Shake Shack Highlands Ranch — Restaurant in Littleton

Upon hearing that Shake Shack, legendary New York Burger spot, would be landing in South Denver, I was equal parts curious and skeptical. About 1 week or so after the restaurant opened, I decided to brave the lunch time crowds, and try it out for the first time.

After a (surprisingly) short wait in line, I ordered what I've read to be the ultimate combo to be had at Shake Shack: double Shack burger, cheese fries, and a chocolate shake.

Overall, I though the meal was good and definitely inspired a repeat visit. The burger had the classic roadside burger joint style of griddle smashed patties on a soft egg bun, a little burger sauce, and some light garnish. While tasty, I found the double patties to be a bit much for me by the end as the flavor of beef overwhelmed just about everything else.

The cheese fries were sadly not as good as I'd hoped they'd be. I'm not a huge crinkle cut fry guy historically, but given the fries increased surface area compared to a standard straight fry, it seemed a logical companion for a thick cheese sauce, and was definitely worth a try at least once. After having them, I'd say that my opinion falls somewhere in the middle. While very tasty for a few bites, I felt that the rich cheese flavor didn't remain as complimentary to the burger as I was hoping it would. By the time I was halfway through, the fries were mushed with cheese and soggy, and while I thoroughly enjoyed their flavor, it struck me as out of place in an already densely saturated meal. These fries would be good on their own, but felt very overwhelming next to the burger.

The shake was quite good as well. Very, very chocolatety, so it lives up to it's name well. The method by which Shake Shack purportedly makes their fudge is quite old world and mouth watering, and it compliments their shakes well. My only nitpick with the shake was actually the lid and straw combo. The straws were some of the flimsiest I've ever used, and since the lid itself was so taut, I struggled to even get my straw into the shake to try it. I ended up losing the lid altogether and enjoyed it top down.

Shake Shack was surprising to me. I definitely took a "too much of a good thing approach" on my first trip here, and will do my best to pair things appropriately moving forward. I will say that for $18.50, my particular order was not a cheap lunch for one, but it was an illuminating adventure into a world of food culture and hype that I'm grateful to have experienced. East coast, west coast, whatever your preferred burger joint expert may be, Shake Shack is worthy of it's reputation and definitely worth a visit...

Within 5 days: 1 wrong order 1 bad experience 1 wrong comped order because of the bad experience

The facts were that the order that was comped to take care of my bad experience was wrong. I found out through the Managers: Adrina and Sheryl that the employee who prompted the bad experience and also helped with my comp order entered my order right but the kitchen got it wrong.

Happens right? Yes. But 3 bad experiences in a row is uncommon unless there is improvement to be had. Simply stated there are younger people working here and while that is in no way a reason to discriminate- it is a reason why things could go wrong . Psychologically they may still be biologically evolving so they are still learning. That is where I’ll give this place some slack. I remember when I worked in food and I felt fortunate to have a job, so I did the best I could do. I still feel that way now. I was assured they coach their teams. Adrina and Sheryl seem like very professional and understanding managers, so I believe it.

Things just happen sometimes.

Cleanliness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5) Curbside Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3) Quality of food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4) Order Accuracy: ⭐️⭐️ (2) Efficiency: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4) Hospitality: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3)

Recommend? Pretty good overall, after calming down, it isn’t so bad but my partner and I will patiently await the arrival of In-n-out. As an AZ native, you can’t beat the price, quality or service. Though it certainly is attainable. It depends- if you have patience and don’t mind what I’ve talked about, go for it. If you expect a full experience every time, I’d check out In-n-out on Countyline when...

Update: management reached out and took care of things. They emailed us back we got another opportunity to try the meal and it was perfect the second time.

We went last Friday 11/12. The food was...ok, but the service was terrible. We ordered to go and received a number. The staff was calling out numbers and handing to go orders to people. We watched the groups after us receive their food and politely asked if our order was coming. We were told it is coming. The staff kept looking at our number (it's on a stand) and checking for food, but nothing. 20 minutes pass and at this point several groups have come and gone since we got there. I asked again if our food was coming. They didn't even look just said it's on its way.

Finally, I just walked passed the staff and started searching the APP and delivery stand they had set up for things like door dash and online orders. There is our order right in the middle of em. I didn't even bother explaining to the staff, we just left disappointed.

Our order, which wasn't anything unique: 2 burgers, 2 fries, was of course cold by then. The burgers were ok, but the fries were trash. We emailed corporate to hopefully resolve this, but they didn't even bother to email back....