I Tried Shake Shack's New West Coast Menu
What does a summer road trip taste like?
Image Courtesy of Shake Shack
Dreaming of cruising along on a West Coast road trip this summer, but lacking in the time, funds or (in this heat) motivation to make that happen? Shake Shack is launching a new menu to make at least the food part of those driving-down-the-highway dreams — that is, the stops at roadside burger stands — a reality. And you don’t even have to gas up the car.
What is Shake Shack's new West Coast-style menu?
Starting July 14, the fast-food chain is offering a “chef-driven” take on the California roadside burger with a new West Coast menu that elevates the "sweet caramelized onions, punchy Secret Sauce and fresh avocado” it says defines it.
“We set out to pay homage to the burger culture in America and the West Coast-style burger, and we formulated a menu that’s built off our classic core ingredients,” Shake Shack Executive Chef and Vice President of Culinary Innovation John Karangis said during my visit to the chain’s test kitchen in New York City. “Same potato buns, same all-natural beef, same antibiotic hormone-free chicken.”
The menu includes fresh vegetables — lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions — and new sauces. Do these elements define a West Coast burger, evoke a freewheeling trip along, say, the Pacific Coast Highway or Route 66?
The West Coast burger defies a single, solid definition, Karangis says. More than anything, it's “a vibe.”
The menu will be available nationwide for a limited time. I had a chance to taste it ahead of its launch.
What items are on Shake Shack’s West Coast menu?
The menu includes four new items:
- West Coast Burger: A quarter-pound Angus Beef patty, smashed and seasoned and topped with American cheese, Shake Shack’s Secret Sauce, caramelized onions and honey-mustard-marinated pickles served on a toasted potato bun.
- West Coast Chicken Sandwich: Featuring the same breaded white-meat chicken breast used in the Chicken Shack, this sandwich is topped with sliced avocado, lettuce, tomato and Sour Cream & Onion Sauce served on a toasted potato bun.
- West Coast Loaded Fries: Shake Shack’s crinkle-cut fries topped with melted cheddar and American cheese sauce, caramelized onions and Shake Shack’s Secret Sauce.
- Spicy Fries with Ranch: Crinkle-cut fries dusted with a “hot pepper” spice blend featuring cayenne, garlic and paprika and served with a side of ranch dressing for dipping. You can also top them with cheese sauce, if you like.
Is Shake Shack adding anything else to its menu this summer?
Yes. Also on July 14, the chain is bringing back its popular Big Shack burger, last seen on Shake Shack menus for a limited time in November 2025. The Big Shack includes two quarter-pound beef patties, melted American cheese, green-leaf lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, sliced onions and Shake Shack’s Secret Sauce, with an extra piece of bun in the center. The brand calls it its "biggest, boldest burger to date."
How does Shake Shack’s new West Coast menu taste?
I, personally, found the lineup to be super saucy overall and surprisingly lowkey in terms of flavor. The Secret Sauce featured on several of the items is kind of a chunky version of the chain’s Shack Sauce, augmented with relish, diced white onion, a bit more mustard and ketchup, and a little spicy chili. I admire the creativity, but I’m not sure I, personally, feel like the embellishments improved upon the old tried-and-true.
The West Coast Burger was a real two-hander, and even at that the elements occasionally escaped my grasp — and my mouth. The pickle flavor was very present, but the onions (sliced and sautéed in butter) were pretty mild. The burger was definitely on the drippy side, so be sure to grab a lot of napkins.
The West Coast Chicken Sandwich, for its part, had a satisfying crunch. I love avocados, but I didn't even register them alongside the tomatoes and lettuce, which were generous and fresh. That said, I definitely preferred the Sour Cream & Onion Sauce to the Secret Sauce. And it was applied a bit more modestly, which was nice.
While I found the West Coast Loaded Fries to be a bit overloaded, I really enjoyed the Spicy Fries with Ranch. They were pleasingly spicy and tasty on their own, though a dip into the ranch offered a cool creaminess that worked well, too.
My favorite thing on the menu, though, was the returning Big Shack. That double portion of beef, those thick-cut dill pickles. Yum.
When can you try Shake Shack’s West Coast menu yourself?
The new menu lands at Shake Shacks nationwide (excluding locations in stadiums, racetracks, roadways and airports) for a limited time on Tuesday, July 14.
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