One of the things I miss about living in New York is the fact that Shake Shack is not a thing where I currently live. This means that I am missing out on Shake Shack's new ChickenShack sandwich, which debuted today exclusively at the burger joint's three Brooklyn locations — one of which, of course, is right by my old apartment. Why must you taunt me so, Shake Shack? Why? It's just so cruel!
According to a press release unleashed upon the world today under the title "Flock This Way!", the ChickenShack is a “crispy all-natural and antibiotic-free chicken breast with lettuce, pickles, and buttermilk herb mayo.” It looks golden and magnificent, and I am so sad that I am unable to shove one in my face right now. It's not that there aren't any Shake Shack locations in the state of New Jersey; indeed, there are actually three of them. However, they are all roughly an hour and a half away from me, and, well… I'm probably not the only person who can't realistically take a three-hour lunch break just to acquire a beautiful-looking sandwich.
Oh, and did I mention that also available exclusively at the Shack's Brooklyn outposts is the Brooklyn Pie oh My concrete? It consists of a vanilla frozen custard blended with a slice of strawberry balsamic pie from Four and Twenty Blackbirds — which, incidentally, I also used to live near, and which remains my favorite pie shop in the history of the universe. Man, Shake Shack. You're not pulling any punches today, are you?
(Just kidding. I still love you, even if we must love from afar these days.)
As I previously mentioned, the ChickenShack is only available at the Shack's Brooklyn locations; furthermore, you'll only be able to get a hold of it for a limited time. Why such a short and limited release? The jury's still out on that one, but Business Insider suspects it might be a test for a bigger release later on. “By making the ChickenShack a permanent menu item,” Haley Peterson theorizes, “Shake Shack would be taking direct aim at Chick-fil-A, the leader in the fast food chicken market. The popular Atlanta-based chain surpassed KFC last year to become the number one chicken chain in the U.S.” And let's not forget that Wendy's is in the mix, too; I recently discovered that pretty much any sandwich using their spicy chicken breast as a base is pretty delicious.
In any event, we'll just have to wait to see whether or not the ChickenShack sticks around. In the meantime, if you live in or around New York and have the ability to make it to Brooklyn sometime soon, go! Eat! Pray! Love! Something tells me the ChickenShack is totally worth it.
Images: shakeshack/Instagram; Giphy
