Britton's

So a while back, Naomi had the desire to get into sewing. The only problem is sewing machines are crazy expensive, and we didn't want to drop tons of money for something that's purpose was pretty simple. On the flip side we didn't want to get a cheap plastic machine that would add to the already frustrating with task of sewing!

The problem was solved! Well, it was on its way... My grandma gave Naomi a sewing machine. She collects them from yard sales and fixes them up. The one she gave Naomi is a super old Singer from the 1950's. The awesome thing about it, besides being free, is that it's built to last. Seriously it probably weighs more than I do. It wasn't in perfect condition so we brought it to Jack in Sandy to fix it up. He was a nice old man, and after we dropped it off we saw Britton's and decided to go there. We figured we might as well check if they had Oreo shakes and lo and behold they did!

It was super busy for a random afternoon, it seemed like it was the old timey Sandy hot spot. It's an old fashioned diner. Think Applebees. But, cooler and quiant...er. The sat us down and gave us menus. They told us they served breakfast all day so naturally we ordered breakfast. "Why would anyone ever eat anything besides breakfast food?" We're not as hard core as Leslie or Ron, but when given the choice, why not?

I ordered a plate of their eggs benedict. It wasn't amazing, but the hollandaise sauce was pretty good. But I digress,

The shake was beautiful. we gave it a 5 out of 5 for Presentation.

As for Taste it scored a 4.5.

Texture was mediocre with a 3 out of 5.

And Price was a 4. It was pretty good for what you got.

Presentation - 5

Price - 4

Taste - 4.5

Texture - 3

Overall - 4.125

I have to admit, I don't remember a lot of the details, and only remember things here and there, but it's scored really well, and you should consider stopping by Britton's if your in Sandy. Also make sure to comment and let us know what you think!

Steak and Shake

As we were compiling our list of milkshake places to go to, Steak and Shake came up so we put it on the list with it's Oreo shake. Frankly it'd be kinda sad if they didn't seeing it's in the name...

We figured it was a stand alone burger joint in Centerville but my boss knew otherwise. I guess it's a place he used to go to back east! He was pretty happy that they were here and suggested it to me. In light of moving further away in a little bit we decided to pay it a visit.

It was combined with a mini mart and a gas station. Go big or go home I guess... two wasn't enough, so they combined three stores... I've seen this done before, but it was with Subways or McDonalds not a fancy lookin' place like Steak and Shake. The juxtaposition was just odd. You can see the convenience store in the right corner. Weird...

Anyways, we ordered our food and sat down. Naturally I got a steak burger. I was too afraid to ask, but I couldn't tell the difference between a steak burger and a hamburger. It's the same animal right? I think the difference is it's just a higher quality of meat. I couldn't find a definition on their website though. I tried Google and it told me:

 "'Steakburger', in some circles, is interpreted as a hamburger with delusions of grandeur. That's actually not the case - a steakburger is a hamburger made withsteak - leaner, poncier meat, as opposed to the mangled cow bits that compose 'hamburger'. It's like comparing whiskey and bourbon."

I don't drink, but I think it's just that, better. meat. And on that note it was definitely better tasting.

Their fries on the other hand were pretty pathetic... They were good tasting for sure, but to even make it worth it you had to grab three or so to dip in the fry sauce at once, or you ended up spending the whole meal dipping your fries. Cora really liked them though. That's our daughters hand in the picture reaching for the fries. It was pretty much impossible to take one without her trying to grab at the food.

So the shake came out and looked pretty good. It was definitely a classy-er fast-food shake. Not as nice as the restaurant shakes, but pretty good for what it is. We were very impressed with the cherry, whipped cream, and I think crumbled Oreo on top. with that we gave it a 5 out of 5 for Presentation.

Texture didn't do so well earning it a 2. For the first bit it wasn't bad at all, it wasn't great being slightly better than a shake made for a straw. But half way through it stopped... The Oreo shake stopped... Someone had robbed us us of half of our Oreo shake and we were left with the lame vanilla aftermath. This is probably the only reason I wouldn't get a shake again. But after all it is a milkshake, and lets face it, you can't go wrong with ice cream, s we gave it a 2.

Taste was wonderful. (Well, for half of it) It was decently, but not overpowerfully Oreo-y and with some chunks it helped too. We gave it a 3.

Price was alright, and earned it a 3 out of 5.

Presentation - 5

Price - 3

Taste - 3

Texture - 2

Overall - 3.25

Don't forget to check out the master list on our blog.

Hook and Ladder

So, we had a free Saturday before our move down south, so we decided to have lunch at one of the shake places on our long list of shakes we still need to try (30 places). We decided to go to the closest to us Hook and Ladder. We had never really heard of it, so we didn't really know what to expect. It was somewhat off the main streets in the Glendale area. It took us a little bit to find it, but boy were we happy when we did! It was just what we were looking for! A mom and pop, hole-in-the wall kinda place.

We pulled up and saw a hearse parked just next to the place, so we knew something had to be up. Complete with a random coin operated Bert and Ernie Firetruck ride thing. You know, like the kind that you used to see at grocery stores and stuff...

