Steak & Shake, Paramus NJ

Where: Steak and Shake, Paramus, NJ

What: The Original Double 'N Cheese Steakburger
Build: 2 burger patties, American cheese, toasted bun, raw onion, tomato, pickle, mayo.

Comment: I've been wanting to get to Steak and Shake in Paramus since they opened a few weeks ago. Yesterday, I finally made it there. The place is new, very clean and seemed to be very well managed. The staff was just as nice as they could be and I couldn't wait to place my menu selections. I had been on the S & S web site all week perusing the burgers and was set on ordering the Original Double 'N Cheese Steakburger and was also going to go out on a limb and order their Oktoberfest Steakburger. I'm ashamed to say I was taken in by the awesome photo and figured, what the heck, I'll give it a shot. Needless to say by the time I got to the counter I had a tough time hiding my drool. My first glance at the menu showed 2 original burger items and 4 specialty items. I figured the Oktoberfest burger was seasonal so that's why it wasn't on the standard menu - Not so. In fact, of the nine, count 'em, "9" specialty items listed on the website they only offered the 4 which were next to the two original burgers. That's 6 burger types to choose from. I'm digressing... back to my order... when I ordered the Oktoberfest burger, the girl at the register said: "we don't have that" - I asked: "why" and she said it is because they are a "Signature" store and not a regular Steak and Shake and that they have a "modified" menu. Modified menu? - I call it "The extremely disappointing menu".   Had I only seen 6 menu items on the website, I would've been just fine with them, but when you see over a dozen burgers with crispy edges oozing cheese, pickles and onions you tend to get quite stoked on eating them. The folks at S&S really need to clarify the fact that different locations may have different menus. 

On to the burgers...

The burgers come tightly wrapped in paper, served red hot off the flat grill and are very very appealing. The meat although very scarce, is very tasty and fresh. (I think both patties barely made up 1/4lb.).  All the toppings were very fresh and good, especially the pickles which were thicker cut than the average slices - so much so in fact that the pickles took on a life of their own and rivaled the burger for bun-to-burger ratio - or one might say, bun-to-pickle ratio. In any event, it was a good burger, just lacking in the burger size dept. Really good old-fashioned flat grill favor which we all look for. When I go back (and I will go back) I'll be ordering the Triple Steakburger with cheese. Although this one only gets a "good" rating (8/10) for lack of burger in the burger - it's def worth the trip.

See below for comments on my other Steakburger selection...

This is the Grilled Portobello 'N Swiss Steakburger....  The mushrooms and onions were fantastic.... Def a better choice than the original burger....  makes me want the non-signature menu even more......
Build: 2 burger patties, Portobello mushrooms, Swiss cheese, Caramelized onions, garlic mayo.  8.5/10