Shake Shack

Has anyone done them with a brand new restaurant? They just opened one here in October and the lines are insane b/c it's the first one in our State! It's full reimbursement plus $18 so not bad for a fast food shop. But is it going to be worth my time if I have to stand in a long line?

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That's an absolutely personal decision you get to make for yourself.

I am not familiar with this shop at all; but ask yourself what you know about the FF shops for that MSC - are they usually an easy shop? Or are the reports a lot to fill out? Otherwise, like ceasesmith said; you just have to decide for your self

(As an aside, I've eaten at Shake Shack only once. I thought the burger was decent but small and pricey, so I personally would probably do the shop simply because I'd be curious what I thought if the food was "free"

When I started doing the Shake Shack in my area it had only been open for a few months. The lines were VERY long! (They've since lessened.) I have one assigned shop per month, and consider it a nice treat.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

We had a restaurant that just open up here about a month ago. Many years ago we had 3 of them and all of them closed. When it open back it there have been people waiting 2 and three hours to get food.. The lines have lessened here I may give it a couple of more weeks before I go.

What is Shake Shack? Is it like Five Guys?

Wow! When I said I stood in a long line, it was more like 15 minutes.

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

We had a restaurant that just open up here about a month ago. Many years ago we had 3 of them and all of them closed. When it open back it there have been people waiting 2 and three hours to get food.. The lines have lessened here I may give it a couple of more weeks before I go.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

Lines usually move pretty fast. I finally went to our new one which had a line although it was open for almost a year before I got the assignment. In any case this location had a shuffle board inside...that had a long line! But the lines move pretty fast and it is about the only place around I can get a mushroom burger! plus their concretes are great. I go and share the meal with a friend usually...portions are not huge but the desserts are filling and not very portable. The window to go there is several hours and sometimes you can go as early as 11:30 or as late as 2:30 for lunch when the lines may be shorter depending on the location. Also some locations are crowded for lunch and others for dinner so check your location and plan accordingly depending on local traffic.

I forget to mention that it was a drive through

Also There were people parking at other businesses and walking to the restaurant.

They recently opened one a mile from us. I have no idea who shops them. The burgers at the NYC locations are the best ones.

Better the Five Guys. Better food and more expansive menu. Excellent, excellent customer service. Based in NYC with stores in a handful of other metropolitan areas. Not nearly as large as Five Guys has become.

Unlike the report for Five Guys, the Shake Shack report requires detailed observations and extensive narratives with subjective feedback as well. One comments, for example, on each ingredient as to its temperature, texture, taste, freshness, flavor and how the flavors interplay with one another. One listens in to conversations between management and staff, among the staff, and between management/staff and customers and reports as to the substance and character of those conversations.

Also, you have to order a specified item and ask at least one and possibly several very peculiar questions that the staff may or may not be able to answer. I used to do these. I don't anymore and don't really think much of the company that handles the MSC work anymore either. It's not a well designed program.

I do not do these for MS. BUT, I love to snag a garage shop that is easy walking distance to one, where I will happily dine on my own dime and eat only what I want. GREAT fries and much better cheeseburgers than 5Guys.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Danny Meyer, the founder, is from St. Louis. He has said that several of the restaurants he ate at while growing up were the inspiration for the Shake Shack menu.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

My scheduler is great....and the pay ($18) plus full reimbursement is pretty good too esp if you like what the ordering requirements are for the month. Most months the reimbursements are between $16-18. The report is similar to the Chipotle reports in the amount of detail required but once you get a few under your belt they take less time.

I agree my scheduler is absolutely wonderful. She works with you and is very responsive. The reports are certainly longer than the Five Guys reports, but after a while it's not bad and you develop a flow to the writing which definitely helps speed things up. I love the flexibility of not committing to do it on a certain day. If I had planned to do it today, but get busy or something unexpected happens, I can just do it the next day w.o. contacting the scheduler. As for the food requirements, I don't always love each of the required items, but I figure there has to be a downside to every shop. I don't drink soda and when I do other shops and can't buy bottled water, I buy a fountain drink per the requirements and put water in the cup that I am given or just take a few sips of the soda that I do order. Just laughing thinking about the other thread where the discussion was putting soda in a clear water cup and I am doing the opposite. LOL

TWO hours?! Are they as good as In-N-Out?

