The Line Isn't That Long: DC's Shake Shack Opens

• May 17th 2011

by UrbanTurf Staff

UrbanTurf ran a contest last week in which the winner received a meal at the new DC Shake Shack on us. We also offered to stand in line for the winner, which gave us the excuse to eat there today.

The original Shake Shack is located in Madison Square Park in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan, and is infamous for its long, long lines when it is open during the summer. (There is even an online Shake Shack camera for consumers to check out how long the line is before leaving their desks.) The photo above shows a section of the line around 11:30am today, which was about 50 people deep (despite the intermittent rain), meaning that you were placing your order within 20 minutes of getting in line. When UrbanTurf left around 12:15pm, the line wasn’t much longer than that.

The Shack Burger and fries all lived up to the quality that you would get at the New York outpost. UrbanTurf contest winner JD also got the strawberry shake, which we imagine also did not disappoint. For a limited time, the DC location is offering complimentary custard to 2011 graduates, but proof of graduation (a diploma?) is required.

UrbanTurf overheard a few people, including a member of our group, make comparisons between the Shack Burger and In-N-Out’s famous cheeseburger, but (in our humble opinion) the Shack Burger won out today, which was of course music to Shake Shack COO Randy Garutti’s ears.

“Happy to hear that!” Garutti said as we were heading out the door.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_line_isnt_that_long_dcs_shake_shack_opens/3508.