Shake Shack (St. Louis)
60 N. Euclid AvenueGetting to sleep in on a work trip is a rarity. We typically work late in to the evening then are back at it early the next day.
We didn’t start work until late afternoon on Saturday and I took full advantage. I got up around 8 AM to watch a live stream of my daughter’s figure skating competition in Nashville then went back to sleep until my son skated later in the afternoon.
We had moved hotels the previous night. We were no longer in the suburbs. We were know in the Central West End Neighborhood of St. Louis. That meant we had a few more options for meals and there were places we could walk to.
I found a couple of different places that sounded good but most of them would have required me to drive. I didn’t really feel like getting the car out of the parking garage then finding a spot where ever I was going so I just stuck with something I could walk to.
What I found was a Shake Shack.
St. Louis has two locations of Shake Shack in the city. One is in the Enterprise Center so I don’t really consider that a location. The other wasn’t far from my hotel in the Central West End.
Shake Shack’s St Louis location is on Euclid Avenue and West Pine Boulevard not too far from Barnes Jewish Hospital. The multi-story, multi-use building was built on this corner about ten years ago replacing a single story commercial building that was anchored by a dry cleaner. Shake Shake takes up the prominent bottom floor corner space and is accessible from either Euclid or Pine Boulevard.
The restaurant was only about half a mile walk from where I was staying so I decided to just walk over there and order instead of ordering online and picking it up.
When I walked in, I found the pretty traditional order counter but it wasn’t staffed. I took a minute to look at the menu board above it then noticed off to my right how I’d be ordering.
There were three order kiosks along the wall. I headed over to one of them and started scrolling through looking for what I wanted to eat.
There was a burger on the menu that I assume is unique to St. Louis. The Mound City Double which comes with Provel cheese, applewood bacon, and St. Louis sauce. My mouth was watering but when I went to find it on the kiosk, it said it was unavailable. Booooooooooo.
I just went with my usual Shake Shack order. I got a Double Shack burger and added bacon and cherry peppers. I made it a meal by adding on Bacon Cheese fries and a large Coke. The total for my lunch was about $25.
I grabbed a number off the counter then went to take a seat in the dining room to wait. The Shake Shack vibe is kind of industrial with concrete floors, high ceilings and exposed utilities. It’s the same pretty much everywhere. The dining room is quite large. This place was built in 2017…way before the pandemic changed the way people eat fast casual food. There were a few people dining in but most of the people that came in while I was there were Dashers.
I grabbed the bag of food and headed back to my hotel to eat. It was about time for my son to skate so I put the live stream on the TV and crawled in bed with my burger.
I actually started with the Bacon Cheese Fries. Shake Shack’s fries are pretty weak on their own. They’re simple crinkle cut fries with very little flavor. Added the cheese sauce and bacon give them something more than a bland potato taste. Cheese fries are always hard to eat but it was totally worth the couple of extra bucks to get what is essentially nacho cheese and crispy bits of bacon dumped on top.
Shake Shack’s burgers are always some of my fast casual burgers. Maybe it’s because I don’t have access to one except when I travel but they’re always something I look forward too.
The Double Shack Burger is two quarter pound patties topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and Shack Sauce. I added on bacon and Cherry Peppers because these sweet heat from the peppers is what I really love about Shake Shack. The burger is just a sold fast food type burger. The layers all pretty solid on their own but they’re brought together, it’s just a really enjoyable burger and one I will continue to look forward to.
I know Shake Shack isn’t the local place I usually try to seek out when I travel but I just couldn’t pass this up when I saw it was close to my hotel. While it’s a little pricey, I’ve never had a bad meal from Shake Shack and that streak continues with this one in St. Louis.
SW Michigan Dining 