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Cuz burgers, shakes, and bbq just sounds like summer doesn’t it? So to celebrate the warm weekend weather, we made our way out to the Shake Shack (or as Robo and I call it, Shake Restaurant) on the West side. I’ve never been too impressed with their burgers and here’s why: the veggies (L and T) are fresh, bun is ok, burger patty is thin but moderately juicy, but overall a smallish, untimidating burger. Also, the special “shack sauce” on the Shackburger is definitely just ketchup and mayonnaise. We got a picture of it anyway =) Note: There was a fair hosted by the nearby middle school a block away selling hotdogs, burgers, and chicken so we ate some there – support the little kiddies =P
Shake time! The “Concrete Jungle” is my favorite: a blend of hot fudge, bananas and peanut butter which is sweet, nutty, creamy, and disarmingly white. You would expect that they’d load this up with fudge so that it becomes dark but the lack of color is probably a good thing (btw its only available at the Madison Square Park location). Robo’s favorite is the “Upper West Side” and has vanilla custard, strawberry and banana, and shortbread. We recently tried their Red Velvet custard and was sort of disappointed..it tasted mostly like vanilla custard with pieces of red velvet cake smooshed in. Tasty, but I was hoping for some cream cheese flavor =( That concludes the lunch portion of this entry.
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Virgil’s BBQ – Best freakin’ (dry-smoked) bbq in the city. They serve several different styles of bbq but I’m a fan of the dry-smoked Memphis pork ribs and chicken. Some prefer wet-basted bbq but I prefer not wear bbq sauce on my hands, thankyouverymuch. Virgil’s bbq sauce is awesome and I can’t really explain it – just tangy, savory goodness. When we go, Robo and I share the Virgil’s Pig Out platter, which is a meal and half for us: Memphis dry-smoke ribs and chicken, Texas beef brisket, pulled pork, and sausage. The ribs are huge and have beautiful red smoke rings on them; chicken is juicy but the skin isn’t very crispy (sadness). The beef brisket can get dry on the inside, even though the outside is coated with sauce. The pulled pork is great but the pork sausage is the real deal – juicy, meaty, dark red casing, and slightly spicy (it’s usually the first thing to be devoured). Also, the cornbread is delicious – speckled with whole kernels of corn and tiny shreds
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