Shake Shack Prematurely Opens, Shows Its Wands

The ka'abah of burgers, the Shake Shack, opened yesterday, two days ahead of schedule. Already the lines were long—not Kate Moss long but long nonetheless. Today (with Richard Blakeley) we trekked up there to see if the burgers are as good as last year (they are) and to see if the place is as filthy as last year (it's not). Some new tricks are afoot, most notably the Shack Wands which vibrate lasciviously when your order's up. Also: potato buns for hot dogs, wind power and organic trans-fat free fries and the challenges of drinking root beer floats as a Jew. More »

BREAKING: Shake Shack Burgers NOT Full of Doody

We just received the following letter from Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group in reference to the news about Shake Shack. After the jump, Meyer, generally considered one of the nicest guys in the New York restaurant industry (a distinction essentially earned by not yelling any of the thousands of Spanish-language slurs for "homosexual" at back of the house staff), explains the recent poor inspection. More »

Shake Shack Only 2nd Dirtiest Restaurant in NYC

Did you enjoy your burger at lunch? Good, cause beloved Madison Square Park infinite queue generator Shake Shack scored a filthy-gorgeous 140 violation points on its July health inspection. The only venue with more violations was Brooklyn's Candilejas, which weighs in with a brawny 610 points. It only takes 28 violation points to trigger a mandatory follow-up compliance inspection; the Shack racks up the impressive score with the full monty of bad equipment, vermin and insect infestation, and food workers slingin' hash with hands that are either snotty, grubby, pissy, or poopy (apologies for the technical hygiene jargon). Might be time to reconsider Corner Bistro. More »

Venture Capitalist Auditions For Gothamist Writing Staff

Via city food blog Eater, we find these musings from a venture capitalist Fred Wilson about how to do a business lunch at the Shake Shack. We're just going to quote directly: More »

Remainders: Next, She'll Dye Baby's Hair to Match

• Britney's ratty brown wig is not a wig. Smart move: split ends are harder to see when you hair's dark. [Us Weekly] More »