OK, they make a tasty burger. I got the Shack Stack, which was a couple of cheeseburgers, a mushroom and cheese thingy that is deep-fried, lettuce, tomato, and shake sauce: mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and special seasonings. As I said, the burger is good. I also tried the Chicago-style dog. It was not so good. The bun was dry, and after eating half a stack, well, it just seemed uninteresting. The real reason I went to the Shack was for the Pie Oh My. It is supposed to be frozen custard with a slice of pie blended in and then topped with whipped cream. On day two of the Shack’s seasonal run, they were mixing in pumpkin pie. Not bad, though when you hear the staff talking about the strawberry-rhubarb pie arriving tomorrow, you feel a bit short-changed. Oh yeah, and what happened to my whipped cream? It was MIA yesterday. I mean, what screams SPRING louder than strawberry-rhubarb pie blended into vanilla custard? I also learned something else: I like sweet cream ice cream/custard with my pie better than vanilla. Vanilla’s a bit overpowering in this scenario. It seems to take away from the mix-ins rather than support them. Mind you, they do not have sweet cream custard at the Shack; I am just expressing my newfound revelation.
What the Shack does have in surplus is memories. The smells remind us of the beach, a backyard barbeque, a trip on Sunday to get a frozen custard or a concrete. We will stand in line for a taste of these memories. And when the taste lives up to the memory, as with the burgers, all the better. More often than not, we end up just waiting in line like lemmings chasing after an elusive whiff of past pleasures.
About the Author
