Known for consuming the hour-long lunchtime break of summer interns schlepping at firms in the area come June, the snakelike line at Shake Shack in Madison Square Park is as iconic a tourist attraction as purchasing a burger from the venue itself. Originally operating from a hot dog cart to support the Madison Square Park Conservancy’s first art installation, “I Heart Taxi,” in 2001, the fast-food restaurant opened as a permanent food kiosk in 2004 and has expanded rapidly ever since. The park itself is a far cry from the neglected, shady crime hot spot that inspired former Mayor Rudi Giuliani to clean-up, restore and reopen in 2001 as a green jewel in the heart of Flatiron, featuring new gateways, lighting, reflecting pools and revolving series of local art works.
Self-labeled as a modern day roadside burger stand serving a classic American menu of premium sliders, hot dogs, crinkle-cut fries, shakes, beer and wine. Shake Shack’s simple formula made it one of the country’s fastest-growing food chains, with the company filing for an initial public offering in 2014, where its stock rose 123 percent to $47 on their first day of trading. In August 2016, the company celebrated the ribbon cutting of its 100th location in Boston, and operates outposts internationally in cities such as Tokyo, London, Moscow, Abu Dhabi and Doha. Outsmart your fellow travelers and scope out the line ahead of time with the Shack Cam, which helps to mitigate your meatless moments by providing a real-time bird’s-eye view of the hungry crowd. Just make sure you don’t get stuck behind an intern with a multi-page order list for his team of 33. (Or order online ahead of time and anger neighboring patrons as you skip the line and pick up your grease from a separate takeout window.)
