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On Thursday we were planning on meeting one of our pals in Gramercy for lunch, so we suggested Shake Shack. Quick as lightning came his response: "You are totally nuts if you think we can get done with Shake Shack in less than 1 1/2 hours :)" That seemed strange to us, so we did a little research, and surprisingly, his estimate seems correct-- average weekday waiting times for a burger in Madison Square Park are approaching one hour-- when you throw in the time it takes to order and receive the food, and then actually eat it, you are looking at a 90 minute experience. Yikes! This being New York, a bunch of people have come up with solutions to the waiting time problem. Take for instance this idea, by David:
Congestion Pricing. Charge different prices based on how long the line is. Each person can judge whether it's in their best interests to jump in line or go find something else. People who are willing to spend more money will go whenever they like. People who wish to spend less money will go at less convenient times, or when it's raining. Although usually mentioned for targeting traffic jams during rush hour, I think it could help inside Madison Square park as well.
That's clever, but not likely to happen any time soon. Here are some simpler ideas we came up with:
1. Homeless people in Madison Square Park should get on line with signs saying "I'll order for you for $10". Five people could just ride the line all afternoon, and people who wanted to pay more for speed could do so. This would also work with unemployed post-college students! Win-win!
2. Internet ticketing: you could order your burger at like 9am, and pick it up at a special "Will Call" window. This would allow Shake Shack to more smoothly predict the demand each day, and they could prepare your burger in advance and keep it warm for you.
3. Line monitoring: you should be able to check the length of the line over the internet-- ShakeWatchers is a good start, but we need a live web-cam trained on the line at all times. Gothamist will pay $200 to the first person to setup a dedicated webcam and hosts in at Gothamist-- any takers?
Okay, that's the best we can do. Let's see you come up with a better idea!
Image from WhatISee.
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Unless the burgers can add years to your lives or something, no "fast" food is worth this complete waste of time. Stop being a lemming and just stay away from the Shack.
No, THIS burger IS worth it.
If you've got nothing better to do, I can think of worst ways to spend an hour out in the sun.
Not always, but as a treat now and then, I'll get in line and wait.
magnolia shack.
yeah why dont you just wait for it to rain. or go after 5pm. like big whoop. these suggestions are idiotic.
"No, THIS burger IS worth it."
No, it's not. It's a fucking hamburger. I've had them, yes ... they're awesome. 20 minutes to wait and it's worth it. An hour and a half?? Please, stop it.
It's not worth it. It's a good burger, but not even on par with In-N-Out. This is the best the city has to offer? pitiful.
>>>or go after 5pm.
I was there at 5.15 on Tuesday and the line was easily 30 minutes long.
They need to implement the custard-only line again. I find that to be very effective.
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The original designs for Shake Shack had the place to be sizably bigger to accomodate larger crowds. Alas Danny Meyer stupidly did not sign off on thos plans, opting for the two cashier establishment that we currently have to slave to.
*sigh*
*those
>>It's a good burger, but not even on par with In-N-Out.
In-N-Out is SO overrated.
Best solution: quit your corporate job and freelance. That way you can eat an early or late lunch and miss the huge crowds between 11:30 and 2. I've been at about 3:30 and the wait is less than 20 minutes.
Well, the obvious solution is more Shake Shacks!
Ugh. This seems to happen every year. The line eventually shortens a bit once the hype surrounding the season opener dies down. I like to go when summer Fridays start at my office and I get out at 2:30. By the time I get down to the Shack at 3 p.m., the wait is tolerable.
"No one goes there anymore--it's too crowded"
- Yogi Berra
Any wait over 15 minutes for a hamburger is nuts.
Don't know about other people, but I've only got an Hour for Lunch and I'd hardly waste it on a line...
how about they just hire people that can make a hot dog in under 8 minutes... or even better.. more than one at a time..
just imagine if a hot dog cart guy pulled that kind of crap.
I'm all for fresh and cooked to order, but that place is pure sloth
It's not sloth, but a very small grill that makes the wait so long.
assign a associate or intern to do your work and have a 2 hour lunch in the park like a real executive... business happens over burgers.
The obvious solution is to wait in an hour-and-a-half line at Trader Joe's on 14th first to buy a bottle of cheap ass wine that you can drink while waiting in another hour-and-a-half line at Shake Shack. Sure, by the time you get back from your 3 hour lunch you'll be unemployed, but you'll be drunk and full so you won't care that much.
Friend of mine works near Mad Sq Park. When he gets a takeout lunch, it's from Bonobo's.
