Steak ‘n Shake: It’s a Meal
It’s President’s Day, so let’s celebrate by talking about something a little less vital than presidential politics, but no less dear to my heart: Steak ‘n Shake.
If you grew up most anywhere in the Midwest or the South in the last sixty years or so, you probably know about Steak ‘n Shake. Growing up in St Louis, the Brentwood Blvd location — it seems to be gone now — was the high-school hangout spot. Good food, reasonable prices, and a staff with saintly patience enough to deal with wall-to-wall hungry, horny teenagers.
Steak ‘n’ Shake exists on a simple concept: a diner that makes “steakburgers” and milkshakes — and a pretty decent cup of chili. The kitchen is open for the world to see. The interior is all black and white tile and gleaming chrome. In fact, the concept is so simple it led to the two simplest (and maybe worst) slogans in restaurant history. “In sight, it must be right,” and “It’s a meal.”
I’m not sure you could possibly say less about a restaurant’s food than, “it’s a meal.” But, man, what a meal.
A triple steakburger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and mustard, with large fries, a cup of chili, and a chocolate shake was nothing less than a way of life for my first 20 years.
But in 1989, I moved to California. From there, to Colorado. It’s been almost a quarter century since I’ve had reliable access to Steak ‘n Shake. Whenever I’d drive back to St. Louis, I’d always stop in KC — even if the tank was full — to grab a steakburger. Visiting North Carolina a couple years ago, I had lunch, then dinner that same night, at one of the restaurants in Charlotte. My order was the same both meals: A triple steakburger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and mustard, with large fries, a cup of chili, and a chocolate shake.
We have a Five Guys. We have an In’n'Out. Both are good. But neither really compare. I’m not fat only because I have an overeager thyroid and no local Steak ‘n Shakes.
Only… that just changed, and I don’t mean my thyroid.
Oh brother, that’s just what we need here. Yet MORE heart-attacks-while-u-wait and cardiac-arrest-now-n-later fast food joints. Why not just open a drive-thru where you’re hooked right up thru IV pouring lard right in? Maybe extra caffeine & nicotine in the other arm?
Excellent suggestions, all.
You want some cheese with that?
I get my burger topped with cheese, bacon, and pravastatin.
Mmmmm, lard…
Sorry bro, no liquor license, so they don’t serve whine..
I think the buttered buns are what make ‘em irresistable.. And the one in South Austin is near the Walmart with 9mm ammo for less than $21 so I can get all my shopping done!
Mighty Fine burgers are Mighty Fine! I like ‘em both.
I don’t see the big problem. Food is one of the most pleasant things about life. If enjoying some food you love shortens your life or taxes your health, that’s a trade I think folks should consider making.
So long as each adult is responsible for the consequences of his own choices (which I grant is not the way our society is set up or trending).
Moderation is a great tool, as is exercise, but the best thing in life is freedom from nannies.
Anhedoniacs like D can’t stand that other people have experience pleasure.
The peasants are revolting!
You said it, they stink on ice!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYpYs9GBXwY
You said it! They stink on ice!!
You said it, they stink on ice.
You’re tellin’ me… they stink on ice!
D, you must be a regular barrel of moneys on a camping trip.
Only until someone arranges for him to meet the bear…
I don’t eat fast food very often, but when I do, I want it to be good and cheap. So buzz off, Buzzkill D.
For you D, I’m sure there is a place close by that serves Tofurkey Burgers with a side of Hairshirt, in fact there are enough WholePaychecks, Vitamin Cottages, and Sunflowers around that I’m sure you can find what you want… in other words, git offa my lawn.
And? for the rest of ya’s… If you want beer with that, I’d prolly recommend Bud’s in Sedalia, a bit less than halfway btw Monument and Denver, over off of 85, but they’re a local… can’t get that on the road.
I feel sorry for you. Having to live somewhere the government comes to your house and forces you by gunpoint to go eat somewhere? Man. If it just wasn’t for that, I would suggest you just not go to Steak & Shake. I went to one in Atlanta yesterday, but it was a free choice. Maybe you could move?
Blow it out your @$$
D head in Denver: These are steak burgers, hot hamburger meaning they have a very low fat content. Obviously you have never been to a Steak N Shake. I see that you are bothered by our portly brethren. Perhaps you should become king of everywhere and save us from eating anything you don’t like.
I was able to replicate the “steak burger” meat by taking ordinary hamburger and adding more beef fat to it and then frying it. It is anything but steak. I like their fries, their shakes, even the canned baked beans. But the burgers are just plain too fat.
