This Steak & Shake Is A Pigsty
We've never been to a Steak & Shake, and Cal's behind-the-scenes footage of one of their restaurants in Indiana makes us think we'll be saying that for a long time. In his intro to the footage, he claims they were so understaffed that he was able to walk into the back of the restaurant and take photos, and then return later with a video camera. We wonder if he knew someone who worked there, but that's not really the point. The point is the shake-making area looks like babies vomited all over it. We can only imagine the horror that begins at night when all the people are gone and the roaches have their nightly dairy & syrup feast.
"360 Steak N Shake" [NCCSites.com] (Thanks to Eric!)
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Actually, that makes it sound kind of cute: I can totally picture the roaches whooping it up in their tiny, high-pitched little voices.
...Wall-e has ruined me.
The only time we ever went to Steak N shake was about 3am and after the 2nd trip of giving everyone diarrhea, we refused to go there ever again.
The little overpriced greek diner didn't make us sick at least.
I'm a Hoosier - and whenever I'm "Back Home Again in Indiana" I will always make a trip to Steak-n-Shake - love it!
@The Stork: 100% Agreed.
Maybe I should just start covering my eyes and not read anymore. Every week Consumerist ruins one of my most sacred things. First you took my Vitamin Water that made me feel healthy. Next it was Carl's Jr./Hardees. Now you are coming for Steak n' Shake. Oh the humanity!
Ignorance is full of bliss and Orange Freezes.
I am curious as to what time those pics were taken. Our local S&S is pretty efficient from the hours of 11am-7pm. It's okay from 7pm-11pm. After that, all hell breaks lose. My friends and I used to eat there 4-5 times a week after midnight and we were rarely charged for a full meal and regularly got our own drink refills from behind the counter. And we weren't the only ones.
Also, a lot of that mess looks like shake splatter.
Any restaurant open 24 hours (which, I think most S&S's are) is going to be dirtier because there's no time to shut everything down and clean.
Oh, what's that I taste? The vomit in the back of my mouth. Never again, Steak n' Shake...
The ones I've been to in St. Louis are very well kept, and I've always had nothing but good service at them. Looks like a case of poor management.
And the chili is awesome.
When I worked there 12 years ago my Steak 'n Shake was nearly always spotless unless we were in the throes of a dinner rush. Even though it was open 24 hours, the majority of the cleaning happened in the dead hours of 2 - 5AM. I'm sure every restaurant is different though.
I still try to go every time I'm in an area that has one. Steakburgers are yummy.
We have one in Erie, PA and I don't see what the hype is all about. The fries are too damn small, and I can get a better burger and shake at Eat 'N Park or, hell, even Friday's for less money. And at least at Friday's the french fries would be larger than a toothpick.
These photos make me appreciate Denny's that much more.
Not enough to go and eat at Denny's, but to appreciate them that much more.
goddamn i love steak 'n shake.
the ones in southern illinois have always been good for me...
cape girardeau, missouri...not so much.
Just for the record, milkshake machines can generate a LOT of splatter. While it's busy you just clean the blades after making a shake, and wipe the machine down later.
I've eaten there a couple times, and it's not much above any other greasehole fast food, except the one I've been to is usually slow. The last time I ate there I sat at the bar, and watched them work. The place wasn't in bad shape, not was the staff unfriendly or unclean, but the whole operation just left me feeling turned off.
Maybe it was watching them take little 1/4 cup meat patties and smooshing and spreading them until they were about 4' round and calling it a steak burger. Honestly, White Castle sliders may have more meat on them.
It's pretty safe to say that anyone from East Central Illinois knows what takehomeasak means.
There are two Steak & Shakes near me. One is clean, bright, friendly, fast, and packed around the clock. The other (in a much more affluent neighborhood, to boot) never feels clean, they get my order wrong pretty much every time, and the only people there are soccer dads feeding the team after practice.
@DoubleEcho: Yeah, I don't get their fries. It's like they opened a can of potato straws and dumped them onto your plate. Good shakes, though.
@bombaxstar: I was raised on southern Illinois' Steak n' Shakes. Specifically, the Mt. Vernon one.
Now I want some cheese fries.
I like steak n shake. I really wish they would open up a store in Oregon. This is surprising because they are usually clean.
Steak and Shakes in MO are horrible. The service at each and every one (ok maybe not all) is bad, you may or may not get what you order and the food is overpriced. If you want great burgers and service find a Culvers.
From what I remember, Steak & Shake doesn't close. (At least, the ones around me don't close.) So they're usually really understaffed at night. And there's always somebody there to swat away the "nighttime roaches"... ;)
Yuck- has anyone called the health department???
I don't get how blurry pictures of shake splatter show that a restaurant is a pigsty........especially when the splatter is next to the shake mixers......
I couldn't figure out where in Indiana this Steak 'n Shake was. I seriously doubt it's my local ones, because they are always clean and have good service.
@hillsrovey: You haven't had the Indiana experience until you've been to a Steak n' Shake completely drunk at 3 in the morning. It always seems weird to me that people who aren't from the Midwest have almost never heard of Steak n' Shake, and sometimes don't even believe me that it's a real restaurant!
