Shake Shack finally opened its first-ever Canadian outpost at Toronto’s Yonge and Dundas intersection this month after much hype, and blogTO hit up the famed burger joint on opening day to see if it was worth the lengthy wait.
A full 15 months after the chain announced its Canadian expansion, the first Shake Shack was welcomed with long lines last week. In fact, you had to queue through multiple different line-ups just to place your order.
The line’s first phase had people queued up in Yonge-Dundas Square in an effort to keep the already-packed sidewalks outside of the restaurant flowing.
People were then ushered into a second line hugging the 10 Dundas East complex along Yonge Street, but this still wasn’t the end of the wait.
After a gruelling 50 minutes in line, the reward was… you guessed it, another line. This third line moved relatively quickly, though, and after a full hour of waiting, it was finally time to place an order.
So, at this point, our intrepid but very hungry team had dedicated a full hour of their day to this Shake Shack visit but were only just placing their orders.
The haul stuck mostly to the basics, with classics like a pair of Shackburgers, an order of crinkle-cut fries, and the Toronto-exclusive Maple Salted Pretzel shake totalling $32.50.
The verdict?
Glowing reviews for the burgers (no surprise there) but a less enthusiastic response for the $7 milkshake.
I think it’s safe to say that Shake Shack is going to be an instant favourite for Toronto burger lovers. Should you stand in line for this long to eat it? That’s a question of your burger devotion and how much you value your spare time.
But the real question is, does this place live up to the hype?
It absolutely does, but we recommend waiting for the buzz to die down a bit before lining up to try Shake Shack.