Ah yes, another nanny stater! Go eat your tofu and leave the real food to real people.
Yes!! I was born near the original SnS in Bloomington,IL and for all of my 62 years it is still my favorite place to eat! I have to travel to Wheeling WV for my 1st fix, then Zanesville, OH for a snack and then Champaign,IL before I drive up through the corn to get “home”. I usually stay in Bloomington for my visits, guess where I eat…..
Like you I grew up in Normal but have lived in Texas and Oklahoma the past 30 years. 4 years ago I took my teenage daughter through Normal and kept bragging that we would stop at the original SnS on Main only to find out that it had been torn down, worse the house that I lived in for 15 years just two blocks from ISU had also been torn down. Still every year we take a youth group to Springfield, MO in July and the first required lunch stop is at the old SnS on the old Route 66 business route through town. Great food and great memories.
Evil, Evil Steak n Shake. What would Michelle Obama say about this? I’m sure she’s got something up her sleeve concerning fast food restaurants..
Sleeve? What sleeves?
I think her ski jacket has sleeves, though given the MSM you’d hardly know she was wearing it lately…
My wife is also from St. Louis, and insists that Steak N Shake is the one place she’s certain I’ll enjoy eating. She swears by White Castle also, but is clear now that if you didn’t grow up eating the little hockey puck grease-delivery systems, you might not enjoy the experience if you try them first in middle age. I of course grew up here in Southern California, and my earliest good burger memories are Russell’s in Bixby Knolls (long since gone, though the name still persists on a store in Pasadena, and that city’s legendary Pie-N-Burger was started by a guy who worked at Russell’s just after the war) and of course Bob’s Big Boy. Those are all mostly gone, of course, but there’s gloriously still one in Burbank, not too far from where I live, and I get to go at least once a month.
Incidentally, we got a 5 Guys out here a while back, with much fanfare. They opened up in Northridge, about 100 yards from an In-N-Out. How they stay in business I don’t know. The burger’s bigger, and the fries are good, but In-N-Out’s Double Double tastes better, and as a friend of mine observed, when you’re going to charge almost twice the price for a meal, it ought to be clearly superior…which it wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination. Walls were covered with lots of smug and superior restaurant reviews, lauding the food and how wonderful it was. I noticed that they were all from places where In-N-Out hasn’t opened a store yet…
The Steak ‘n Shake was the only thing worthwhile when I went to Streetsboro, Ohio for a wedding last year (Mazel tov, Todd & Jennifer!).
While Los Angeles has no Steak n’ Shakes or White Castles, there is a great local chain called NORMS, and it’s open 24-7.
And who said flyover country had nothing worth living for!?! When I moved to Lexington, KY one of the first things me and the family did was scout out the local SnS location. ‘Cause you have not lived until you’ve had a double or triple steakburger with cheese, SnS Fries and a big ol’ diabetes coma called a chocolate milk shake to go with the heart attack on a plate.
Ahhh, the simple joys of life in the Midwest and upper south! Enjoy Stephen, now all you need in Colorado is a White Castle for a slider run after a long night at the martini bar!
Now if we can just get a White Castle…
Right? I miss my belly bombers.
At Little Tavern we called them Gut Grenades.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Tavern
Oh man I’m from MD and I miss Little Tavern big time
Many a drunken night after the bars closed in College Park, We would chow down on gut grenades. Allegedly, theoretically, supposedly… they are coming back (maybe).
http://littletavernshops.com/
In the South, it was Krystal instead of White Castle. Krystal seems to be in trouble lately though.
And of course you can buy frozen White Castle anywhere…
I lived in the South for a while as well, and Krystals can’t compare to White Castle. As far as the frozen version, bleh.
But I think a trip to Centennial is definitely in the offing for me, and soon!
No SnS’s here in the wilds of SW Okieland, heck, we don’t even have that monument to Atlanta diner culture, a Waffle House, or a BigBoy/Shoneys… Good thing Wattaburger is Good Enough.
Awful House does NOT belong in the same category as Steak n’ Shake. What I’m hankering for is Turkey Roost, in Kawkawlin MI (Midland-Bay City-Saginaw area).
Steak n Shake is far superior to the Awful Waffle, and well above El Castello Blanco. on the other hand, I still have an affinity for White Castle dating back to the days of underage drinking and late-night drives…
But but but, they’re number 1 in Atlanta for scattered, smothered and covered! Like most chain greasy spoons I’ve found they are highly variable and the good’uns are a little slice of heaven. Further, in a lot of places they’re what’s open at 3am.
poor D, obviously never had a steakburger
I grew up in St. Louis and Steak ‘n Shake is a must-do everytime I visit! If it was a coastal chain, it’d be referenced in countless TV shows and movies. But that’s OK, midwesterners like me and southerners like my wife love it as is.
