Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Adding any subset of "bleu cheese, chopped olives, onions or mushrooms, bbq or steak sauce, or catsup, worstershire, chipotle tabasco sauce"
to ground meat results in meatloaf, not a hamburger.

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.)

@tulsa--i've been to gorilla burger! probably the same one-i always stay in palm springs when i attend the coachella festival there in the spring. never noticed the blu job tho-rather hilarious. :)

I was in Palm Springs a few weeks ago and this place called Gorilla Burger had a funny one. Their slogan is something like "You can't beat our meat" they also had a burger called the "Blu Job" Interesting...

Their onion rings are pretty delicious.

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?

I think the real issue with french fries - whether they go into the fryer frozen or fresh - is when did they come OUT of the fryer? I've had plenty of fresh hand-cut fries that were unsatisfying because they'd gotten cold or overcooked.

But the frozen ones I had at the UWS Shake Shack Monday night were perfect - hot, crispy, and delicious. The last couple orders I got at the original SS weren't good, but it was because they'd gotten cold. The same goes for McDonald's, actually. Hot ones are good, cold ones are bad. To me, fries are always a gamble. Get two burgers or an extra scoop of custard instead!

Also? Shake Shack opening one block from my apartment has made my life complete.

What EazyB said @ 1:28 p.m. Perfectly put. I don't know if I've ever found a fry I like more than a perfectly fried McD's fry. And that's frozen as hell. If the Shack went to those fries, I'd actually order them.

I think the fries are good, not great. If it keeps the price down on the burgers and shakes, then i am all for the "business decision."

I absolutely love McDonald's fries (the only thing i will eat at that place), so maybe i don't mind frozen fries. I have had plenty of terrible fresh fries as well.

Shake Shack fries are mediocre, but I wouldn't place the blame on being frozen. McDonald's fries are frozen and they're something I've seen devout vegans rave over even as they pillory the company as whole. I thoroughly enjoy the Burger Joint's McDonald'sesque fries and they too are undeniably the frozen variety.
I like the idea of fresh fries more than I ever enjoy the outcome because I think fresh cut fries are hard to do well. The exception being double fried Belgian frites or their American offshoot, the Boardwalk fries of the Mid-Atlantic. The double frying seems key in making a fresh spud a great fry. That and peanut oil as the frying medium.
Regardless, Shake Shack could make a great frozen fry or great fresh fry, they just choose not to.

I'm with Mr. Kuban. These fries are mediocre on their best days. Spend your calories elsewhere.

Vera's sucks. It's so overrated.

@gerald: I don't see the deconstruction on that site. Are you sure it's there? What is the direct link to it?