Steak and Shake closing 57 locations

[storewanderer]

Had the opportunity to go to some of these kiosk Steak N Shakes.

These fools have effectively killed Steak N Shake.

The first one had a "locally owned N operated" sign posted. Building exterior was dirty, damaged shutters, etc. Inside floor so sticky. Kiosk was filthy. Once at table the floor under the table looked dirtier than a park or rest stop bathroom. Received order. Employee dumped it in the "online pick up" tub and walked away. Burger in single wrap tissue and fries dumped into bag. Burger steaming hot, tasted great. Fries okay. All employees in uniforms at this one. There were at least 9 employees in the back. Drive through had steady 3 or 4 cars. Inside had just a few customers.

Second one which was close to first one appeared to still be corporate. At this one, one employee was in street clothes and had she not been cooking, I would have doubted she worked there. Ordered shake at this one. Came out within a few minutes, employee gave me shake, straw, spoon, and was pleasant. This one seemed clean and better maintained..

Third one was interesting. Completely deserted inside but somewhat steadily one or two cars driving through. Again had the "locally owned N operated" sign posted. Food was again excellent. At this one the employees were all in neatly pressed/ironed dark colored button down dress shirts and the male employees were wearing ties. Not sure what was going on with that. Looked like they worked at a bank or something. Stayed inside for about 40 minutes and saw 3 other customers inside but none ate there all took to go. Location was clean as could be.

Fourth and final location redeemed coupon for free shake. Sat in front of it for 10 minutes and saw only one other customer. Nobody using drive through. Went in and made order. Only had 2 employees. Still corporate location. They had a brochure holder between two kiosks "own your own Steak N Shake" full of brochures pushing the $10k units "nationwide." Shake excellent. Wasn't real clean inside. Super sticky floor.

So it appears this chain... they have completely pissed off customers with kiosks. Cleanliness is a problem and upkeep is a problem at these corporate or corporate franchise partner units.

The kiosk is extremely easy to use but has limited customization options. The kiosk is the fastest and easiest fast food kiosk I've encountered, partially due to how limited the menu has gotten. They really need to allocate an employee to cashier, hand out orders, and clean the dining area and kiosks..

So food was great and came out pretty quick every time.

Other thing is no locations had any window ads advertising menu items etc. They always used to.

Also no more Steak N Shake stuffed hamburger Sizzle, stuffed Milkshake Shaker, or stuffed fry waitress toys in the claw machines. Just generic stuffed toys.

[buckguy]

Interesting.

I find the Shake Shack in West Hollywood to be consistently the opposite of your experience.

What experience? They are ridiculously overpriced for the quality of the product they sell. This is based on my visits to standard units in multiple states; CA, NV, MN. I didn't say anything about the experience. Strictly the price and quality equation doesn't match up. If they cut their prices by about 30% it would be about right and a fair value.

But they should take a hard look at some of their airport locations, especially Las Vegas. Terrible experience- terrible service, cold food, food that didn't taste right, really awful place there. But I never judge a chain by airport locations. However I'm not sure all customers are like that.

I can only speak of the West Hollywood location.

Quality? Excellent
Service? Excellent
Cleanliness/Santitation? Inside & Out, Excellent
Ambience? Excellent (and NOT a carnival)
Price? With all the above checked, I have NO problem with the price
Parking? Excellent, though ingress and egress are not ideal

Have been to multiple locations---I can take or leave the fries, but the beef is good quality--no gristle unlike most places; veggie options are good--non-rubbery portobello mushroom; the shakes taste like dairy not chemicals and I like the malted option. Expensive, yes, but you'll be hard pressed to find good, truly cheap options. The service usually is forgettable but they seem to be doing their job.

[storewanderer]

Have been to multiple locations---I can take or leave the fries, but the beef is good quality--no gristle unlike most places; veggie options are good--non-rubbery portobello mushroom; the shakes taste like dairy not chemicals and I like the malted option. Expensive, yes, but you'll be hard pressed to find good, truly cheap options. The service usually is forgettable but they seem to be doing their job.

If you ask for extra crispy on the Steak Shack fries they can be better.

No gristle in Steak N Shake meat either... I am disgusted by finding gristle in Five Guys meat given their prices (even higher than Shake Shack). Then again I got ground 85/15 at Whole Foods from their service counter that was full of gristle a few years ago too. I've never bought another item from that meat department since that incident.

[storewanderer]

So Steak N Shake and Maxim Magazine are under the same ownership as explained at the bottom of the below article.

They have published an article in Maxim Magazine trying to sign up franchisees for the $10,000 corporate units.

Seems like odd content for Maxim Magazine.

https://www.maxim.com/partner/how-steak ... big-money/

[storewanderer]

More Steak N Shake closures:

Beaumont, TX- this one never got kiosks but it just opened in 2019

Also it appears real estate under a few locations in Kansas City metro was/is for sale and these locations will close once the real estate is sold. These units never got kiosks and still have table service. There is one unit in Barry Road area that is not part of that and appears to be a corporate unit so I assume it will stay as it got kiosks.

[storewanderer]

Steak N Shake in Las Vegas- some troubling observations:
South Point unit: this continues to have table service. It runs like a very well oiled machine. Great food and comes out about 4 minutes after you order like clockwork. Menu was DRASTICALLY cut back in May. They no longer have the Royale, Cajun, or various other things. They have a total of just 10 milkshake flavors. They no longer have any Steak N Shake Seasoning at the tables or for sale at the register, and their supply of canned chili for sale is rather low. Cups for to go, and bags, are all generic (no Steak N Shake logos on any of that). The only packaging I saw with the Steak N Shake logo were fry containers. Earlier this year everything had the logo (bags, cups, etc.).

Henderson unit: this place is just very strange. They have a bunch of Halloween decorations up, actually a really nice decorating job, yet the unit is dirty, staff seems indifferent, they take forever, and they can't seem to get the food right. Chairs on the tables hours before posted closing time and doors being locked hours before posted closing time. No supervision, like just nobody cares about this business. Latest thing is a giant NO PUBLIC RESTROOM sign on the door. They have no real way to prohibit access since it is in the dining area. Cleanliness issues throughout the unit definitely extend to the restroom. This place was also using generic cups, bags, etc.

[storewanderer]

Seems the casino Steak N Shake ran an ad segment back in June. They note in their segment they are the highest volume unit in the chain, last full service location in the chain (I think the ones in Springfield, MO are still full service... along with scattered one off franchise units), and last unit to serve various menu items.

https://www.fox5vegas.com/video/2023/07 ... ring-menu/

Then they ran a second ad segment about milkshakes. Interesting they can still produce a "side by side" shake at this location while the midwest locations no longer do that- citing that it isn't possible with the new milkshake machines (the casino has those machines too...).

https://www.fox5vegas.com/video/2023/07 ... k-n-shake/

[storewanderer]

Henderson, NV unit is now "closed until further notice."

Hopefully for a deep deep cleaning and not closed for good.

[storewanderer]

Two more unit closures, both in Kansas:

The Goodland unit closed a few weeks ago - this was definitely a franchisee and was still doing table service

The Topeka unit closed in late January - this one had the kiosk update; this was connected to the Kansas City franchisee who has put the real estate on multiple units up for sale and it appears is trying to close the units as the real estate is sold. I am surprised this franchisee had a unit that had the kiosk update.

Meanwhile the corporation Steak N Shake is showing better profits lately. Funny how that happens with ongoing decreases in unit count. They also state a new prototype is coming and they hope to sell more traditional franchises. It would be nice if they'd do something to keep traditional franchisees from closing units given how many units franchisees have closed the past few years.
https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/the-c ... -comeback/