Some love it to the point of being freakishly cultish. Others don't see what the big deal is. But everyone can agree on one thing: you can do plenty of productive things with the time you spend waiting on line to get a burger at Shake Shack.
We checked in hamburger expert Adam Kuban of A Hamburger Today, who wrote last week, "Ai yah. It hasn't even opened yet, I'm already getting sick of the frakkin' hype surrounding the Shake Shack..." We asked him what his, uh, beef was with Shake Shack and he said he doesn't have a beef - he just hates the hype: "New Yorkers seem unusually susceptible to hype. Shake Shack is just part of it. Recall, if you will, Krispy Kreme, Beard Papa, Pinkberry. Any cupcake shop ..." Fair enough. Then we asked Kuban what he thought of the new vibrating beepers the Shack is providing, to let customers know when to pick them up:
I think the new tech things are great! They'll will go a long way to alleviating the pile-up around the pick-up window. Instead of waiting to hear your name -- while secretly worrying that someone will identity-thieve your order -- you now have a secure wireless burger-notification system. Bravo!
Interesting - we thought it was close to a shark-jumping moment, given that these beepers are at Outback Steakhouses and other big chain restaurants.
Whatever your opinion, we feel obliged to let you know that, although the official opening is this Wednesday, Eater reported earlier and we received email confirmation that they'll be serving at noon today. Send us your cameraphone pictures and/or reports from Shackburger Central!
Update: the greasy-finger blogger phonecam shots are starting to roll in. Here's the money-shot of the buzzer and table from Kottke:
Here's a whole lot of frozen dairy product, courtesy of Adam Kuban:
And of course, a whole table full of burgers by Keith-- Tien Mao could probably demolish these by himself in 20 minutes:
And how about a fry shot?
Anyway, that's about the size of it. Unless Shake Shack gets hit by a meteor, a triple homicide occurs there, or the place is closed down because of a rat infestation, you won't be hearing about it again from us. For at least a week.
