Shake Shack, Battery Park City

Yup, it’s true… I’ve lived in the NYC area for 4 years, but I’ve never visited Shake Shack until now. Every time I’ve walked by a Shake Shack, the lines have always been absurdly long. We finally decided to suck it up and visit the Battery Park location on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

We arrived at Shake Shack around 1:30pm, and the line was out the door, but moved quickly. It’s helpful that they give you a menu while you’re in line, so there’s no dilly dally when you reach the front. At 2pm, we were happily chowing down on food, and there was no longer a line.

Our order consisted of a Shroom Burger, a Downtown Butter Brown Concrete, two orders of cheese fries, and a ShakeMeister ale. Since John doesn’t eat mushrooms, he just planned on having cheese fries and beer. It’s too bad they don’t have a veggie hot dog.

The Shroom Burger ($6.99) is the only vegetarian burger at Shake Shack. Crispy fried portobello mushroom filled with melted muenster and cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and shack sauce. Can’t believe it took me so long to try this beautiful fried baby…

It was love at first bite! The crispy batter was spot on and the melted, gooey muenster and cheddar cheeses explode into your mouth with every bite. You can’t go wrong with a giant portobello mushroom with lots of cheese. A nicely done meatless burger!

I didn’t have high expectations for the Cheese Fries ($3.95), but ended up enjoying them too. Not too greasy with crispy edges and fluffy centers. Since they’re crinkle cut fries, the wavy surface does a good job at picking up the cheese sauce.

It looks like a mess, but the Downtown Butter Brown Concrete ($4.50) was a real treat. Vanilla custard blended with Milk & Cookies Bakery hazelnut brown butter streusel bites, and citrus-marinated raspberries. Rich and creamy, and I loved the streusel and raspberries! I enjoyed alternating between the salty and sweet flavors of this meal.