Shake Shack, a burger-and-shake joint that started in New York City and went public on the stock market earlier this year, is rapidly expanding and set to appear farther west than ever come 2016. That's right: Shake Shack is coming to Los Angeles next year, adding yet another location to its ever-growing list. The chain has already arrived in a ton of East Coast cities, along with Moscow, Istanbul, London, and several countries in the Middle East — so it was really only a matter of time before the Shack finally decided to challenge In-N-Out on its home turf, right?
Shake Shack's expansion to West Hollywood means that Angelenos no longer have to relish their only chance for a Shack Attack frozen custard on trips to Las Vegas or flights that stop in New York's JFK Airport. It also means they'll get to enjoy items that they definitely can't order at the West Coast-based In-N-Out Burger, even if they were in on its "secret" menu. Supplementing the standard burgers, fries, and shakes found at In-N-Out and most fast-food restaurants, Shake Shack's menu has you covered for dessert, happy hour, and even outings with your pet. Ready for these six additions?
1. Environmentally-Friendly Water Bottles
Well, sort of. One percent of the proceeds from sales of Shack|20, Shake Shack's water bottle brand, support the cleanup of water sources throughout the world. Whether this cancels out the environmental effects of using a plastic bottle is questionable. But if you have no other choice, at least you can feel better about your water consumption.
2. Ice Cream!
Let's be real — any New Yorker knows this is what "lunch" at Shake Shack often ends up looking like. Because we all scream for cups, cones, pints to go, malted shakes, root beer floats, and concretes. And if "concrete" sounds rather unappetizing to you, these are actually blends similar to McFlurries that come in signature combinations like "Jelly’s Last Donut," which contains actual donut pieces, strawberry preserves, and cinnamon sugar, as well as make-your-own varieties that can include hazelnut brown butter streusel, cannoli shells, and other toppings you're unlikely to find at a typical ice cream parlor, let alone a fast-food restaurant.
3. Dog Treats
We kid you not: Canine companions are welcome at Shake Shack with the Pooch-ini — a cup of vanilla custard book-ended with dog biscuits and topped with peanut butter sauce — and the Bag O' Bones, which customers can take to go if their dogs couldn't make it to lunch. This is an all-inclusive family restaurant if I ever saw one.
4. Alcoholic Beverages
Shake Shack isn't just a daytime getup; it's also ideal for happy hour with location-specific selections of local brews in addition to its own brands of beer and wine, created jointly with Brooklyn Brewery and Napa Valley's Frog's Leap. Hey, they've already brought the East and West Coasts together.
5. Crinkly fries
The taste is a personal preference, but you've got to admit that these crinkle-cut Yukon potatoes are at least more visually interesting than In-N-Out's flat french fries.
Amirite? In-N-Out's palm tree carton is pretty sweet, though.
6. Chocolate Bars
Shake Shack teamed up with Mast Brothers, which makes its own chocolate out of only cacao and cane sugar in a 100-year-old factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The wrappers contain an artistic image of a Shake Shack building against the New York skyline, so tourists from cities still unoccupied by Shake Shack can bring them back as souvenirs.
7. Alternatives to Hamburgers
It's hard to frequent a fast-food restaurant often when the meal options are hamburger and cheeseburger. But Shake Shack remains true to its roots as a hot dog cart, offering not just your standard hot dog but also its own chicken apple sausage, a Shack-cago Dog that's been "dragged through the garden," and a ShackMeister Dog topped with a cheese sauce. And in addition to its expected hamburger, cheeseburger, and bacon burger offerings, Shake Shack also has a "'shroom burger" for vegetarians.
All right, that's enough talk. I'm hungry.
Images: Giphy; Shake Shack(5); In-N-Out
