Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I realize that I'm going to upset a lot of people, but I ate here last week, after reading the slew of favorable reviews and truly believe that this place is a triumph of hype over content. I'm from out of town, out of state, in fact out of country, but I've been coming to your fair city for almost thirty years now and I used to rate the burgers at the late lamented McHale's as the best in town, so was interested to try this company's much-lauded offerings. I ordered a cheeseburger, medium, with fries, a root-beer and retired to wait for the pager to buzz. (Side note to the owners: when there's a long line, it doesn't sit well with the other customers when a friend of the serving staff wanders in off the street, goes up to the counter, engages three of the staff in conversation and gets his burger almost immediately while people waiting on line are ignored.) By the time I got my order, I was pretty hungry and found a place to sit and eat. What I encountered was a mouthful of heavily salted greasy sludge in a cheap bun, with the cheese as a fatty and tasteless covering. The fries were also smothered in salt, but otherwise tasteless and if I hadn't already guessed that they were frozen, the guy wheeling the piled-high cartons labeled "Frozen Potato Products" or something similar around the kitchen would have given me a big clue.

The root-beer, despite far too much ice, was actually rather good, but the rest of the meal made me feel decidedly queasy. If this is really what you consider to be a great burger, then I fear for your nation's health. A better name for this place might well be Heart-Attack Shack.

(I should mention that I also find the burgers in Le Parker Meridien's Burger Joint to be overrated, but they don't seem to suffer from the same sort of mania that this place generates and they're far, far less greasy.)

it does seem like they're trying to figure out something that works--'the deal' changes each time i receive e-mail from them..the convenience of having
their resources online may be worth some charge, though i can't see it
for mag subscribers..i've also found that between BEST RECIPE and BAKING ILLUSTRATED (two cookbooks i'd take to the desert island) that
most everything can be found--at least it's more expedient than searching
through piles of old issues! amazon sells both used (like new) very inexpensively, and they are definitely worth the one time expenditure.

I have been a subscriber to CI for more years than I can remember, and have kept every single issue I have received. So it seems strange that I would subscribe to the website, but I really find it useful. That being said, I completely agree with the previous comments regarding horrible customer service.

I have had adequate, but not stellar customer service regarding questions (we move a lot as we are a military family -- FYI -- call several months in advance if you want to get it at your new location without a break in service). My biggest problems have always been when it came to their BOOKS; I have received two books that I had declined from telemarketing calls. I finally complained loud enough, I think, that they don't send them anymore. When they sent me a chicken cookbook that I had declined, they wanted ME to pay the shipping back. I flat out refused, so they sent a shipping bill to return it.

I finally cancelled Cook's Country (probably because finding the rooster every month was becoming too much of an obsession! HA!) because it seemed redundant to CI, and we're not a big casserole family -- too much similarity to Taste of Home for my tastes (which has a FREE website, BTW). I think it is absolutely idiotic that the two sites aren't tied together under the same subscription, and that there is no subscription break for magazine subscribers.

I agree fresh fries can be miles better. But with one big caveat:

It's pretty cramped in the original shack. If adding fresh fries took up more space from the other goodness I say no way.

BTW, hit the Shack in the park today. Saturday afternoon and I just strolled up to the window and ordered. Hey-heeyyy! Of course, it was like freaking zero and dark out. I sat under the new outdoor heaters and imagined they were working, along with a handful of other desperate burger freaks. I'm sure we were all thinking the same thing: "Shack burgers - no wait! Awesome! Hey, I can't feel my nose, but this burger is great!"

I loved every perfect, frozen, painful, beefy second of it.

Worst fries ever. I suppose they're marginally edible if you coat them in the cheese sauce that invariably becomes congealed by the end of your meal. Interestingly enough, In-N-Out's fries are similarly sub-par compared to the rest of their menu's offerings. But at least their fries are fresh and made to your preferred done-ness. Honestly, I don't care if they're fresh...but they should at least taste good. At nearly $3 for the fries (after the Shack's latest price increase) you'd think they'd be able spring for a bit more quality, you know?

Freelance holistic therapist

Well, Thomas Keller uses frozen fries at his restaurants, and he's arguably the best chef in the country, so... I'd say it's probably not that big of a deal.

Thanks again for the support everyone.

@ Hillary you are right but if BK wants to fly me to London to try it out I promise to keep an open mind....

Nick,
I am so happy to see someone reviewing that has so much knowledge in beef and burgers. 2 THUMBS UP! Gonna have to go to Joes real soon.

MayaMo