The fine-casual restaurant brand Shake Shack is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its launch in Korea. SPC Group first introduced Shake Shack in Korea in July 2016, creating a sensation in the restaurant industry through its top-quality ingredients, eco-friendly interior design and active efforts to develop a localized menu. As a result, Shake Shack has consistently solidified its position as a beloved brand nationwide, opening 17 restaurants across Korea to date, including its recently-opened Dongtan location. Today, we would like to introduce Shake Shack’s five most popular burgers since its launch in Korea five years ago, best pairings of Shake Shack menu items, and the special limited menu items for the fifth anniversary of our launch in Korea.
Top Five Burger Picks Among Shake Shack Maniacs!
Top Five Shake Shack Burgers
Burgers at Shake Shack combine fresh ingredients with delightfully fluffy buns made by SPC Samlip using domestically-cultivated yeast and our trademark Shack Sauce to create a fantastic flavor profile for every item on the menu. But what are the five burgers that Shake Shack fans across Korea love the most? First and foremost, Shake Shack’s signature menu, the Shack Burger, took the top place at number one. The Shack Burger is a cheese burger consisting of a beef patty garnished with tomato, lettuce and the Shack Sauce, which boasts a perfectly balanced range of flavors as a perennial fan favorite. At number two, the Smoke Shack is another cheeseburger that adds bacon smoked using applewood chips and piquant cherry pepper to its beef patty and Shack Sauce. Widely enjoyed for its smoky aroma, the Smoke Shack is a consistent hit.
Third on the list is the Double Shack Burger, a variation of the Shack Burger that enhances its meatiness by doubling its Black Angus beef patty. In particular, Shake Shack’s Black Angus beef is raised to the finest quality standards without any antibiotics or hormones. Coming in fourth is the Chick’n Shack. The Chick’n Shack’s chicken patty is cooked sous vide in buttermilk and fried to a crispy perfection, offering a robust range of textures alongside lettuce, pickles and herb mayo sauce. Finally, the Shack Stack is a cheeseburger that brings together a portobello mushroom patty and a beef patty, topped with tomato, lettuce and the Shack Sauce. Adding the earthy flavor of a mushroom patty created a cult classic with many loyal fans.
Five Pairings for a Perfect Shake Shack Meal!
Shake Shack Menu Pairing Suggestions
At Shake Shack, we offer a wide variety of drinks that enhance the flavor of our food menu items. In this section, we introduce five perfect pairings that Shake Shack fans love. First is the combination of our popular signature dish, the Shack Burger, and our Floats. Shake Shack Floats are a premium beverage in which the softness of vanilla custard meets the fizziness of soda to create an addictive mix, offering the three flavors of root beer, purple cow, and creamsicle. A bite into the rich umami of the Shack Burger is flawlessly chased up by the gentle vanilla scent and refreshing fizz from a sip of our signature Floats. Another unmissable Shake Shack combo is the simple yet classic pairing of fries and a shake. Our crispy crinkle-cut fries are irresistible at any time of the day, and dipping one into a shake elevates the deliciousness to the pinnacle of the sweet and salty flavor combination. The third pairing is the Chick’n Shack washed down with the ShackMeister Ale. The ShackMeister Ale is renowned for its robust malty fragrance with refreshing notes of pine and freshly-baked bread. A drink of the ShackMeister Ale after a satisfying bite of the Chick’n Shack and its crispy and tender chicken patty is sure to be a winning combination.
The Shroom Burger and the Shack Red Wine also presents an impeccable pairing. The Shroom Burger is a vegetarian burger with a portobello mushroom patty that is stuffed with cheese and fried, then served with lettuce, tomato and the Shack Sauce. Next to the Shack Red Wine, made specially for Shake Shack at Domaine Lafage in France, the ‘Shroom Burger forms a truly refined marriage of flavors. Last on the list is the combination of our hot dog and lemonade. Did you know that, when Shake Shack was originally founded in New York in 2001, its main selling point was hot dogs, not burgers? As a result, it’s no wonder that Shake Shack’s hot dogs rival its burgers in flavor. Not only that, our hot dogs bring together a delightfully chewy potato bun made using domestically cultivated yeast with a beef sausage smoked with oak wood chips, showcasing an entirely unique take on classic hot dogs. Washing this appetizing creation with a sip of our energizing lemonade squeezed fresh at the restaurant each morning, you’re sure to melt away any trace of lingering fatigue. At Shake Shack, we offer a diverse menu filled with diverse pairings such as the combinations introduced above, as well as hidden gems that you’re sure to enjoy pairing and discovering for yourself!
