In the war for your fast food bucks we today pit new kid on the block Shake Shack against the grandaddy of them all McDonalds! Shack Shack now have over 400 locations around the world with several popping up in London and we can expect the competition to heat up in the fast food space!
This is Food Fight from XStreamd.tv and is the ongoing series where we pit similar items from the menus of two places against each other to see which is the best bite in town!
Shake Shack Double Smoke Shack Burger vs McDonalds Big Tasty with Bacon
Probably the most interesting thing you’ll notice when you first have a burger from Shake Shack is that the buns are open one side and closed the other. This is much like a hotdog bun, which may reference that Shake Shack started life as a hotdog stand in New York. The beef burgers were meaty and juicy without being greasy. The McDonalds beef burgers in comparison are much drier, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’d say they both borderline on going too far in this respect, but both have a good taste.
The downside to the Shake Shack buns is that you need to slightly rethink how you eat it and I’d almost suggest turning the burger around and eating the closed end first so that you can have the contents of the bun stay in place like a normal burger. I did find that the bacon was eating quickly as it was naturally pushed out by the bun. It was good bacon though, and I’d say a better quality than the bacon in the McDonalds offering.
The highlight of the SmokeShack burger for me was the unexpected flavour of the cherry peppers. The ShackSauce didn’t really stand out to me and the cheese wasn’t that noticeable either in the medley of flavours. I’m not certain I’ve ever been fully convinced I like the sauce on the McDonalds big tastey, but the combination of the large burger with the special sauce and bacon with better cheese than the usual McDonalds burger has always made it appeal to me.
This is a tough one as I don’t think either are without flaws, but I think I’m going to give the edge to the bacon and beef of Shake Shack. The meat just seemed more premium.
Winner: Shake Shack
Shake Shack ShackMeister vs McDonalds Quarter Ponder with Cheese
So much of what I wrote in the above burger comparison carries over to this section. The Shake Shack burger is still the same, but the McDonalds Quarter Pounder is it’s own thing. I’ve always like the combination from McDonalds of the pickles, onions and ketchup and mustard. The cheese isn’t the same as on the Big Tasty, but the two slices of American cheese always make this a tried and tested option at McDonalds.
You can get a Double ShackMeister just as you can get a Double Quarter Pounder, but interestingly at McDonalds both the single and the double Quarter Pounders come with two slices of cheese where as at Shake Shack only the double does.
The ale marinated shallots didn’t win me over as the cherry peppers did and with my preference for the bun, pickles and the Quarter Pounder beef patty, I give this one to McDs.
Winner: McDonalds
Shake Shack Fries vs McDonalds Fries
So McDonalds do good French fries. Maybe a little greasy and a tad salty, but they’re nice. I’m always interested to see what the competition have to offer. Shake Shake have gone the crinkle cut route. This is nice and fun and although in theory it doesn’t change the taste it does make the experience of easting them different. I was surprised that Shake Shack gave a couple of thin wooded forks which were more like the two-pronged chip shop forks rather than a normal fork you’d have in your cutlery drawer. The issue I had was that the fries were maybe a bit dry or crunchy and the fork often broke the French fry rather than pick it up.
I think the more Shake Shack fries I have the more they may grow on me, but for now they didn’t do anything better than the McDonalds ones other than be crinkled.
Winner: Tie
Shake Shack Cheese Fries vs McDonalds Cheese Bites
Now, this may not be quite a fair match up. If you want cheesy goodness then of course the McDonalds cheese bites are entirely cheese but just in a coating and sometimes with a bit of garlic or chilli added in to give them a theme. The cheese fries of Shake Shack are the same fries as mentioned above, but with a cheese sauce dolloped on top of them.
This was the nearest comparison I could get of comparing cheesy things, but for me this was the most definite win in this competition. I give it to McDonalds because whether you get cheese bites or mozzarella sticks they are nice, where as I was not a fan of the cheese fries form Shake Shack.
The sauce at first is ok as it’s something different and unexpected, but quickly I came to the opinion that the cheese sauce on the fries was more like the thick cheesy sauce you’d have on Mac and Cheese or in a Lasagne rather than it be like nacho cheese or like grated cheese as you may get on cheesy chips. The cheese sauce didn’t have a super strong flavour and was just kinda bland and maybe a had a powdery or stodginess to it. By the end of the fries I kinda didn’t want to finish the cheese and just looked for unaffected fries.
Winner: McDonalds
Shake Shack Caramel Classic Hand-spun Shake vs McDonalds Vanilla Milkshake
McDonalds have the classic thick ice cream based milkshakes. These are always a great pick, but there was something about the Shake Shack Shake that felt more premium. The caramel flavour was subtle, and was expensive for a decent sized, but not huge shake. McDonalds definitely have the better value and this is so close I think I’m going to call this a draw
Winner: Tie
Shake Shack vs McDonalds: Price
Easiest one here. McDonalds wins. The cost for two meals at Shake Shack was enough to feed about five or six people at McDonalds. This is partly because you order each food item as a separate thing at Shake Shack and there was no meal option that combines items for a lower price.
Winner: McDonalds
Conclusion
The Shake Shack food does feel like it’s meant to be more premium, but not significantly so that I was sure that it was worth the extra cost. If you can afford it then great, you won’t mind the cost, but if you’re more aware of spending then I’d suggest going to McDonalds 9 out of 10 times and save Shake Shack for when you want a change and keep it feeling like it’s special because it costs more. I’m not sure it is more special, but it’s not bad either. Both are good, but for now the winner is…
Overall Winner: McDonalds
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