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Ah, St. Patrick's Day. Remember how it was back in the old days? We weren't focused on going out and getting trashed with half of the city -- things were simpler. We wore green to school, made four-leaf clovers out of construction paper, and instead of green beer or pitchers of Guinness, we sipped on a beverage that was green and minty -- the Shamrock Shake.
These seasonal concoctions were once found at McDonald's across the nation, but today, life is hard, as Shamrock Shakes are nowhere to be found. Several Gothamist readers emailed us with desperate pleas to help them find the elusive St. Patrick's Day treat, but our emails to McDonald's headquarters went unanswered. Others out there are incredibly passionate about the loss of this childhood favorite. In fact, there's an entire site, Bring Back the Shamrock Shake, devoted to the cause.
In the meantime, you'll have to made do by making your own. Chicagoist readers have chimed in with their local spottings. Has anyone seen the Shamrock Shake in the Metro NY area?
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My sister tried inquiring for me earlier..this is what McDonalds said....
McDonaldsCorporation@mcd.com wrote:
From:
To:
Subject: Message from McDonald's USA
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 04:04:45 -0600
Hello Marleah:
Thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald's. We appreciate your interest in our Shamrock Shake.
The Shamrock Shake is a "promotional" product offered for a limited time only. The decision to offer promotional products is made on a region by region basis. Unfortunately, I am not able to provide a list of stores that have made this product available. However, you may contact the New York Metropolitan Regional Office at (973) 403-0390 for more information.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald's and sharing your comments with us. Hopefully, the Shamrock Shake will be offered at your local McDonald's next year.
Brandy
McDonald's Customer Response Center
ref#:3462623
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You wrote:
This is not a complaint about my visit- I just need help. I am in Pittsburgh PA. My brother lives in New York City. He LOVES Shamrock Shakes and claims they dont have any at the McDonalds near him? I would mail him one- Im not sure how. I was thinking I could buy a thermos and freeze it and send it overnight. Before doing that though I wanted to email and see if 1- there is a mcdonalds near him selling them, or 2- if you have a better idea of how to ship one.
Thanks!
marleah
Thank God, no.
This is right up there with that Chicken "Parm" that Burger King offered a while back. I keep waiting for some pre-fab Matzoh Balls from Mickey D's to come out one Passover.
I have been DYING for one of these. I recall asking at a McDonalds the first year they weren't there, and I *think* someone told me there was a problem with the dye or the flavor and that's why it wasn't there that year. You would have thought it would have been figured out by now as that was YEARS ago...hence my fuzzy memory.
Joe's Best Burger on Main Street and Roosevelt in Flushing is having St Patrick's Day shakes. Seems the closest to the McDonald's Shamrock Shake. Advertised on their front window. Went there a few weeks ago to test out the burgers, pretty good and tasty. Decent fries too.
I just called the regional office and they said it's really up to the stores to decide what to do... so you might have to call each one yourself!
No dice at the Union Sq. Mickey D's
i can confirm what #7 said. i didn't try the shake though.
Here are the local McDonalds if you want to call: http://newyork.citysearch.com/yellowpages/results/New_York_NY/american_new/page1.html?flavor_id=2&order=cw1+cw3&cw1=46&cw3=68
Sadly I went through the citysearch list of McDonald's late last week. I kind of gave up after 80% of the people who answered my 15 or so calls didn't even know what a Shamrock Shake was. Yes, I am one of the people who e-mailed Gothamist for help. I want my Shamrock Shake, dammit!
I love you guys for posting about this! I miss the Shamrock Shake! I also enjoyed the Orange shake that was occasionally offered in the South where I grew up...
we have them out here in wonderful northern NJ!
of course chicago has them. i bet they're all over the 'burbs out there as well. Fyi: the fast food dining locations in the midwest are always much better stocked and much nicer. the bk by my old house was one of the first to get those chicken fry things. and the mcdonalds had mcgriddles before i saw them anywhere else. damn you chicago.
