Steak ‘n Shake Signature

“You can take the boy out of the Midwest, but you can’t take the Midwest out of the boy.”  Joe Lando

Eatery:   Steak ‘n Shake Signature, 1695 Broadway, New York, NY

You would think that, as a child of the Midwest, I would have grown up with Steak ‘n Shake.  You would be wrong, though.  I’m not even sure there were any locations of this very Midwestern chain in the Ohio of my youth – the restaurants were largely Illinois-based for many years.  I discovered Steak ‘n Shake when my mother moved near one in the Cleveland area a few years ago.  Even before actually dining there I loved everything about it – the name, the style of the restaurant, the logo.  My heart skipped a beat when I actually sampled a Steak ‘n Shake burger; it was dreamy.

Steak ‘n Shake has recently entered the New York market, opening up Steak ‘n Shake Signature not even two months ago.  Being a food nerd, I was inordinately excited about this and spent way too much time wondering how I would feel about the burgers stacking up to others in NYC (especially as it’s been a few years since my last visit to a Steak ‘n Shake).  I confess I’ve not done enough research to understand what the “Signature” part of the name is meant to convey, though it seems to have something to do with an intended sleek, contemporary décor for this particular location.  I do know that the NYC outpost of Steak ‘n Shake is significantly smaller than its Midwestern brethren (accommodating only around 15 – 20 guests inside for seating/standing), has a limited menu (if you don’t eat meat, this is probably not the place for you) and serves booze (beer and wine – yay!).   It is also reasonably priced for New York – there is no burger or combo on the menu for more than $5.99 (compare to $7.15 for a similar offering at the Shake Shack in the NYC Theater District).

I ordered the Signature Steakburger ‘n Fries.  The burger is apparently unique to this location – it’s 6 oz. (compared to 4 oz of the Original Steakburger),  uses 100% organic beef and is made with a blend of ribeye and New York strip.  The burger is cooked medium and comes topped with American cheese, the usual veggies (lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion) and a choice of ketchup, mayo or mustard.  As I enjoy living dangerously, I got all three sauces.

Signature Steakburger at Steak 'n Shake (photo by MJ Byers)

The burger was far tastier than the unflattering photo above suggests.  It had that meaty note I like despite all the toppings;  as if all the ingredients worked in harmony with the beef as the featured soloist (in a good way).  Here’s a tip:  don’t remove this burger from its paper sleeve – if you dare try, messy hands will be your reward.  I did taste a bit of a salty note toward the end of feasting on the Signature Steakburger, but nothing too severe.

A word about the fries:  you don’t need them unless you’ve really got the munchies.  They’re not a disaster by any means, but I think they may have been a bit too thinly sliced for my taste (mysteriously limp despite their reasonably crispy texture).  The bigger problem for me, however, was salt – these fries were doused in it.

Steak 'n Shake Fries (photo by MJ Byers)

Price:  Signature Steakburger ‘n Fries, $5.99 before tax.

Destination Burger:  Yes, partly due to the price.

Fat & Calorie Worthy:  Burger:  yep.  Fries: nope.

Optional French Fry Rating:  Skippable.

Today’s Weigh In:  Down two pounds.  If you’re keeping score, I am not even remotely making progress against my 15 lb weight loss goal.  But, hey, God loves a trier.