And even if they did expand to San Francisco, the health nuts would just ban the toys they give out with the kids’ menus, and probably slicing their pickles the long way too. Better not risk it.
Now I’m craving a Takhomasak…
Wow, you are from St. Louis? Where did you go to high school?
That is THE St Louis question, isn’t it?
I attended CODASCO until they asked me not to do that anymore. Long story short, I ended up at Missouri Military Academy.
SLUH here. My wife and I stop at a Steak n Shake in Mt. Vernon whenever we travel from East Tennessee to St. Louis. Agree with the comment about Provel cheese on pizza (Imo’s?). Apparently Chicagoans hate that type of pizza, apparently as much as they hate good baseball.
Nonsense. We like good baseball. We even get it now & then. Baseball, my friend, is about the game you are at. All else is hype.
I don’t know why you think Chicagoans don’t like provolone on pizza. You are misinformed. We like anything on pizza, so long as there is enough of it. If you are not eating a deep dish pizza, there is not enough of it.
John S, there are two SnS locations in Knoxville, FWIW.
CODASCO, huh? Pem-Day here. We did not have Steak-n-Shake in Kansas City when I was young, rather a local diner called Winsteads. Steak-n-Shake has since moved in and given them a run for it here in KC, but Winsteads is still very much a local favorite. Cal Trillin, a KC native, wrote about Winsteads, naming it the best burger joint in the world. His point, reinforced by your article, is that we often believe that that which we grew up with, because of its familiarity and the warm feelings and rememberances that familiarity engenders, are unbeatable.
Hamburgers at both places are thin and flavorable, Winsteads tasting just a bit different, perhaps spices. Fries at SnS are thin, Winnie’s thick. Chili at SnS is great. Frostie (or special) malts at Winnies are delicious.
I am now getting hungry!
Lady M would be very unhappy with all of you.
And BTW, S&S didn’t have the worst restaurant slogan ever: that honor would go to the Bill Knapp’s chain out of Michigan that proudly proclaimed for 30+ years they were the home of “A Snack or a Meal” before switching to “Good Things to Eat” which is marginally better than “Good Eats” butt definitely better than “It’s a meal.”
As for “In sight, it must be right” – that would make a better campaign slogan than a pitch for a steakburger. IMO
The Varsity in downtown Atlanta had for years the slogan “No Food Served Over Twelve Hours Old.”
The Greasy V is good, but only about once a year. Too rough on the plumbing…
I’ve always found the Rally’s/Checkers slogan “You gotta eat” rather terrible.
As if you’re resigned to your meal “Eh, I gotta eat something, might as well be this”.
I haven’t seen “In Sight, It Must Be Right,” for years- it’s clearly scrubbed from their menu and literature. And while it’s still one of my favorite places to eat, it’s never been as good when that slogan was in vogue.
Best fries in the world.
And “In sight” might be simple or even dumb, but it sure is fun to watch ‘em put those chunks of meat on the grill and then mash ‘em into steakburgers!
Actually, the shoestring fries are my biggest reason not to go to Steak N Shake.
And, Pattonville, to answer The Question.
Ate at Steak and Shake last night, 2 miles from the house, only because my Mom wanted to go out to eat somewhere and we had been everywhere else local so many times recently. I had the fried chicken salad. I did not even want to go, but damn, it was good! And I was fascinated by the period pictures on the walls.
When I moved to Oklahoma in 1974 I was stunned. The drive-ins had all disappeared years before back in SC, killed by fast food that did not offer curb service. In OK they were not only still going strong but they were still building new ones! One of the first things I did was go to a A&W Drive in. It was like going back in time or to an alternate universe. Well, the drive-ins are back on the east coast, now.
We are going to go to Steak and Shake more often. On Saturday mornings they have all-you-can-eat pancakes.
St. Louis ex-patriot here. Love the SnS, but whenever I head back to the Lou, it’s Leo’s pizza with proven for me!
Make that “provel”. Darn autocorrect!
Well now ya did it Stephen.
You went and let everybody know that there is still a restaurant chain out there serving enjoyable delicious burgers, shakes, and fries.
We know the Food Police havn’t noticed yet because they just monitor what is happening from their coastal happiness-proof-bunker-lairs and never venture into the wilds of Ohio. Now they have been alterted and are probably tweeting Michelle right now. In one week it will be Boca burgers and carrot sticks in that black and white checkered bag.
