Love Shack

Quickly becoming a NY institution, Manhattan's "Shake Shack" is a carnivore's dream. With its slightly highbrow take on the all-American lowbrow classic: the hamburger, Shake Shack has become quite the gastronomic destination. Located within a city park (Madison Square Park, right off 23rd St. & Madison Ave.), the Shack is a great place to sneak a break from the rigors of the urban jungle and indulge in the pleasures of the flesh.

Typical to the menu at Shake Shack is, of course, a very juicy, semi high-style hamburger, fries, hot dogs, shakes, dessert custards and a pretty amazing mushroom burger for those vegetarians among us. But of course like many things in NYC, all this goodness comes with a price...as you can kind of see from the picture above, there is the not so little matter of a line. In order to secure your cow-crafted goodies you must wait... and wait... and wait some more. However, for a town and its inhabitants both known for their breakneck pace, there's a surprising amount of zen-like patience permeating the mood of the Shake Shack line. It's odd. Like folks queuing at the gates of heaven to have a chat with St. Peter in a ketchup stained robe. I suppose even New Yorkers don't mind waiting if they know in the end they'll eventually get their just deserts (or desserts). Wouldn't it be great if some of that mantra muttering calm could be exported to the unnerving line at the Post Office just a few blocks east of the Shack? Maybe Uncle Sam should start serving a side-order of fries with every parcel sent.

Visit the Shake Shack for some gooey, heavenly love; allow 30 to 40 minutes for delivery.

PS - Before you go, check the "Shack Cam" on Shake Shack's site to get a real-time view of the "shack-mosphere" aka - the line (or lack thereof).