Also, there were some sweet arcade games randomly next to the counter. They even had an old timey firetruck! They were super on theme, and they weren't messin' around!

Anyways, I guess I should talk about their food...

We were pretty happy 'cause we mostly wanted greasy burgers... They had a pretty big menu so it took a little while for us to decide what we wanted with our Oreo shake though...

I settled on the double cheeseburger and my wife chose the big bacon burger, so we thought it'd be a good choice to share fries with that much food. Which was good, because after we went to the counter and were ordering we saw that they had churro sundaes!! They were only a couple bucks so we added that to the order, because after we're adults and... ice cream.

The shake and ice cream came out and we took a seat out front. Why do they always tempt us with dessert first? I know that it doesn't take as long to make, but it makes being a responsible adult hard...

Anyways, the shake was good. It did melt fast but it was a hot summer day outside in the sun so I can't really blame it. Not that I would, I mean, it is a milkshake...

Before I get on to the shake I wanted to make a shout out to our food. It was great! The fries were nice and big, the burgers were nice and juicy, and the churro sundae... words can't even describe. Two of my favorite things are churros and ice cream, so putting them together just about blew my mind.

So, to start with Presentation at first look the shake was...okay. But with the whipped cream it was a little nicer still in the generic Coke cup, but better than the norm. We gave it a 4 out of 5 because of its above average attention to detail.

As for Price it got a 4.5 because of the great deal. It was a pretty good sized shake too. And with the large coming in just over three bucks it was totally worth it. Together we were only able to finish half of it. But that was mostly because we both ordered pretty sizable burgers and a sundae. It think it someone puts their mind to it they can finish the whole thing, just don't order a sundae too.

To continue with Taste it was pretty good. A good, solid, Oreo shake. The chunks did help too. It wasn't as rich as we've had, but lately it's definitely been the best. It was also Oreo throughout the whole thing! Take notes "Steak and Shake". It got a 3.5.

Lastly we come to Texture. It was definitely a "spoon" shake. I guess you could've gotten most of it with a straw, but it wouldn't be easy. It did somewhat toe the line when it came to being a super thick shake. But if you're lookin' for a thick shake that's not DQ "hold upside down" thick this is the one. We gave it a 4.5.

For those of you not doing the math that puts us at:

Presentation - 4
Price - 4.5
Taste - 3.5
Texture - 4.5

Giving it an overall score of - 4.125

Not bad. It's in a 3-way tie for 6th place (and that's out of 71). As a side note the customer serive was great. The guy with dreads that took our order was great!

Don't forget to comment about this fine establishment, or others that we need to visit. As well, make sure to visit our list of Oreo shakes we've had (and some we haven't...yet).

Smashburger

So the other day we got a flyer in the mail for a used car dealership. It had a little scratch-off part that would say if you were a winner or not. So, Naomi scratched it off and it said "Winner". There were prizes ranging from gift cards to Target and movie theater, playstations and apple watches so we were pretty exited about being winners! We called the place because you had to go to their tent sale to collect your prize. For some reason we had to set an appointment so we went one sunny afternoon.
As a side note we realized that the flyer didn't say what we won... But we figured anything free is worth getting.
So, we went and it turned out that our prize was a $15 gift card to the movies. Although not at all what we had unrealistically anticipated it was an excuse to get a sitter and go to a free movie. Also, with $5 Tuesdays we could probably buy a snack!
Long-story-short, we now found ourselves at the Valley Fair mall in the afternoon. So, we decided we should quest. We looked up if there were any shake places around that we hadn't gone to yet, and saw that there was a Smashburger! We've already visited the establishment, but we went so long ago that we simply gave it a 3 out of 5.
We figured we needed to update the score so we drove over to get an Oreo shake.
As a side note it was super hard to drive there. Although it was literally across the parking lot, there was a car show set up right next to it... Although it was pretty cool to see the classic cars through the window as we ate though!

Also the shake was pretty good too...

To start out with the presentation, it was amazing! Definitely one of the best! Although it was in a fast-food joint it was restaurant quality with the fancy glass. It had whipped cream and a crushed Oreo sprinkled on the top. It was almost perfect. It just needed a cherry on top. But that doesn't happen very often... We all know the one time it did at Black Bear Diner. it got a 5.5 for presentation, so without the cherry it still got a 5 out of 5.
As for taste it left more to be expected. It had a pretty strong vanilla ice-cream flavor with not very much Oreo taste. We still ended up giving it a 2.5.
Texture was pretty good for a shake made to sip through a straw. There were some good chunks and I'll say some of them were too big for the straw we got. I'm glad the also gave us a spoon with it.It ended up with at 3 out of 5.
Price was pretty decent for what you got. At just over four dollars it seemed pretty reasonable for how fancy it was. Plus like restaurants they gave you a big metal cup full of the rest on the side. I was glad I wasn't just treating myself. It's great for two. We gave it a 3.5. If you're looking for a reasonably priced classy shake stop by Smashburger.
The shake scored half a point higher the second go around, so it just goes to show that the scientific way is the only way...