You're not misssing anything. I tried one last year while on the road. You may as well drink a tube of mint flavored toothpaste.
another sorely missed McDonald's discontuned masterpiece:
Summer of '02
the CHOCOLATE FUDGE SUNDAE: whole brownie cut up into chunks right in front of you, soft serve vanilla ice cream piled on top, real Reddi Whip from the can sprayed all over til it couldn't no more, hot fudge poured til it puddled up on the sides, peanut chunks sprinkled about, and one whole, stemmed maraschino cherry on top.
All for $1.99.
I ate one every other day in Union Square.
I can only imagine it was discountinuted because of the time it took to make and also there was no standardization when it came to amounts of each layer.
Thanks for letting me tell my story here.
I miss you CHOCOLATE FUDGE SUNDAE....
I talked to the regional manager and she said that the McDonalds at 40th and 7th avenue might be our best bet, as its a corperate location and they often participate in promotions.
If I don't get a Shamrock Shake by St.Patricks day, then I guess I'll get a Mint Chocolate Chip Shake at Baskin & Robins. Sure, its not the real deal. But it is a tasty replacement.
it's a bit off topic, but i still think that mcdonald's would rake in the cash if they offered b'fast food 24/7. imagine being able to get an egg mcmuffin and a hash brown before going to bed after a 3:00 a.m. bender.
I can confirm that the Shamrock Shake rocks.
I'm sorry but it looks like smurf jizz
I remember ordering a Shamrock Shake probably around 12 years ago from the McDonald's in South Station in Boston while waiting for the Amtrak down to New York. Imagine my disappointment and disgust when it turned out not to be mint flavored, but LIME flavored. SHAMrock shake, indeed!
I second Mark's posting -- it really pisses me off that McDonald's breakfast food is only available at limited hours of the day. I can't tell you how many times I've come in around 11 or 11:30 hoping to get pancakes and they're already serving hamburgers! How the heck can you eat a hamburger first thing in the AM???
Forget the shake, what about the original deep-fried apple pie?! In order to get that mouth-scalding goodness you need to run for the border; I've only found them in Mexico (Old, not New).
And don't even get me started on Grimace, the hamburgler, the fry guys, etc.
I second Mark's posting -- it really pisses me off that McDonald's breakfast food is only available at limited hours of the day. I can't tell you how many times I've come in around 11 or 11:30 hoping to get pancakes and they're already serving hamburgers! How the heck can you eat a hamburger first thing in the AM???
[20] Posted by: Adam | March 15, 2006 04:30 PM
****************************************
Really? I think it's much worse that you can't get a hamburger at 10AM.
Went to 7th street & 1st avenue location and was unable to get a shamrock shake there.
You guys should watch Falling Down starring Michael Douglas. It features a scene where the main character shows up at a burger joint literally one minute after they stopped serving breakfast. Hilarious.
I, too, tried calling a couple stores, but then I read that the X-Entertainment guy went on a citywide search last year, adn the closest place he could find was the Woodbridge Mall in....NEW JERSEY.
http://www.x-entertainment.com/
i also want mcdonald's breakfast at all times.
and jimbo, the fried apple pies are the best. i hate the baked ones. you can also get the fried ones in china - kind of a long way to go for an apple pie (but i did eat more than one when i went).
I thought people came to New York to escape this suburban trash-food mentality -- now they're rabid to have it follow them here. Sad.
uuuummmm... get me a shamrock shake with a shot of jamesons up in it.
Do you know what’s really sad?
You all eat McDonald's.
AND you’re all angry they don't serve their putrid breakfast for longer hours.
I'm not a health food nut or anything, but I'm positive their food will kill you faster then smoking will.
"Do you know what’s really sad?
You all eat McDonald's.
AND you’re all angry they don't serve their putrid breakfast for longer hours.
I'm not a health food nut or anything, but I'm positive their food will kill you faster then smoking will.
"
I haven't eaten at a McDonald's or any other fast food restaurant in months. I still want my goddam Shamrock Shake. Give me holiday novelty and get off your high horse.