Shake Shack, an Endless Series of New Flavors and Experiences
History of Anniversary Events for Shake Shack’s Launch in Korea
For the past five years since first opening in Korea, Shake Shack has dedicated its utmost efforts to offer delicious food made with fresh, high-quality ingredients and a fun and lively space for the local community. We’ve also introduced a series of limited menu items to present customers with new and refined flavors, showcasing a total of 16 dishes to date. In particular, the Mingles Burger, sold on a limited basis to celebrate the first anniversary of Shake Shack’s Korea launch, became a hot topic of conversation as a collaborative effort with owner-chef Mingoo Kang of the renowned Korean fine dining restaurant Mingles. For our second anniversary, we then introduced the limited edition TocToc Shack in partnership with owner-chef Dan Kim of the fine dining restaurant TocToc, which seeks to accentuates the inherent flavor of natural ingredients. A year later, the Zero Complex Burger was released for our third anniversary, marking a joint effort with owner-chef Choonghoo Lee of Michelin-starred restaurant Zero Complex.
Last year, we released the brand film “Road to Shack” with producer Wookjung Lee, known for KBS’s “Food Odyssey,” to commemorate Shake Shack’s fourth year in Korea. The documentary introduced Shake Shack’s origin story, the history of burgers, and the meaning of hospitality as Shake Shack’s brand value. In addition, we also donated a part of our profits to Community Chest of Korea, a social welfare joint donation fund. Refusing to rest on our laurels, Shake Shack promises to continue leading a series of good deeds as a brand that seeks to grow alongside the local community.
Marking Our Fifth Anniversary with the Most Korean of Flavors
Limited Edition Menu Items for the Fifth Anniversary of Shake Shack’s Launch in Korea
For our fifth anniversary, we’ve prepared limited menu items that deeply embody the sensibilities of Korean cuisine. Shake Shack US’s culinary director, Mark Rosati, traveled to Korea in person to create these menu items based on his own firsthand experience of Korean food. Firstly, the Seoul-style Bulgogi Burger is a harmonious combination of a Black Angus beef patty with melted Gouda cheese, topped with bulgogi, bulgogi mayo sauce, and piquant Korean radish and carrot pickles. In particular, it faithfully recreated the cooking technique of Seoul-style bulgogi, where thinly sliced beef is marinaded in a soy sauce-based dressing. This limited edition burger was developed in collaboration with Hanilkwan, one of the premier bulgogi restaurants in Seoul. Tracing its roots to 1939 when it first opened, Hanilkwan is responsible for popularizing the royal cuisine dish of neobiani, which was unfamiliar to the general public at the time, under its present-day name of bulgogi. In essence, it remains the spiritual origin of Seoul-style bulgogi today, characterized by its modest helping of sauce. We also unveiled the Makgeolli Shake in partnership with Jipyeong Jujo, a brewery that boasts almost 100 years of history. The new shake blends the clean and uniquely Korean flavor of rice wine in makgeolli with the sweetness of vanilla to craft a delightful aftertaste. The two limited edition items are available at all Shake Shack locations in Korea until August 31.
Shake Shack’s Fifth Anniversary Campaign Video
SPC Group unveiled a variety of content on its official website to celebrate Shake Shack’s entry into the Korean market, in addition to limited edition menu items. Collaborating with the Korean illustrator Atmosphere, we distributed digital artwork merchandise for free to mark our fifth anniversary. We also released a fifth anniversary campaign video produced together with the lifestyle magazine Hypebeast Korea.
Under SPC Group’s management, Shake Shack has pioneered a unique dining culture that cannot be experienced anywhere else in the world through efforts such as active collaborations with Korean artists and the development of menu items utilizing local cuisine. At Shake Shack, we promise to continue presenting our valued customers with a better service and experience as a “fine casual” brand that brings together the quality of high-end restaurants with reasonable prices and convenience!
