Downtown Summerlin’s Shake Shack ranks high in taste, calories

Yeah, it’s counter service and you order off a menu board pegged to the wall, but no one in a large lunch crowd at Downtown Summerlin’s Shake Shack was complaining. That’s probably because a blend of tastes kicks things up to become fast food that’s bordering on gourmet.

Located just off the dining arroyo of Downtown Summerlin, Shake Shack touts its hormone-free meat that has been raised without antibiotics. It toasts the buns on which the burgers are served.

“It’s so good. I love their cheese fries,” said Kristen de Guzman, a student at a nearby high school. “And I like that it’s a really simple menu, but everything is really high-quality.”

The burger spot recently added some new flavors to go along with its regular items; the BBQ ShackMeister Burger is a cheeseburger topped with fried shallots. The barbecue sauce is not overbearing, but light and thin. The cost is $6.55, and the meal has 488 calories. The BBQ Chick’n Shack uses chicken breast meat, fried to a light crispness. It, too, makes use of the barbecue sauce, and it’s tempered with pickles. The cost to your wallet is $6.39; the cost to your waist is — ouch — 655 calories. Round things out with bacon cheese fries for $4.69 and you’d best head to the gym afterward; they contain 660 calories.

Why bother to have seasonal offerings?

“We try to change it up and give the guest something new, something different to try and branch off, so it doesn’t become stale for them,” said general manager Michael Perryman. “Everybody want to try something new now and then.”