Things are heating up at Shake Shack. The fast-casual chain has introduced a new menu with four items inspired by Hot Ones, the popular YouTube interview series hosted by Sean Evans.
The Hot Ones menu includes a burger, a chicken sandwich, and two different types of cheese fries. All of the dishes come with Hot Ones Spicy ShackSauce, a piquant take on Shake Shack’s signature condiment.
In episodes of Hot Ones, Evans begins his interviews with mild questions and mild sauces, before ramping up to blistering wings and intense inquiries. The Hot Ones Shake Shack experience offers a similar progression. The menu items will be only moderately spicy when served, but brave eaters will have access to packets of Hot Ones‘ hottest-ever sauce, The Last Dab: Apollo. If you want to crank the heat up to 11, Shake Shack will have you covered.
The Hot Ones menu arrives at Shack Shack locations on September 16. Before that date, the items can be ordered using the Shake Shack app. Some YouTube reviewers have turned in early opinions, and the verdict is clear: It’s spicy.
By bringing a popular web series into its restaurants, Shake Shack is catching onto a trend that has united the YouTube and food worlds. Jimmy Donaldson’s MrBeast Burger, which launched in 2020, has referenced creators like Dream and Cr1TiKaL on its menu. That strategy, when combined with the star power of the dining concept’s founder, has turned MrBeast Burger into a success story. The chain’s first brick-and-mortar store drew record-breaking attendance when it opened its doors earlier in September.
Shake Shack clearly wants some of that fan engagement for itself, and in Hot Ones, the burger joint has found itself a fitting partner. I only have one suggestion: If Shake Shack really wants to emulate the Hot Ones experience, any customers who order the new menu should be required to answer some probing questions first.
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