Shake It Off!

MADISON SQUARE, NYC | Finally! I have finally figured out what it is about the burgers at Shake Shack that both originally appealed to me, then came to sour on me.

Coming from a band client's recording gig last night I took the opportunity to walk through Madison Square Park to snap some nighttime photos and figured I'd order a quick Shackburger® to snap some pics of.

As I was taking these nighttime snapshots, I again marveled at how nicely photogenic these burgers are, and imagined a whole room of people—artists, designers—spending months coming up with exactly how to put this sandwich together to make it "look" perfect.

And then it hit me—I felt the exact same way about the taste of Shake Shack burgers. That the taste was committee-designed, focus-grouped, and market-tested to the extreme before being made available to the public.

Not that there's anything wrong with making sure you have a great product before selling it. Though the burgers possess all of my favorite "S" food properties—salty, savory, sweet, spicy, smoky—they seem universally devoid of one of the most important quality: soul.

What the burgers rightfully boast in looks and pedigree (and, yes, taste), they ultimately lack in personality.