Well as long as we are waddling down memory lane, I always liked the little bottles of pepper sauce they put out on the tables.
@From a Back Booth on La Cienegea
Been to that one many times. You are right, nothing else much in Streetsboro, unless you count the Flea Market in the shooping center where the young guys go to buy paraphenalia and cheap chinese switchblades.
We have one right next to a big Home Depot. Share the same parking lot actually. And I find lots of excuses to go to the Home Depot all summer long to grab what may be the best fast food shake ever.
Also spent time growing up in St. Louis County. Loved SnS burgers, best fries and my personal favorite — Chile 3 Ways. Now I’m hungry.
Now THAT brings back memories! I spent a year working at the Steak n’ Shake in Galesburg, IL, when I was … 16? 17? in the 1960′s. The chili was the hit of the meal back then.
Now I live in Sacramento, CA. Now I don’t mean to cause any trouble, but In n’ Out has Steak N’ Shake beat any day of the week.
Did you get some to go and fill up a “Tak-hom-a-sak?”
Love those shoe-string fries.
My dad went to the one on Page Avenue for lunch so often that the waitresses would always bring him his glass of iced-tea – unsweetened, with lemon – as soon as he sat down before taking his order.
S&S is good. But, charbroiled burger joints are better.
Amazingly, I could write this column in reverse. Having moved from California to Kansas, I get my burger fix at Steak N Shake (more often Freddy’s, now that there is one in Lawrence) but I really crave the In-N-Out.
I am from St. Louis, too – though more than a little older than Stephen. Yes, where did you go to high school is THE question, and has been since I graduated from St. Joseph’s Academy in 1971 – I started out at Villa Duchesne, but I was kinda sorta asked to leave, too and rather than being sent to a military academy, I just went a few miles away to St. Joe!
Steak N Shake was the hangout when I was in HS, as well as Schneithorst’s – they had what were called Big Bevo burgers and a drive in as well as the restaurant. Another popular spot was the Parkmoor.
It is nice to know that SnS is still great – out here on our farm, it is just too far a jaunt for us, and too many carbs, too.
Leo’s Pizza is good, Imo’s Pizza is better.
Yep, I totally meant Imo’s. Leo’s is the Kansas City version. Of course I’ve been exiled to Minnesota where I have yet to find any kind of pizza I crave.
There’s still a couple S&S in Atlanta, and when we couldn’t get to those, there was a knockoff called G.D. Ritzy’s which wasn’t too bad…
Alas, here in Des Moines we have to drive at least to Coralville to get a Steak ‘n’ Shake fix; I hope that as part of that major expansion they set up shop here. We had the misfortune to try Five Guys in Norman, OK–grease-sodden fries and burgers fried to within an inch of their lives, and the only non-beef choices are a grilled cheese and what they call a “veggie sandwich”–really a “condiment sandwich”–no veggie burger patty involved, just the condiments of your choice stuck between two buns. A pathetic joke.
Good to know there’s still one in Coralville; the one in Cedar Rapids closed. Fffft.
The one in Colorado is 5 minutes away from my house, way too dangerous for me and my diet
Beats driving back to KC or Springfield IL though. The first time I took my wife over there the wait was 3 hours so we went Christmas shopping while waiting.
dc
I drive from Philly to St. Louis every summer with my 4 kids to visit my in-laws. We usually do it in one day, so I try to hit Indiana and the first available SnS around 9:30p so the kids can get a shake. We’re good for the final 4 hours after that.
I went to college in St. Louis, and although I do miss SnS, a Lion’s Choice roast beef sandwich with extra butter and a Schlafly Hefeweizen are the two things I want most when I visit. When I first saw the name Lion’s Choice I told my future wife that I thought it was the dumbest name for a restaurant that I’d ever seen. Then she took me to one. Second best hangover sandwich on earth (Wawa’s Turkey Shorty is #1). I’d love to open a franchise right next to an Arby’s here in NJ to see how quickly I could shut them down.
Around 1974 when I was a high-schooler, Steak & Shake opened a restaurant in my home town. Two of my good friends worked there — one as a counter guy and the other as a car hop. They had a P.A. system for counter guy to alert car hop of food that was ready and counter guy would sing opera-style over the P.A. as in “Figaro Figaro Figaro-o-o…. number twenty-six… your order to go-o-o-o!!” Of course, management made him stop after awhile. Can’t be doing that “Fun” thing at work I guess. Good times, nevertheless.