@hurkon:
Steak & Shake is nearly completely void in the upper midwest. I guess Runza makes up for that.
I hope it's not the steak n shake in T.H.
Anyone else a die hard skyline chilli fan?
Does anyone know which one this is? I ate at the one in Seymour a couple of weeks ago. On a related note I drive by their corporate headquarters on my way to work everyday.
Ugh. Steak N Shake makes me queasy just driving by. The ones in Terre Haute, IN and Decatur, IL especially.
Oh, man. I haven't opened a Steak 'n Shake menu since '98.
Frisco Melt, small cheese fries and Cookies 'n Cream shake, please.
Former Michigander here who just went to Steak 'n' Shake last night (Ann Arbor location) for the first time in years. The place was dirty as hell, there was nothing separating the Smoking and Non-Smoking sections, our food sat in the serving window for ten minutes while our waitress disappeared out the back, and we had to wait an additional fifteen minutes for our shakes for reasons unknown (our waitress's explanation was "there's a thing"). We also witnessed several heated arguments between the waitstaff and the kitchen workers. Very uncomfortable, wouldn't recommend it again.
Steak and Shakes are great fast food restaurants, but for some reason it really seems to be hit or miss if they are clean or not. It seems like a lot more of a crapshoot than other restaurant chains. Perhaps Steak and Shake doesn't have district managers who come in to see that the restaurant is up to standards?
A clean Steak and Shake is hard to beat for the burgers and shakes.
I hadn't heard of Steak 'n Shake until I went to college in South Bend. My husband, not from Indiana, started to live for a trip to a SNS when he came to visit me. :D He nearly had an orgasm when he saw one in Austin a few months ago. SNS comes to Texas!
@Superawesomerad: I used to live in Ann Arbor. Some of the locals called it "Steak & Wait". It always took forever to get my food there. I mean, I don't expect fast food from a place like that, but it was a long wait even by short-order standards.
I think the problem here is not so much Steak & Shake but Indiana itself, the Midwest's own West Virginia.
I worked at a S&S years ago and there was plenty of gross stuff (like most fast food places), but I don't think I'd be worrying about ice cream splattered around the shake machine.
I just want them in Arizona.
*gets out pen*
Orange Freezes are....nah, I just can't do it. :)
In SW MO Steak & Shakes are everywhere. I can't get into their burgers after eating at Backyard Burger, mmmmm. But their shakes are awesome, and they put REAL cherry syrup in the cherry Cokes.
@Weirdsmobile: at least our state can balance a buget and actually make a profit. What is ours again? over on billion? sure beats having to raise taxes just to still end up in a deficit.
*over one billion
I like In-N-Out. Completely revealed kitchen area, always very clean. Hard-working, enthusiastic staff, and always great food.
Yeah, so, that's the one in my town. Only one in IN at 4850 anything. And that's the one I usually go to. That's pretty gross, but I suppose I haven't been there in forever. But still, I'm kinda surprised that they don't get a lot of citations (I think).
Anyone want to open a Steak and Shake franchise? It only takes a net worth of $1.5 Million and $500,000 in liquid assets. I've looked into other franchise opportunities and don't know of anyone else who requires so much. I can't afford the other franchises and I sure as heck couldn't afford a S&S. If you want a franchise, you have to be interviewed by the corporate staff - seems kind of excessive for wanting to open a "greasy spoon...."
The one in Greensboro is awful as well.
I think the Circle K folks tend to love those places- but they act like Flanders kids from my experience, so that's hardly an endorsement.
NOOOOOOO!!!! Not my precious steak n shake!!!!!!
Steak n shake has the best burger I have ever tasted! Albeit a bit greasy. *shrug*
My only complaint with their burgers is that they are too greasy.... so much so that if you dont start eating it immediately (I bring mine home on the way from work)... the grease sometimes soaks the bun. And they put the pickle planks crossways like an X on the burger.... thats just insane!!!! ALso.... I truely HATE their toothpick-thin fries.... fries need to be meaty. I have to actually stop somewhere else to get fries.
The only thing they have that I like there are the burgers.
And I can agree that they are sometimes understaffed. I stopped by at about 5:30 am one morning & there was only one person visible inside the whole restaurant & the back door was open. ANd I sat at the drive thru for almost 10 minutes & noone ever took my order.... so I went to wendy's instead (I hadnt been to wendy's in a very long time & had a hankering for it.)
I know the apostrophe might screw with your tags and title, but it's Steak 'n Shake, not Steak & Shake. Sorry, I know, but it's on their logo.
We don't have Steak and Shake's out here in Washington state. In fact, there are none west of Texas.
I guess that's a good-news/bad-news thing, based on the topic of this post and all the comments of people who love it anyway
Frankly, unless that's what the place looked like at store opening, I'm neither surprised nor disgusted. Restaurants can become filthy over the course of normal operating hours, especially during meal 'rush' times. Ideally, employees should be wiping down surfaces and machines throughout the day. But to me, the photos showed nothing out of the ordinary.
To be honest, nothing will ever stop me from eating at Steak 'n Shake.