Shake Shack: Is It Worth the Hype?

 

Where: Shake Shack, East 86th Street, Upper East Side

What: By now, you’ve already heard of Shake Shack. With thirteen locations in New York alone and more across the East Coast and abroad, they’re quickly becoming a leader in the competitive burger arena. It seems whenever you go to a Shake Shack, there’s always a line sprawling out the door or across the park. You might be wondering: is it worth the hype? We stopped by their Upper East Side location to find out.

Although the line was long, we moved quickly to the front of the store. Shake Shack’s menu boasts a wide variety of options for a burger joint. In addition to regular burgers, they also offer hot dogs and mushroom burgers. The restaurant chain distinguishes itself through its specialty menu items, chef collaborations, and constantly changing custard menu. We got the classic combo of Shack Burgers, fries, and two different custards. One of us got the chocolate mint fudge as a shake and the other got the limited-time Staple concrete, a mixture of vanilla custard, raspberry jam, and Doughnut Plant’s black sesame donut. The fries were of the freshly hand-cut variety. Some Shake Shacks still serve their signature crinkle cut fries, which will be making a comeback to all locations this November.

Like all other Shake Shack experiences we’ve had, this visit was simply delicious. The burgers were buttery, the fries were crispy, and the custard creamy. Whether it’s your first time or you’ve lost count, Shake Shack is a reliable New York burger staple that shouldn’t be missed.

A.B. Biagi: Best of Gelato

  

 

Where: A.B. Biagi, 235 Elizabeth Street, NoLita

What: An escape from the busy intersection of Houston and Bowery, A.B. Biagi offers a delicious and adorable rest spot. The gelato shop serves classic flavors, including chocolate and pistachio, as well as seasonal flavors. In addition to traditional cream-based gelato, Biagi also has sorbet selections. We tried the strawberry sorbet and almond gelato. Both were rich, refreshing, and perfectly sweet. Although we both ordered smalls, the cups served very generous portions of wonderful frozen dessert. Biagi differs from the multitude of ice cream offerings in the city with the simplicity of its menu and quality of its treats.

Down the street from one of our favorites, Tacombi, A.B. Biagi’s bright yellow exterior grabs your attention. Its outdoor seating also offers the perfect perch to watch NoLita’s happenings. Inside, the standing space is small but beautifully decorated with fresh flowers and large chalkboards. Come into A.B Biagi having felt the rush of NYC and leave feeling as though you’ve stepped out of a quaint European gelato shop.

Popbar: Best of Gelato

 

Where: Popbar, 5 Carmine St., West Village

What: Popbar puts an elegant, colorful spin on your typical popsicle. Popbar uses gelato, sorbetto, and yogurt as the bases for their treats and allows you to add chocolate and toppings to customize your pop. Some of their flavors included mint, hazelnut, blood orange, and strawberry yogurt. You can get dark, milk, or white chocolate dippings to cover either half or your entire popsicle. Get it topped with almonds, granola, chocolate sprinkles, coffee grains, shredded coconut, or pistachios. We got a dulce de leche gelato with milk chocolate and almonds, along with a mixed berry sorbetto with dark chocolate and shredded coconut. The dulce de leche was creamy, while the mixed berry was refreshingly icy. Both combinations worked very well together, providing the perfect summer treat.

The actual store was small with a few seats at a bar facing the window. Once you ordered, the employees dipped and topped your creation right in front of your eyes. Otherwise, the small interior of Popbar invites you to cross the street to enjoy your pop in the adjacent park.

Big Gay Ice Cream Shop: Best of Ice Cream

Where: Big Gay Ice Cream Shop, 61 Grove St., West Village

What: At first glance, Big Gay looks underwhelming with only a few simple ice cream flavors. Once you look at their chalkboard, however, you’ll realize their menu allows thousands of combinations. Big Gay sells their signature selections, but you can also mix and match according to your imagination. Their unusual toppings, including red chile pistachios, elder flower syrup, olive oil and sea salt, and fig/blood orange balsamic, are surprisingly delicious and work well with the chocolate and vanilla soft serves. We ordered the American globs and the rocky roadhouse. American globs was vanilla ice cream, sea salt, extra dark pretzels, and chocolate dip which we also added dulce de leche topping to. Rocky roadhouse was chocolate ice cream, almonds, marshmallows, and chocolate bits. Despite the cone, these treats were a little top-heavy, so the paper dish they came in was very useful. The soft serve was just as good as the next shop’s, but what made these cones fun and delicious were the topping combinations.

The shop itself was bright and colorful and the employees were cheerful. Ask them for suggestions if you’re having trouble choosing. Besides their ice cream, they also have shakes, ice cream floats, and ice cream sandwiches. In order to try the unlimited options and flavors, you’ll want to keep coming back to Big Gay.