My favorite part of the steakburger is that crispy edge of the burger where it gets pressed paper thin when they’re frying it.
My wife and I eat at Steak ‘n Shake about once a month. Bill comes to around $12.00. With tip, $14.00. McDonald’s bill for us is around $11.00. No tip. Steak ‘n Shake is good food, great price, and a little more upscale than typical fast food.
That said, we in Indiana need In-n-Out Burger. Had a lunch there last October in Santa Barbara, Ca. I was totally impressed (and surprised to find a Bible verse notation on the bottom of the cup).
“And who said flyover country had nothing worth living for!?!”
That’d be somebody ignorant…and it’d be someone whom we ardently wish to keep ignorant so that they don’t come down here and ruin the neighborhood.
I live forty minutes’ drive outside of Atlanta, which is close enough. In Atlanta they’re sadly forced to cope with increasingly large infestations of no-account uncultured people who’ve never learned manners intermixed among the dwindling remnants of saintly Southern civility. Forty minutes is about as close to them as I wish to live.
But out here where Kennesaw and Acworth start to become Cartersville en route to Tennessee, we have Steak ‘n’ Shake and other idyllic benefits, such as people who don’t swear in casual conversation and apologize if they forget themselves and do so in the presence of a lady or a child, and people who recognize that maturity to adulthood involves both knowing how to use a firearm and knowing how to behave in such a way that the need to use one is minimized.
Don’t tell the haughty left-coast types. Don’t let the word get out to the politically correct, metrosexual, overly-urbanized old women of both sexes who hail from the rotten guts of the Blue Social Model cities. If you know a good Yankee (and there are some) invite him for a visit, but caution him to tell no Damn Yankees.
We’d like to keep things as they are.
Do you have the corny commercials? I love the corny commercials.
Grew up not terribly far from the Brentwood location and also, if you remember, there was a smallish one on Olive in U. City, where my grandfather would take me for a steakburger and fries, a favorite memory.
Steak N’Shake was on the other side of the tracks from us, we only went there on special occasions. Usually we’d go to Red’s Giant Hamburg, on old Route 66. Best burgers in the world, and somehow they tasted better if you got them to go–Red claimed to have invented the drive thru window. Red cut his own crinkle cut fries, and had free root beer. The root beer came in cups with a ’50s Marilyn/Jayne M. type blonde ice skating on the cup, wearing a skimpy fur trimmed outfit. That fueled a few fantasies for young boys, let me tell ya.
The other place we’d go was A&W, and yes, it had curb service. Tuesday was coney night, $0.15 apiece IIRC. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. The old man would get a tray full of coneys, fries and root beers (in the frosty mugs, tyvm), and we’d all go to town on it.
Darrell, I know right where Red’s stood … on what was the outskirts of Springfield, a short distance west from where Old 66 splits into Chestnut Expressway and College Street. And my early childhood included a lot of drinks from those frosty A&W mugs, too. Like you, SNS was somewhat above our pay grade then.
After my UMR (now MO-S&T) book learnin’, I lived around the STL area for fifteen years, and acquired a taste for SNS, particularly their chili. As for the burgers, the toasted buns and well-cooked, irregular patties set them apart from the usual grab-it-and-go stuff you see almost everywhere else, bringing back memories of the lunch counters where my grandfather regularly ate. (OTOH, I never quite acquired a taste for Imo’s tire-patch pizza.)
Today I am an ambassador of Flyover Country culture to the over-civilized on Long Island … and it’s tough duty; when we get off the island, we look for tastes of home like SNS, DQ, and Cracker Barrel (that is, when my wife isn’t watching OUR weight!).
Two days after this last Christmas, we took our two grandaughters out for the day, and had some turmoil over where we were going to lunch (which was eventually settled). At dinnertime, I suggested SNS, and there was NO dissention in the ranks! Another enjoyable memory, helped a long with a little grease from a Steakburger.
I remember fondly the Chilie Mac and the Patty Melt at S N S!
You have not lived if you have not had a lube job at the Waffle House = eggs scrambled with loads of cheese, toasted and buttered raisin bread, grits swimming in butter, and bacon cooked crisp. Here in Bowling Green we have two Waffle Houses at the same freeway exit – no need for a left turn!
Thank you for helping me along with my Ash Wednesday fasting.
I eat at S’n'S once every three year to remind myself why Wendy’s is so much better. The new Hot’n'Juicy and a Vanilla Frosty do it for me. Far superior to S’n'S. We also have White Castle around here, but if you don’t, you can buy them frozen and microwave them.
