By Nicole Esan, News Correspondent
With its new opening on Jan. 2, burger lovers of Cambridge now have a rival option to the famous Bartley’s – The Shake Shack on 92 Winthrop St.
The menu features all of the Shake Shack classics including their frozen custards – dense, rich and creamy shakes specifically created for each Shack location.
As a preview to opening day on Christmas Eve, The Shake Shack served samples of their frozen custards to their guests as a sneak peak of what was to come.
“We’ve had a great response from people,” said Area Director, Amy Green. “We’re really excited to be in Harvard Square and I feel like we’ve had an equally excited response from people.”
The Shake Shack first came to Boston in March of 2013 in The Street Shopping Complex of Chestnut Hill along Route 9. Because of the immediate success of that location, the owners were convinced they should remain close to Boston for their second opening.
To celebrate their second restaurant in the area and to kick-off the new year, The Shake Shack introduced some of their new location-specific custard recipes inspired by the different colleges surrounding Massachusetts Avenue.
First to be offered was the Harvard-themed Crimson Red Velvet, consisting of a vanilla frozen custard mixed with a slice of crimson red velvet cake from the South End Buttery Bakery. The second was the MInT Chocolate, a chocolate frozen custard mixed with a minted marshmallow sauce and chocolate truffle cookie dough.
Shake Shack’s signature ‘ShackBurger’ is their most popular burger and is made of either a single or double burger topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato and their famous ShackSauce.
“The line was almost out the door when I was there,” said freshman environmental science major Olivia Grady. “I tried their SmokeShack burger. It was really good. I would definitely go back.”
Another one of Shake Shack’s signature items is their Lobstah Shell Concrete, a vanilla frozen custard stuffed into a lobster tail pastry shell with strawberry purée and ricotta cream.
Particular with this item on their menu, as part of a partnership with local non-profit, Birthday Wishes, which creates birthday parties for homeless children, five percent of all Lobstah Shell Concrete sales will go directly to them.
Despite the inconvenient weather conditions of their opening week, the Shake Shack decided to open as planned.
“We had a little bit of a softer opening because school was not in session and we opened in the middle of a blizzard,” said Green, but a snowstorm did not weather the enthusiasm of other Cambridge residents.
As part of their ongoing efforts to design other Shake Shack locations with eco-friendly materials, this new location is equipped with walls made of reclaimed wood from a retired 19th-century paper mill at Mount Tom in Holyoke, according to the company. The Shake Shack is also designed with energy-efficient kitchen lighting and equipment and seats patrons in chairs made of lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, meaning trees were cut sparingly. The tabletops, made of reclaimed wood from old bowling alleys, offers an ambiance of nostalgia.
Shake Shack is just a quick hop on the T, steps away from the Harvard stop on the red line.
