Food & Drink
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Shake Shack’s Seattle-Only Burger Is Worth the Wait
This all-local burger from an international chain justifies the long lines it attracts
This article originally appeared in the January 2019 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the January 2019 issue. Click here to subscribe.
Unless I’m in another country waiting for the street-food stall everyone has recommended, I’m decidedly anti-queuing. I don’t want to line up for brunch. Definitely not for Chick-fil-A. But having never experienced Shake Shack, I felt a professional obligation to wait in line with everyone else when the chain opened a South Lake Union outlet in October.
Whereas the ShackBurger is the same whether you eat it in New York or Las Vegas or Dubai, the buttery, indulgent, Seattle-only Montlake Double Cut Burger ($10.99) is an entirely local experience: double patties made from small-farm Washington beef, caramelized onions, a mayo/mustard blend and Beecher’s Just Jack cheese, all swaddled in a Macrina brioche bun. This burger is made in limited quantities daily—better line up early. South Lake Union, 2115 Westlake Ave.
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