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

We had a restaurant that just open up here about a month ago. Many years ago we had 3 of them and all of them closed. When it open back it there have been people waiting 2 and three hours to get food.. The lines have lessened here I may give it a couple of more weeks before I go.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@HonnyBrown wrote:

TWO hours?! Are they as good as In-N-Out?

[/quote]

I have never been to In-N-Out. But this is a Mexican place

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

TWO hours?! Are they as good as In-N-Out?

I have never been to In-N-Out. But this is a Mexican place

Shake Shack is significantly better than In-N-Out. The Shack is a mid-scale QSR while In-N-Out is a fast food joint, albeit a good one.

Here is there menu: [www.shakeshack.com]

In-N-Out has better fries. Shake Shake's are very lackluster.

Is it still the same scheduler as when they first started? If so..well...individual millage will vary I guess. I did not have a good experience with her at all.

I'm surprised you still work with that MSC based on what happened with their other other client.

@weatherman2111 wrote:

In-N-Out has better fries. Shake Shake's are very lackluster.

Is it still the same scheduler as when they first started? If so..well...individual millage will vary I guess. I did not have a good experience with her at all.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

There is nothing Mexican about it. You must be thinking of somewhere else. This is a burger place. The yelp in Los Angeles on the Shake Shack page had a long debate on which is better between Shake Shack and In and Out about a year ago. The menu is larger, the prices are larger, seating is better. But is the burger better? That is an individual call. AT In and Out you can get a burger or a burger, fries or animal fries and that is the menu basically. Shake Shack has a lot more and charges a lot more too. But the msc pays for your meal so that is okay.

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

TWO hours?! Are they as good as In-N-Out?

I have never been to In-N-Out. But this is a Mexican place[/quote]

Shake Shack is waaayyy over priced IMHO. I'd trade both the locations here for one Whataburger.

proudly shopping in the D.

Having lived in Los Angeles, I was on the In-N-Out crack train. Their menu was was burgers, fries, shakes and sodas, but they did them well.

A while ago, one of the shoppers did a blog on the forum about the burger spots. If I can find it, I'll bump it.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

You are clearly *not* a native southern Californian.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Having lived in Los Angeles, I was on the In-N-Out crack train. Their menu was was burgers, fries, shakes and sodas, but they did them well.

A while ago, one of the shoppers did a blog on the forum about the burger spots. If I can find it, I'll bump it.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I'm surprised you still work with that MSC based on what happened with their other other client.

@weatherman2111 wrote:

In-N-Out has better fries. Shake Shake's are very lackluster.

Is it still the same scheduler as when they first started? If so..well...individual millage will vary I guess. I did not have a good experience with her at all.

I don't work with them anymore. I did both Shake Shack and the other client they had for about 4 months before I started getting really unpleasant feedback from someone at the MSC, then they capped my work at 2 shops a month, then they locked my account out without bothering to tell me. They also treated the scheduler I worked with for the other client like dirt before turfing her out to. I don't have much good to say about the MSC anymore, obviously.

@aayaey wrote:

Has anyone done them with a brand new restaurant? They just opened one here in October and the lines are insane b/c it's the first one in our State! It's full reimbursement plus $18 so not bad for a fast food shop. But is it going to be worth my time if I have to stand in a long line?

When I did the Shake Shack orientation, the Shack Shack area manager said that we could order "whatever we want" on the shops, and even suggested that it could be 3 or 4 items. However, when you receive the assignment, it will tell you specifically what you must order. Sometimes there is a choice among a few different sandwiches, but oftentimes it's a specific sandwich. Same for fries (you might have to order bacon cheese fries), and the drink (one month it might be lemonade, another it might be a certain shake). So definitely not what the orientation person implied.

As far as lines - they give me a window for lunch of 12:30-2:30. The lines should die down after lunch rush, but you may not be able to arrive later. Don't know what the dinner time ranges are.

In the year since I have been doing them there has only been a lemonade one month. The rest of the time the "drink" has been either a concrete (which is a custard sunday with things mixed in....large chunks of chocolate, pieces of pie, sauces etc..your choice) or a shake. You also get some sort of sandwich each month and fries with or without cheese and bacon but it is fine with them if you order the bacon and cheese on the side. Once there were four items so it was an ice cream dessert and a drink that month. Lately they have had 2 or 3 different orders per month depending on what day you are assigned. Dinner hours around where I live are not as crowded as lunch. The sandwich order is usually one of their burgers or a chicken.....occasionally it is a hot dog. Sometimes you can order any sandwich but it is not often they do that.

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