Shake Shack’s 1st Drive-thru will be in Orlando

Guess who is finally embracing drive-thru food culture? Since you already read the title, you know the answer is Shake Shack. So let’s break down what we know so far:

  1. Expect the drive-thru to open in mid-late 2021 at Vineland Pointe in Orlando, Florida.
  2. The inaugural Shake Shack drive-thru will have a digital menu board along with a two-lane ordering system and a ventanita pick up window.
  3. Shake Shack’s new enhanced digital order application Shack Track will allow users to order via their website and app with the option to pick up via curbside, walk-up, or drive-up window.
  4. Recycled and sustainable materials will make up the 3300 square foot restaurant.
  5. If dining outside is your thing, there will be an outdoor patio with plenty of seating.
  6. The plan is to add four to seven more drive-thrus across the U.S. before year-end.
Shake Shack Drive-Thru
Shake Shack Drive-thru picture courtesy of Shake Shack

As soon as I hear any news concerning the official grand opening information I will update this post.

My thoughts about Shake Shack in All About the Burger

Miami wasn’t exactly a hotbed of burger activity until Shake Shack announced the opening of a South Beach Shake Shack location with the tagline MIAMI has a new VICE in neon green. It was November 2009, and a good two and a half years after their people’s choice win at the Super Bowl of burger competitions, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival Burger Bash.

Shake Shack had made a name for itself online with foodies. They had taken the burger concept to its most primordial state, with great simple ingredients all dressed up in a neon package. The lines for the original stand in New York’s Madison Square Park were ridiculous, and there was even a shack cam so you could go online and see exactly how long the line was.

What’s the Shake Shack Burger like?

The burger was something special. Shake Shack had enlisted wholesale meat purveyor Pat LaFrieda to create a proprietary blend of beef for Shake Shack. Suddenly, everyone had to have a proprietary blend burger on their menu if they were going to be serious about being in the burger business.

The beef was seasoned, then smashed on a stainless-steel flat-top, cooked, and topped with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and ShackSauce on a buttered and toasted Martin’s Potato Roll. Then it was served in a little wax bag that made it easy to eat the ShackBurger.

All I would hear my friends visiting New York was how Shake Shack’s line was worth the wait. I finally ate a ShackBurger at the South Beach Burger Bash in February 2010. I wasn’t impressed, but a few months later when they opened up in Miami Beach, I became addicted. Marcela didn’t “get” the Shake Shack love I had. Then one day, all of a sudden, she was in love too.

Shake Shack Copycats

You could tell Shake Shack was onto something when a bunch of haters came out of the woodwork on social media to trash them. Much like White Castle and McDonald’s before them, a wave of imitators sprang up, copying details down to the color scheme, the burgers’ look, and the items on the menu.

Shake Shack has now become the gold standard. When they open up in a neighborhood, they embrace it by partnering with local businesses on dishes and using locally made products to make a special frozen custard flavor. Their cult following is now global and is similar to the passionate following of In-N-Out.

Shake Shack has shown us what a burger company can be, and in turn, they’ve kicked up the burger game to the next level. A large part of the reason for their success is the three-headed monster that is Danny Meyer (Chairman of the Board), Randy Garutti (CEO), and Mark Rosati (Culinary Director of Shake Shack), arguably the best trio in the food industry.

PS: I do not own any stock in Shake Shack.

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