Shake Shack’s best item: hospitality
Food is amazing, too, from BBQ ShackMeister burger to Salted Vanilla Toffee shake
May 4, 2017
Food.
It’s all teenagers (like us) think about once in awhile. Chains such as McDonald’s, Five Guys, and Wendy’s welcome teens to take a bite of their delicious food — sometimes without the need to make the customers feel well taken care of. This leads people to complain — even about chains such as IHOP and Dunkin’ Donuts — and their lack of hospitality. If you go around to different branches in the same chain, the hospitality differs. Some employees are nicer and some are meaner. The inconsistency can drive people crazy.
But what if we told you that we found the restaurant?
The Strawberry Cone Crunch concrete at Shake Shack.
Shake Shack revolutionized the industry by introducing the importance of hospitality. Shake Shack is a family at the workplace. The company is dedicated to taking care of its employees so that they can take better care of customers.
“In order to have great hospitality, you need to have the right people, and you need to take care of the workers first and work as a team to take care of the customer,” explained Shake Shack’s Mike Iaia.
“It’s like taking care of your family first.”
Mike is the regional director of operations for the East Coast. He visited the Shake Shack at Chestnut Hill recently and described the chain’s humble beginnings.
The BBQ Bacon Cheese Fries at Shake Shack is one of the menu items featured for a limited time.
It was founded by Danny Meyer, who at the time owned many fancy restaurants. He was asked to open a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park to feed the people who came to the art shows at the newly renovated park. Soon after, there were lines that were hours long. That is when people knew that this would be a special chain.
If you have ever gone to multiple Shake Shacks, they would all look different. Wherever a Shake Shack is placed, the company creates a design that fits in the area the best. For example, in the Greater Boston area, the one on Newbury Street looks different than the one in Chestnut Hill. The company wants each Shake Shack to look different and to feel individualized.
Mike Iaia, the regional director of operations for Shake Shack, talks with student reporters during a recent interview at the Chestnut Hill location.
From the aspect of food, it is amazing. No matter where you are, Shake Shack has signature items on the menus, but they do have special items based on location. For example, Shake Shacks in Texas have the Texas Burger — a burger you can’t find in any other state. Also if you order a concrete with different ingredients inside, then those ingredients are locally sourced. If they have a brownie concrete, that likely means that they found a bakery in the area, and that keeps the local feel and separates it from other Shake Shacks.
For a limited time, Shake Shack has an array of options, like the new barbecue items on the menu: BBQ ShackMeister Burger, BBQ Chick’n Shack, and BBQ Bacon Cheese Fries. And for shakes, they have Mint Cookies & Cream, Mud Pie, and Salted Vanilla Toffee — all of which taste amazing.
Shake Shack has also recently introduced an app that will let you order and pick up food without having to wait.
At Shake Shack, the food is excellent and the service is impeccable. This is a great place to visit and deserves a stamp of approval.
Mike Iaia, the regional director of operations for Shake Shack, (far left) poses with student reporters during a recent interview at the Chestnut Hill location.
Samples from the menu at the Shake Shack at Chestnut Hill.
Shake Shack offers many flavors of shakes, concretes, and custards.
The Shake Shack in Chestnut Hill has its own individual style, like all of the restaurant locations in the chain.
–May 3, 2017–