All your solutions suck monkey dung. they have so many fallacies. The best thing would for Shake shack to expand or for some knockoff to use almost the same ingredients and open up nearby. An hour and a half waiting with ugly hideous new yorkers is too much.
http://www.shackwatchers.com/ - as reported on Eater.
Yeah, it IS only a fucking hamburger.
I guess people must think that waiting in this line fortifies their foodie persona. Like they're SO dedicated to 'the perfect hamburger' that they'll wait an hour & 1/2 to get it.
And when you think about the long term effects of meat & cholesteral - it's like a 50/50 heart attack chance. No thanks.
Sometimes, when a line is too long, I will go somewhere else, with a smaller line.
the new premium chicken classics from mcdonald's taste almost as good as a shack burger! I can't believe it!
best solution would be to bulldoze the shake shack and have a frosty across the street at wendys.
or you can take the 7 minute walk to the "Burger Joint" on the east side of 3rd avenue and 20th street and get some delicious sirloin burgers for a $1.25 and then carry them back to the park.
they are sliders and three of them should do the trick.
In N out is incredible. Anyone who sincerely disagrees with that has serious problems with admitting NY can't make a good burger. You can make a good pizza, but the burgers leave something to be desired.
american Burger at 31st and broadway is pretty good too. Too many mexicans eat there though. so if you are racist against latinos stay away.
Step 1: On your way to the Shake Shack line make a detour to Wendy's across the stree
Step 2: Take a seat on the second floor of Wendy's with a view of the park and the line.
Step 3: Enjoy your satisfying $1 salad and $1 yogurt with crunchies and gloat at the suffering posers on line.
or the half pound burger at Eisenberg's on Fifth across the street
I guess Gothamist thinks that those useless "solutions" are "witty" so we can skip the whole illogical part.
Best thing Shake Shack can do is either move to a bigger place or open another location.
With the money that flows in there everyday, they can afford it.
or you can take the 7 minute walk to the "Burger Joint" on the east side of 3rd avenue and 20th street and get some delicious sirloin burgers for a $1.25 and then carry them back to the park.
they are sliders and three of them should do the trick.
*********************************
Burget Joint is great.
However, there is some inconsistency arising from the varying skill levels of the griddle-tenders. (Good name for a new fast food product -- "Griddle Tenders".)
Actually the solution is to take the Long Island Railroad to the Huntington Station, go to Conte's Burger Haven and come back to midtown. Total travel time: 2:30 and you get to spend a lot of time safely using your laptop on the train, catching up on reading or sleeping.
Conte's used to have the best burgers-not as good as they once were but definitely on par or better than Shake Shack, In-N-Out;
Alternate option: All-American Burger in Massapequa (aka MatzohPizza-where you can drive by the former location of Hal Seinfeld's (Jerry's Dad) Sign Shop "Seinfeld's Signs" and also visit the high school where Jerry and brothers Alec, Stephen, William (Billy) & Daniel Baldwin attended and their dad was a social studies teacher, and also the football coach).
The burgers are worth the trip: total travel time: 1 hour each way (2 Hours) plus about 25 minutes to get your food and get back on another train (otherwise it's another 25 minutes until the next one-assuming you take the 11AM from Penn Station).
The shack rocks. Don't be hatin.
I have not had to wait more than ten min.at the Shake Shack. The longest ever was for five minutes. I remember that I had to catch my express bus. The burger was good, but not as good as OutBack Steak House. I would wait for OutBack burgers. That is only because they are good and I get to sit while I wait. No other burger would have me wait more than 15min. and that's tops. I guess it depends on the time of year and time of day that you frequent the Shake Shack. In New York City, unless your company provides lunch or you bring your lunch, you can expect to stand in a long line and wait, especially if the buz is out on the new establishment. However, if Shake Shack wanted to speed up the time, my first suggestion would be to make a rotiserred burger. That way the burgers would "be up" everyhour on the hour and they would be able to serve as many as fifty at a time. And/Or they would have to allow people to dress their own buns and burger on a assembly line type set up that continuously moves. Or give all topings to go, including lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese. Then they could use a well done line, medium line, and rare line. One price which includes fries and drink. Last resort, higher the man power.
mmmm....double shack burger. i'll wait 30 minutes, no more.
Outback? Outback is Foul. I've never had a truly outstanding burger in New York, either.
Outback sucks, it's not even a real burger it's a burger pattie that is never even moist. The shack is amazing and I can usually afford to waste 2-3 hours for lunch (high level I.T.). Jackson hole also makes a huge mound of meat that tastes decent if you go when it's not crowded
the owners of this famed shack are playing the Ian & steve rubel old studio 54"game on the same new yorkers that gave them this fame don't be a slave to the game they need marketing help