In a few days’ time, Shake Shack Philippines will be opening the doors to its first Philippine location (ICYMI: May 10, 11 a.m., at Central Square BGC), treating Filipinos to world-class burgers, fries, and hotdogs.
If you’re familiar with the brand, then you won’t be surprised to discover how the items on its menu taste exactly the way you remember them from New York or Dubai or Hong Kong. Though Shake Shack began as a simple hotdog stand intended to bring glory back to Madison Square Park, it was built on the fine-dining sensibilities of Danny Meyer, the restaurateur behind Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, and more; quality makes up its brand value.
Shake Shack culinary director Mark Rosati told Esquire that yes, it had to make adjustments to ensure consistency, like cooking the fries a little to longer to keep them crisper, but the tweaks are only in the processes and fixed in the kitchen. “As for the ingredients, everything is the same,” he said.
What’s more pleasantly surprising are the featured local items on the menu, such as Auro chocolates, Wildflour’s calamansi pie, and Bucky’s non-brownies. “The menu has to be personal. We have a network of people that told us where to go,” Rosati revealed. His team went around Manila bringing back all sorts of items that they managed to experiment with. Though Shake Shack is proudly New York, its worldwide growth can be attributed to its dedication to create personal connections in every locale. (P.S. It even has a little menu for dogs.)
For now, Shake Shack Philippines is focusing on the core menu (no sous-vide chicken nuggets available yet), with a few extra Filipino touches, but, like every other Shake Shack franchise, there’s a lot more to the menu than meets the eye. We asked Rosati about Shake Shack’s legendary “secret menu.”
“Our secret menu is really something that’s born out of the passion of our fans,” he explained. “There are a few items that we don’t have out there [on the menu] that you can go to a [server] and ask about, like the BLT or the grilled cheese sandwich.” Both are available in Manila. You're welcome.
“There’s one burger that’s gotten a lot of talk lately. It’s called our peanut butter and bacon burger. It’s a plain burger, bacon, and peanut sauce,” he revealed. “It was made in America, but it’s actually very Asian.”
Bunless burgers are available as well as hotdog-less hotdogs (you know, for vegetarians).
Rosati's advice when it comes to off-menu items: Mix and match any item you see on the menu. Shake Shack will provide.
Opening on May 10, Friday at 11 a.m., Shake Shack is at Central Square, Bonifacio Global City.
