Steak 'n Shake

Frank has been eying Steak and Shake for a while, so we finally dropped by. I was impressed! They are a chain, and I was expecting another version of McDonald's. Nope! They have a sit down area inside, which is an actual restaurant. The servers wear white shirts with bow-ties, and aprons. And the decor is a little retro looking. I had a cheeseburger with fries (around $3.50) and $1 sweet tea, and Frank had the Bacon and Blue cheese burger, with fries and a shake.

The burger patties are 100% beef, and small and square shaped. You can get whatever you want on them. I had a thick slice of tomato, thick onion slice, and big piece of lettuce that stuck out the side of my burger. The fries are small, like the potato sticks that you buy in cans, but fresh and hot. The tea is made with real sugar and is very large. Frank said his burger "was really good. And there was plenty of blue cheese."

The shakes deserve their own paragraph, because they are amazing! The last time I had a good milk shake was at a Tastee Freez, circa 1994. I don't know what that soft stuff is that comes out of machines at McDonald's and other places, but it ain't ice cream and they don't make good milk shakes. Steak and Shake uses premium ice cream and milk, and you can taste the difference. Frank's shake was so good that I had to order one too. (Frank loved his shake, but swears that Braum's is actually better!) They have specialty shakes too, like Butter Pecan or Caramel Apple.

Overall, I thought Stake and Shake was really good. I prefer their burger patties to Braums, but Frank likes Braum's better. But he still says that Stake and Shake is good. They are way better than fast food places. We've eaten at both of the ones in our area, and the service was fast and polite at both, even during a dinner rush. I'd give them at least 4 out of 5 stars, maybe 4 1/2. They also have all of their ingredients listed online, and happy hour for drinks AND shakes is 2-4 pm and 2-4 am.