been struggling for 10+ years because
of its inability or unwillingness to modify its unhealthy menu. Shake Shack
traffics in the same unhealthy fare, but it's a go go stock.

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bigtex
Its because healthy people don't goto McDonald's for food, they go to better
restaurants like Panera Bread and Corner Bakery. McDonald's should go back to
a simpler menu and stop trying to please the critics. Are are trying so hard
to please everyone and not doing a great job at it. I mean you go into an In-
N-Out and you only have a few choices but they are always busy and the
employees are smiling and working hard. Burger isn't too bad for the price
either.

Now as for me I prefer Smash Burger, followed by Five Guys and In-N-Out.

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nommm-nommm
I wouldn't exactly consider Panera bread better than McDonald's. Panera's food
is incredibly bland.

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tracker1
Can't speak for anyone else... but will say that I find McDonalds, Burger King
and Jack in the box burgers suck... I'll generally prefer Carl's Jr./Hardees.
There is room for better quality chains. People can taste the difference and
marketing helps.

That said I've yet to have a burger as good as the first time I had one from
Heart Attack Grill, they were never as good since and other places have been
close. Just moved to FL, missing the chuck box.

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smnscu
I've heard [1] very good things about The Habit [2]

1:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wduZHtRbSkY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wduZHtRbSkY)

2: [http://www.habitburger.com/](http://www.habitburger.com/)

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Tempest1981
The Habit is great -- you can get bacon and avocado on your burger. Also sweet
potato fries and onion rings. With ranch dipping sauce. And a $1 ice cream
cone.

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bschwindHN
Shake Shack came to Tokyo this year. While the burgers and shakes were pretty
good, the price was a bit high (~1800 yen) for what you get. You can get a
wagyu beef burger for around the same price (~1600-2200 yen) at a place like
Blacows which absolutely destroys any burger from Shake Shack.

Are the prices more reasonable in the states?

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wapz
Everything is expensive here in Tokyo. Did you go to Taco Bell in Shibuya? A
crunch wrap supreme was something like 780 yen. 単品. By itself.

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bschwindHN
That's not really true, you can find tons of cheap, good food in Tokyo. But
foreign chains? Yes, they will be expensive.

I've been to the Taco Bell, and it's definitely a disappointment. They don't
have chalupas or even nachos + cheese and the prices are twice or more than in
America. It's like they missed the entire point of Taco Bell.

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FullMtlAlcoholc
Shake shack is the reason this trend has completely jumoed the shark here in
Los Angeles. Premium burger prices for just a little better than fazt food
quality? I can deal with that.

No phone/web orders and a wait in line like its some trendy club? Sorry

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fullshark
I do think there is a lot of competition/growth potential for the fast casual
burger market.

