Shake Shack Smoke Shack Burger

[MVNYC]

Shack Shack on the UES is offering a new burger with bacon and pepper relish. I tried one and was definitely pleased with it. The bacon was good quality and nicely smoky but what I really liked was the pepper relish. It added a really good brightness to cut through the rich bacon cheeseburger and reminded me of a Balkan cherry pepper spread.

I previously had not been a fan of Shake Shack but someone recently turned me on to ordering the burgers rare. Is it worth the wait on line? I hate lines and wouldn't say so but the UES location is quick.

[rose water]

The UWS location doesn't have lines but the jostling for seats can induce misanthropic rage.

Never knew that you could order burgers rare. Thanks for the tip.

[tpigeon]

I think the rare burger option is a location by location thing. I don't think you have the option at madison square park but I could be wrong.

[MVNYC]

I used to not really care for their burgers until I found this out. The double burger served rare is very juicy and you can actually taste the beef. The fries still suck though.

[tpigeon]

I agree on the burger. The magic happens when it is rare.

[von_levi]

I'm highly skeptical about being able to specify how the burger is cooked. Besides the fact that the menu states that all burgers are cooked medium, it would slow things down if this layer of details was added to the preparation. The insanely long lines would become even longer. Finally, they'd also have to deal with people complaining that the meat isn't rare enough or it's overdone.

[MVNYC]

You can order the burgers rare. They come pinkish/red in the middle and are much juicier than ones not ordered rare.

[tpigeon]

Ok we are lying. You caught us. Next.

[uwsister]

Ha!

I really thought the "insanely long lines" at Shake Shack are a thing of the past - isn't it?

[kathryn]

IIRC some locations can cook to order on a separate grill from the main one, and your order will come out slower if you choose to have it rare, etc.

[tpigeon]

I am from miami but have had ss in nyc. I did not love the burger until I had it rare as burgers cooked medium or higher are dealkillers for me.

The smokeshack was offered in miami and is good but I like the rare regular burger (double shack) better. You can order the smokeshack rare as well...

I believe the smokeshack in your location is going to be offered for only a limited time because that was what I was told in miami and now it is no longer served.