Peoria, Illinois
Late 50′s and early 60′s
Sunday night
Steak n Shake and Ed Sullivan.
Heaven
San Antonio, TX:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Steak-n-Shake-eatery-coming-to-S-A-1394151.php
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/39/1605791/restaurant/Northwest-Side/Steak-N-Shake-Coming-Soon-San-Antonio
coming soon …
My father was raised in Bloomington/Normal (and grad from Ill State) and went to HS with one of the founders–as well as the guy who invented “Beer Nuts” and the two sons of “old man Mecherle,” founder of State Farm Mutual–all originating in Bloomington/Normal. We didn’t have a S&S in my little town of Charleston, Ill growing up but Champaign and Decatur were only an hours drive north, so learned to love S&S. Later when married we liver in Louisville, Ky 76-94 and spent plenty of quality time at both S&S AND White Castle. Speaking of WC, when I was in college@LSU in the early 60s New Orleans had the trifecta of slider “emporiums”–a White Castle, a Royal Castle AND a Krystal Burger joint–the latter original mirrored glass structure still stands intact on St Charles Ave only a Subway shop occupies the place now..
(PS: For the unitiated, having lived in Santa Monica/Venice for the last 5 yrs, the thing that makes In-and-out Burgers so tasty is that no location is over a days drive from the meat-packing plant the company owns, thus ALL meat is fresh ground daily–no frozen meat of any kind, all freshly ground/processed that day. Unfortunately this business plan makes it difficult to expand regionally or nationally.)
S&S is okay, but the local Juicy Burger, 5 mins. away, offers up same style of fries and a GRILLED burger that beats the fried S&S variety a hunnert ways from Sunday!
Not to mention shakes made from real ice cream, not “partially gelatinated non-dairy gum-based beverages”.
Yes, the Brentwood location is gone, killed by the attempted gentrification of that area. That Steak, the Parkmoor on Clayton, and Sandy’s (McD’s knock off)on Manchester were my earliest dining out experiences as a kid. Eating in the car at Steak was our favorite!I live in Brentwood, and there’s still a Steak 5 min away in Maplewood.
Nothing better than SnS at 2 AM following a night on the town!!! I grew up in Bloomington, il near the original SnS opened by Gus Belt. Nothing says home like a double steak burger with cheese and a chili Mac
Going to SL on business in March – will definitely stop by a S&S while there, although I won’t get the triple. I’ll be visiting Imo’s Pizza as well. Dieting (somewhat) until then.
Love the SnS burgers and shakes, dislike the shoestring fries (but that’s a generic dislike). We have ‘em all in Plano and nearby: 5 Guys, In ‘N Out, SnS, Fuddruckers, as well as a whole bunch of small independents (Scotty P’s, Jake’s and so on). (I refuse to include BK, McD, Wendys, Burger Street etc on a list of “places to eat”, because I never eat there.)
Best burger: Fuddrucker’s “Morning Glory” (butter-fried egg on a burger w/cheese–take THAT, Mr. Heart!). 5 Guys and In ‘N Out tie for second, SnS comes in third — but I’d be happy with any one of the three, if Fudds isn’t available.
@Kim, in Plano or Frisco, Mooyah is also definitely good, when you go in, they’re very similar to a 5 Guys. In fact, I think they were copying the concept before 5 Guys expanded to the DFW area.
But personally I think it all boils down to what you grew up on. I’m low-carb dieting, so I only give myself one meal off the diet every 2-3 weeks. And inevitably I go to Whataburger. Because their burgers are like crack to me. I’ve spent some time on the Left Coast recently where the only thing approximating a decent burger was In-n-out, and it just doesn’t compare. And the fries there were abominable.
Kim, there’s a three store “chain” called Gazebo Burger in the Plano/Frisco area … The one on Parker Road at the DNT got a lot of business from me and my colleagues when I was working in Plano a few years back. I considered them the equal to Fuds on the burgers (though Fuds fries are much better, IMO) … and Gazebo served a kick-butt chili-cheese dog.
Of course, if/when I get back to Dallas, they’ll have to wait until I have my fill of Texas BBQ …
Don’t forget the great breakfast menu, and the orange shakes. When I transferred to Des Moines, the oldest son stayed in the KC area. I think it was because of Steak and Shake. I visit often, as it’s only a three hour drive.
I have been eating at S n S for 40 years and will go for a triple with cheese any time. Great food…article made me hungry
The true test is the quality of the vannilla malts. The S&Ss in Kansas City are right up there with our legendary Winstead’s for burgers and vanilla malts, but S&S is being pushed by the new Freddy’s in town. I mean, when was the last time you said “I’m starved, I could really go for some hummus?”
