Shake Shack Madison Square Park
The ivy-covered kiosk in the southwest corner of Madison Square Park is the first Shake Shack there ever was. Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group put a hot dog cart there in 2001. It was there to support the Conservancy's first art installation. The Parks Department then awarded a kiosk contract to help fund the park's future, and it opened in 2004. The Parks Commissioner can end that licence for any reason on twenty-five days' notice.
Why go
Meyer's group also owns Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern and Blue Smoke. The card is burgers, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, crinkle cut fries, shakes, frozen custard, beer and wine.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a burger with crinkle cut fries.
- Order: frozen custard.
- Avoid: planning to sit inside. The seating is outdoors, heated and covered.
What locals & experts say
- The Madison Square Park Conservancy, which asked Meyer for the kiosk:
Shake Shack is his tribute to the great American roadside burger stand.
2 - Shake Shack's own annual report, on the years before the kiosk: the cart
was an instant success, with lines forming daily throughout the summer months over the next three years.
1
Good to know
- The door: 23rd Street and Madison Avenue, inside the park.
Verdict
could-visit — There is no booking here. Queue at the kiosk, and pick a day when the weather is on your side.