Potatoes

Crinkle-Cut Fries Coming Back to Shack by Popular Demand

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It’s been shake, rattle and roll with fresh, hand-cut fries at Shake Shack for about a year now, but the verdict is “no dice” as far as most consumers are concerned. As such, the “modern day roadside burger stand” operation will soon steer its way back to tried and true crinkle-cut crowd pleasers.

In November, the people’s choice favorite fry will again be served in Shake Shack outlets from New York to Miami, London to Dubai, Istanbul to Moscow, and points between and beyond.

crinkles shake-shack“About a year ago, we decided to convert our classic crinkle-cut fry to a fresh, hand-cut, Russet potato [fry]…We set out to do what we thought was best and what we believed our guests wanted,” Randy Garutti, chief executive officer of Shake Shack, wrote in a open letter to customers dated August 8. “We learned quickly that sourcing the best potatoes, cutting thousands of them by hand, soaking and double frying wasn’t easy.  But that didn’t stop us.  We converted kitchens, added and retrained team members, and successfully launched our hand-cut fries.”

However, real success in the restaurant business can only be measured my customer satisfaction. And it’s a sure bet that lovers of fries insist on crisp, hot, tasty servings of their favorite potato side dish without miss on a consistent basis. The reality is, however, that consistency in volume is difficult to deliver manually day in and day out during peak hours of feeding frenzy. This is the reason why high quality, reliable frozen french fries from specialist suppliers of value-added spuds are preferred by foodservice operators around the world.

Well-intentioned Shake Shack learned this lesson the democratic way, as consumers and staff alike voted by turning thumbs down to results of the fresh-cut, in-house experiment.

“We weren’t satisfied, and neither were the overwhelming majority of our fans,” confessed Garutti. “No matter how hard we tried, inconsistency remained and we found ourselves unable, 100% of the time, to deliver what our guests loved most about our crinkle cuts…”

shake-shack-NYC Location TD

“Now with the benefit of hindsight,” he continued, “ it’s clear that we underestimated the love for our classic crinkle-cut fry.  We reacted to what we thought we heard.  But in fact, while listening to a few outspoken critics, we never fully heard the legions of fans that loved our classic crinkle.”

The message from the masses has now been received loud and clear.

“Even fans that genuinely appreciated what we were trying to do continued to remind us that they just wanted the crinkle cuts back,” said Garutti.  “It’s humbling to know that so many people care so deeply about our menu… With that, we’re thrilled to announce that in November, Crinkle will be back!”

Rolling out as a hot dog cart operation in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park in 2001 before evolving into a full-fledged eatery with a roof over its head three years later, Shake Shack is part of Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG), which includes a number of New York City’s highly celebrated restaurants. In addition to Angus beef burgers and fries, the Shack’s menu features flat-top dogs, frozen custard, shakes, craft beer and wine.