In my youth, I lived in St Louis for the years between 1963 thru 1970 and the Steak n Shake on Brentwood was one of my hangouts. Sorry to hear it’s gone.
That Parkmoor on Clayton was a hangout as well. My buddies and I called it the “Kraproom” for (I hope) obvious reasons, not about the food, and we ate there frequently.
Our third choice was a White Castle on Delmar Boulevard – but only when drunk and after midnight, mind you.
Good memories. Thanks.
They opened several S&S in the Chicago suburbs in about 1977 and they closed in the early 1980′s. I would hang at the nearby S&S where no less than 3 of my buddies worked. I believe that employing my friends was a major reason they closed our local S&S’s. I missed S&S greatly when they left, but they returned ~ 8 years or so ago and they are a frequent “take the kids out” meal.
Totally agree with you about Steak ‘n Shake, but finally, someone who knows how to order a burger! Mayo and catsup (or ketchup) don’t belong on a burger. I also add onion (hey, I’m 65 and don’t have to worry). Also love Whataburger. I actually have been ordering double doubles (2 meat, 2 cheese) longer than Steakburgers, but love both of them (a double double is actually bigger than a triple steakburger). Whataburger is also a place where you can actually get a malt as you can at Steak ‘n Shake.
I think you say there is an In an out in Colorado. Where?
I visit the S&S in Centennial from time to time, but for burgers and fries prefer Smashburger. For Chili and shakes S&S is great.
But nothing beats a WHATABURGER!
No In n Out in CO
also- there is not a single Dunkin Donuts in Colorado
HEY- WE LIKE DONUTS TOO
Still a couple of Dunkin Donuts in Colorado Springs. Last time we went to one bout a year ago it seemed they had converted over to the heated up from flash frozen donuts like you get at King Soopers. YUCK! They were not good at all.
Dunkin Donuts just announced a new expansion on the Front Range, hope they bring back the donut fryer!
Mr. Green (and all the rest of you along the Colorado front range). Next time you pass through Pueblo, do yourself a favor and stop at a “Passkey”. Don’t even bother with the menu, you want a “Passkey Special, deluxe with provolone cheese and fries”. It’s an Italian Sausage sandwich that’s as good as the best burger you’ve ever had. I moved to Seattle 35 years ago, and the first thing I do when I return for a visit is eat lunch or dinner at the Passkey. There are several Passkey’s in Pueblo – all run by members of the same family – the sausage recipe is a family secret. I usually hit the one on Hiway 50 West but that’s just because it’s convinent.
For burgers, I think In-n-Out is about the best of the fast food burgers (I don’t recall having eaten at a SnS). I’ve come to the conclusion that White Castle is an aquired taste (typically aquired while under the influence). After listening to a work buddy rave about White Castle I stopped at one while on a business trip – worst burgers I’ve ever had outside of England…
td
The Passkey Special is good. Of course, one has to find oneself in Pueblo to get it and that doesn’t happen to most folks.
If we have an In-N-Out here on the Front Range it is sure well hidden!
That’s just great. Now I crave a Frisco Melt.
(insert the Homer Simpson ‘awwwgggghhhh’ sound)
I love Five Guys and In n Out, but for actual table service for a hamburger, there’s no other place like SnS.
I was also one of the hungry and horny at the Brentwood S’n'S. That’s 60+ years of cheeseburger, fries and a side of chili. You didn’t mention their mustard/relish combo on those burgers. Shame on you. On the other hand, my doctor can’t really find anything wrong with me. I visit Steak’n'Shake after every physical.
I have always loved Steak n Shake, we had the original one in Normal IL just down the street growing up and now, in Joplin MO, one about a mile away. However, I was served a glass-filled shake once at one near Rolla MO, I’m talking chunks of ground up glass at the bottom of a strawberry milk shake. That was in the 80′s. When I brought it up to the kitchen they took the “evidence” and tossed it in the trash, and then asked me to leave. Now. Probably should have made a scene, but I was a college student and just left.
About a month ago my wife brought me a double burger from the store in Joplin and on my first bite I cracked a molar on a very hard piece of bone.
Sigh.
So they do have their issues.
Wonder if the glass-in-your-shake was someone’s attempt to equalize the gender imbalance in Rolla, where men were men and women were few back then …
Within maybe 2/3rds of a mile of each other in Frisco, we have Steak-N-Shake, Freddy’s Frozen Custard, Five Guys, In-N-Out, and Fuddruckers – all along the same road.
