Shacking and Stacking

Shake Shack Is Posting Its Calorie Counts Now

It's all good.
It’s all good. Photo: Hannah Whitaker / New York Magazine

As Robocop might say, New York City Health Code Section 81.50 requires restaurants with fifteen or more locations to post calorie counts for each item, and ever since the “Shacking of America” commenced in 2009, we all knew Shake Shack would hit that number someday. Danny Meyer’s fast-casual chain quetly added calorie counts to its menu boards earlier this month, it turns out, when Shake Shack New Haven opened, and the WSJ does some waistline-minded comparison shopping.

The chain’s crinkle-cut fries are less caloric, it turns out, than the McDonald’s straight fries, but Shake Shack’s chocolate shake has more calories than the comparable one you’d get at Baskin Robbins. Because it compares all sorts of burgers without explaining the differences between each, the Journal’s totally misleading infographic accompanying the article tells us that Shack Shack’s Double SmokeShack has more calories (850) than McDonald’s Angus with Cheese (790). But, no matter: CEO Randy Garutti says it’s all about Shake Shack’s superior ingredient quality, and anyhow, just so you know, the company happens to be working on a lower-calorie version of the Shroom Burger. “We’re not doing that in reaction to anything,” Garutti says.

Gut Check at Shake Shack [WSJ]
Earlier: Shake Shack Goes to Yale

Shake Shack Is Posting Its Calorie Counts Now