The new burger is part of a “limited edition lineup” of Texas-y barbecue options at the Dallas Shake Shack, including BBQ bacon cheese fries and an equally saucy chicken sandwich. The burger is topped with crispy, beer-marinated shallots and a thick and sweet barbecue sauce. I watch as they pump Shake Shack’s white cheese sauce (it was in slow motion, or at least it felt that way) over the fries.
As it turns out, the only thing that’s “barbecue” about these new options is the barbecue sauce, but who really expected Shake Shack to run a smoker, anyway?
Barbecue sauce doused on a burger can be overwhelming. Last year, a novelty burger at Snuffer’s tasted like it had been hit with a Super Soaker filled with Sweet Baby Ray’s. The beef barely came through. Shake Shack’s burger has tangy, sweet sauce restraint. There’s just enough to lubricate the threads of crispy shallots. It adds flavor; it doesn’t wash out the meat.
The BBQ ShackMeister has the griddle-smash and the American cheese, and that’s all it needs. The crinkle-cut fries, vacation-lounging in their creamy cheese sauce and the same sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, are shout-expletives-at-strangers good. The bacon, showered on top of the fries, has expertly crispy edges. These fries are undeniably addictive.
Shake Shack’s new menu kicked off on Feb. 7, and it includes three seasonal milkshake flavors:
Mint Cookies & Cream, a mint frozen custard blended with chocolate wafer cookie crumbles and topped with whipped cream; Mud Pie, a marshmallow frozen custard blended with fudge and coffee, topped with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles; and Salted Vanilla Toffee, a salted vanilla frozen custard blended with toffee and topped with whipped cream.Shake Shack, 2500 N. Pearl St.
