Shake Shack (Lansing)
I haven’t gotten to do a lot of travel for work recently. That’s a bummer for a couple of reasons.
The first is, I really enjoy the travel and the overtime that usually comes with it.
The second reason, I don’t get to eat out in different cities as much. I know some of you prefer that I keep this blog to Southwest Michigan, but I like to travel and I like to eat….especially if the company is paying for it.
No worries though, my annual trip to Mackinac Island is coming up followed by a weekend in Traverse City for figure skating so I’ll get to travel a bit in the next few weeks.
Late last week, a colleague asked if I was available to go to East Lansing with him. I didn’t have to worry about getting a kid on the bus or anything because J and the kids had already left for Ann Arbor….it was another competition weekend.
I headed to Grand Rapids to pick him up then we made our way to East Lansing. We got there around 10:00 and got done with our job assignment around 11:30. As we were walking back to the car, he asked if I wanted to grab lunch. He didn’t want to do a sit down place though as we still had work to do in Grand Rapids. I told him I had an idea.
When we were in Lansing back in March for figure skating, I ran out to the Dunkin’ on Saginaw Street to pick up breakfast for B. While I was out there, I noticed something kind of unusual and something I didn’t even know was there.
Shake Shack lists their Lansing location as “East Lansing” but it’s actually on Saginaw Street and Clippert Street in the city of Lansing. The restaurant is in a multi-tenant building in the northwest of the Frandor Shopping Center. This location was actually a Rite Aid up until Rite Aid started closing stores in the last couple of years. The building was split in to two and the Shake Shack took the front part of the building. The location opened up in February of this year.
I’ve been to Shake Shack several times on my travels and it’s always a treat. There are a handful of locations right now on the east side of the state including one in downtown Detroit. This one in Lansing is closest to us in Kalamazoo but there is a location opening at Woodland Mall in Kentwood soon.
The order counter is right inside the door when you walk in. There was no on actually working at the counter though. Everyone was ordering off kiosks off to the right.
When one of those kiosks opened up, I stepped up to put in my order while my co-worker was still looking over the menu.
I put in an order for the Smoky Classic BBQ Burger minus the crispy onions and add the cherry peppers and make it a double. I also added on an order of regular fries and a Coke. The cost came out to just over $21. I grabbed a number from the stack of them sitting next to the order kiosks then headed to a table.
The dining room is pretty small with only a half a dozen tables or so. We just beat the lunch rush. There was only one other couple at a table when we sat down but it quickly filled up.
The decor is really simple. The tables and chairs are all kind of cheap wood laminate tables and chairs on concrete floor. It’s a clean look but it’s not super comfortable furniture. It’s meant to turn over the tables so people don’t linger. The walls are green subway tile up to the chair rail then the same light colored wood takes over the rest way of the way. Most of the light comes from the large windows that frame the dining room but there are a few glove lights that do the heavy lifting once the sun goes down.
It took about ten minutes for a woman to come out to the table with two trays. She figured out we were together so she brought them out out at the same time.
I usually order the Smoke Shack when I go to Shake Shack but they have some BBQ options for a limited time so I went with one of them. I picked the Smoky Classic BBQ Burger. I made it a double so there were two patties with a mound of applewood smoked bacon, American cheese, pickles and BBQ sauce on a toasted potato bun. The sandwich also comes with crispy onions but I replaced those with cherry peppers because that’s my favorite thing about the Smoke Shack burger. Putting the cherry peppers on gave this sandwich a sweet and spicy profile to go along with the smokiness of the bacon and the BBQ sauce. I know Shake Shack is one of those place we don’t have so I probably crave it more than I would if there were one on Westnedge Avenue but I really like the burgers from Shake Shack. I really like the sweet spiciness from the peppers and it goes so well with the crispy, smokey bacon and that thick, smokey BBQ sauce.
The fries, on the other hand, are just..meh. They’re crinkle cuts and they’re fine. Nothing special about them. I’ve tried with cheese and bacon, I’ve tried with just cheese. Nothing really works for me because they’re just crinkle cut fries. They’re fine though. They are what they are. They’re nice and crispy and just slightly salty. A good compliment to the burger but nowhere near on the same level as the burger.
I assume we’ll get a Shake Shack here in Kalamazoo one of these days and I can’t wait for that day. It’s always hard for me to drive past one right now because it’s something we don’t have here. Will I feel the same way when/if we ever get one? I hope so.
SW Michigan Dining 