I miss the peppermint shakes at xmas time as well as the orange and cranberry mcnugget dipping sauce (not that I have eaten a mcnugget in about 12 years)
Do not miss the egg nog milkshakes. Blech
I remember Cranberry McNugget sauce! I came to this page looking for a mention of it; I haven't found any other mention of it on the internet. It was too long before the internet, and too short-lived.
I was a kid and I only had it once and I remember thinking it was awesome.
they are currently selling shamrock shakes in michigan. i'm not sure why they're not avaliable in ny. strange.
are they mint flavored?
I'm from Milwaukee and I asked my co-worker a lifelong New Yorker if she's ever heard of a Shamrock Shake and she had no idea what I was talking about. Were they just a midwest thing? Were they ever available in NYC?
Damn you Gothamist- now I want a Shamrock Shake!
I did see one available near Albany, so they are available in NY State, though I guess not the City.
Then again, why the hell would you want to eat at McDonald's? I went there to get Diet Coke and to use their facilities.
I'm embarassed to know this, but they are available in Scranton, PA. We were there for St. Paddy's Day parade last weekend. My mom used to work for McDonald's Corporate HQ outside Chicago. They piloted all the new offerings - McD's Pizza, McRib, wine, everything. I miss Shamrock shakes...brings me back to my Chicago youth.
My grnadmother would take us for them after the parade in Albany. They were a treat.
I used to get these half Shamrock half chocolate.
Damn those were good.
I had a Shamrock shake a few days ago at the McDonalds on Route 35 in Hazlet, NJ. They were selling them as $1 trial sizes, in addition to the normal sizes. I stopped by there yesterday, and they said they were no longer carrying Shamrock shakes. I grimaced.
I'm from Milwaukee and I asked my co-worker a lifelong New Yorker if she's ever heard of a Shamrock Shake and she had no idea what I was talking about. Were they just a midwest thing? Were they ever available in NYC?
******************************
I'm pretty sure they were.
I had a Shamrock shake a few days ago at the McDonalds on Route 35 in Hazlet, NJ. They were selling them as $1 trial sizes, in addition to the normal sizes. I stopped by there yesterday, and they said they were no longer carrying Shamrock shakes. I grimaced.
[39] Posted by: Roy
****************
You're Grimace? Wow. (No wonder you can get a Shamrock Shake.)
I don't know if any of you have noticed, but the food coloring they use (or at least used to use) is not affected by the human digestive system. Goes in green, comes out green. A former co-worker says his 8 year old went into a panic the day after ingesting a Shamrock Shake. Thought he had a terminal illness or something.
The last time I found a shamrock shake in NYC was 2-3 years ago, 47th street & 6th avenue.
I just sauntered up to a McDonalds counter in Bay Ridge and ordered a Shamrock Shake as if it went without saying that they would have them, it being St. Patrick's and all.
Sadly, they were not as entertainingly confounded as I had hoped. They explained to me that they are a McDonald's Express, which - in this case, at least - means that they don't serve ice cream or Quarter Pounders. (Strangely arbitrary omissions, wot?)
Being out of the loop on ice cream and everything, they gave no indication that they even knew you couldn't get a Shamrock at any area McDonalds -- not even the "full-service" ones.
I accused them of only pretending to be a McDonalds; said I thought they were really a Burger King.
Then I ordered a salad. (Hadda have something green.)
i heard that the reason you can't get shamrock shakes anymore is because the lake on the moon where the green goo comes from is getting dangerously low.
i heard that the reason you can't get shamrock shakes anymore is because the lake on the moon where the green goo comes from is getting dangerously low.
[45] Posted by: mesmerizer | March 17, 2006 12:40 AM
********************************************
You've been misled.
Supplies aren't low but Mayor McCheese is distantly related to the goo in that lake and used his political muscle to have it protected.
Ever year for St.Patricks day my parents would get all the kids a shamrock shake, we very rarely went to McD's as kids and then we continued to have sodabread, corned beef and cabbage for dinner, so it was about the only thing we ate and the only good thing for SURE (as kids tastebuds are special), anyway I've managed to have one every year since, and now that I've moved to NYC I'm disappointed to having no luck with this. Do Long Islanders have it or Philly? I might have to take a trip.
D