Guess which one has the shortest lines?
Steak-n-Shake.
It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that it isn’t that good. Mainly, it’s that thoroughly overcooked wafer patty passing itself off as the burger proper. Fries are exceedingly average. Shakes – yes good – but that’s not enough in a market like DFW where there are great burger places within rockthrowing distance of each other…
Everyone loves to revel in good-ole-days syndrome when it comes to what and where they eat growing up – yes, I am sure my memory of a Bob’s Big Boy burger likely exceeds the actual experience of eating one, because I can remember them from my youth, but not experience them today. But Steak-N-Shake? Just because your first kiss was a sloppy peck and a handful in a parked car outside a SnS in 1973 doesn’t mean it’s a good restaurant…
Chili 3 Ways!
“A triple steakburger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and mustard, with large fries, a cup of chili, and a chocolate shake was nothing less than a way of life for my first 20 years.”
How much do you weigh?
Another SLUH grad here. I spent a lot of time at the Brentwood SnS location back in high school. It definitely was the end of an era when they tore that sucker down.
As a former burger flipper, excuse me, ground beef technician, for Caravan, a world-girdling organization numbering at its height two, count em, TWO stores in Charlottesville, VA (Humpburger uber alles!) I can say that a burger joint is only as good as it’s crew. Find a good one, let them know it. From back in the day when minimum wage was $1.65 *and we were happy to get it…*
Next time you drive through Kansas City at lunch time try Winstead’s Steakburgers. I’ve always like them alot better than S+S. Goodle Calvin Trillin and Winstead’s for a loving description of the food. Like Mr. Trillin one of the first things I do when I get back to KC is to grab a Winstead’s steakburger.
Looking at the image at the top of the post…are they making their fries twice as thick now? I ate there once (in Irving TX). The incredibly thin fries were a huge turnoff.
THE BEST french fries on the planet. Comfortable seating. Decent prices. Sweet tea that isn’t sickeningly sweet like the “Arches “. Coupons galore in the local paper. Made your way. BOGO milk shakes on a hot summer afternoon. Always my top choice when taking my in laws (both with Alzheimer’s) out to eat, and a fave of my 14-year-old. So get over it, grumpy people.
I grew up with SnS in western Illinois and remember one of the early SnS locations in Galesburg. There’s a new store on the west side of town now, but not the same ambience as the original.
Just to set one thing straight, the SnS web site explains the company slogan: “[Founder Gus Belt] would wheel in a barrel of steaks (including round, sirloin, and T-bones) and grind the meat into burgers right in front of the guests. Hence arose the origin of our famous slogan, ‘In Sight It Must Be Right.’ ”
In other words, the steaks were ground “in sight” of the customers, so there could be no question of what was in the burgers. This is much more convincing what I thought the slogan meant.
The good thing about Steak and Shake is that, despite being mainly just a hamburger and milk shake joint, they are a high quality hamburger and milkshake joint. Too many places have highly overprocessed and mostly phony burgers and shakes. But Steak and Shake has the real thing, just like the originals you got in the 50′s. The burger is real hamburger, and you can put on your own share of pickles, onions, ketchup, etc. And the shake is real ice cream and milk, not the processed starch filled messes that most places serve now.
Agreed! Steak & Shake is still the same restaurant serving the same burger that it was serving 40 years ago…which can’t be said for many other places. I used to enjoy getting a steakburger and shake there, until diabetes put an end to it. (They do NOT do Splenda-substitute shakes! ^_^) Sure, they cost a bit more than the other places, or they used to until transportation costs forced other places to match their prices while offering inferior product. Looks like they’ll still be in the burger business when other fast food joints have switched to soy and kibble.
I love SnS, we go there at least once a week here in Orlando, Florida
There is a very good change that a Steak and Shake meal is far better for you than McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut or a “TV Dinner”.
It’s the cheap fillers in “McFood” – high fructose corn syrup, saturated fat, the alphabet soup of artificial colours, flavorings and preservatives that destroy your metabolism and your health.
Never been to a Steak ‘n Shake. Based on the ravings about it, I went to a Five Guys. Blech! THe burger was well done, the only way they would make it. Fries were good; didn’t make up for the burger.
Fuddruckers! That’s the place to go for a burger. Add your own condiments and toppings. Good shakes. Rolls made on premises. Great brownies for afterwards.
Also tried Cheeburger Cheeburger. I likes it, my wife hated it. For the same reason. The burger gives you your minimum daily supply of grease. Slides down really easy.
And, there’s the triple prime burger at Ruby Tuesdays. Yum…