Presentation - 5
Price - 3.5
Taste - 2.5
Texture - 3

Overall - 3.5

Atlantis Burger

We were on our way back to Salt Lake from Centerville running some errands and we decided to pick up an Oreo shake...because...shake! We looked at our list to find where the closest place was. We settled on Atlantis Burger in North Salt Lake.They're a pretty small chain with a couple of restaurants here in Utah.

We figured we've been to Apollo Burger and their shake was pretty good, so maybe there's something with the greek/roman names for burger joints that's workin' for em. Next stop Olympus Burger!

We pulled up and got an Oreo shake at the drive through. It was totally worth it. Sometimes you don't need a reason.

The shake wasn't very impressive to look at. I've definitely seen worse, but I've also seen better. Although it was pretty average it did have a nice logo and design on the cup, instead of the generic Coca-Cola cups. You can't really see the top with its lid, but they didn't go through any extra effort in the making of this shake. We gave it a 3.

The rest of the shake seemed to fall in line with its presentation. Not exceptional, but it made a great treat on a hot day!

Taste was alright with a 3. It was mixed pretty thoroughly and had a nice Oreoy flavor. That being said, I could have had quite a bit more Oreo and less vanilla flavor though.

As for price, it was pretty decent with a nice sized shake coming out at $4.25. it was also a pretty middle-of-the-line milkshake giving it a 3.

Texture was pretty good. It was kinda melty (mostly because it was kinda warm). There weren't huge chucks but it was pretty thick and definitely couldn't have been drunk. We gave it a 4.

Presentation - 3
Price - 3
Taste - 3
Texture - 4
Overall - 3.25

A&W

We decided to revisit A&W. The first attempt wasn't nearly are exact as we want, and there's one
pretty close to our house... It was nice to just pop over there while Cora was sleeping and pick up some shakes for my two favorite girls!

I went through the drive through and picked up a couple of "Polar Swirls".

Well, the first time we went here for the shakes we gave them a 3. Not too hard to beat, but sometimes the more scientific results are the lower ones. Also we made sure to note how tiny these shakes are. Seriously, I can't think of any smaller...

I got an Oreo and a cookie dough "polar swirl". As a side note the cookie dough milkshake was literally just vanilla ice-cream with cookie dough bites sprinkled in... Not that I don't love cookie dough bites. (My wife used to bring cups of them home with her in lieu of her free frozen yogurt when she worked at a frozen yogurt shop, so she likes them more than i do).

Taste didn't look very promising from the get go. I couldn't quite tell the shakes apart at first glance. They both looked like... vanilla shakes... Upon closer inspection I found that they had things in them! Not a lot, but they weren't just vanilla ice-cream. There were some Oreo chunks which definitely added to the flavor, but I think it would've been a lot better if with more Oreo! We gave it a 2.5.

Presentation was pretty standard. Especially for fast-food. It was a shake. In a cup. With a spoon. The did have somewhat fancy cups that said Polar Swirl on the side though. It ended up with a normal 2.5.

Texture was okay. They were spoon shakes, but barely. the weren't watery and super thin, but they weren't about to go over the rim without a fight... It got a 3.

Price definitely made these shake worthwhile! At $2.89 a pop they're worth it. We got the normal size. You can get a smaller 6oz kids size. But we're not looking for the smallest shake. If you're looking for a quick little treat though, these are your shakes. But don't get them with very high expectations... It got a 4 in this category.

Presentation - 2.5
Price - 4
Taste - 2.5
Texture - 3.5
Overall - 3

BYU Creamery

So, BYU Creamery is another place we decided to return to. We gave it a 4 the first time we sampled their cookies and cream shake. This time we decided to be more thorough (and take pictures).

We picked the BYU Creamery because, well, we were in Provo and figured we should go somewhere we couldn't go anywhere else.



The main reason we visited Provo was for the Provo City Center temple open house. It was awesome! We took Cora, and she seemed to really like looking around! It was a great first time at the temple experience. She may not remember it, but i'm sure we will!

We also went south so Naomi could get a haircut from Brice's new bride. Renee did a great job too! She took most of it off! Naomi wanted to donate it to lock of love. As you can tell it's quite a difference!

So, I think I forgot how ridiculously crowded it always is at the BYU Creamery... It was packed! And not only college students from the Y. There were a lot of families with young kids! I also failed to remember that it was a cookies and cream shake and not an Oreo one. Sometimes this in tomato, tomoto but it is a pretty significant difference often!

The food was pretty good though. Our fries were definitely not curly but they tasted good. Plus the come in these crazy fry stands with a place for your dipping sauce. It's pretty cool. The burgers were okay, kinda small, but okay.

Brice was happy to eat with us though!

The shake came out and we had to quickly take a picture before it melted and overflowed onto the table. We quickly snapped a couple and licked the extra shake off the sides.

It was pretty good. Definitely made with cookies and cream ice-cream. It was pretty rich and definitely had the flavor throughout. As far as Oreo taste though it didn't have any chunks of the cookie. All in all we gave it a 3 for taste.

Presentation was alright. They didn't go to any measures to make it above and beyond your average shake like whipped cream or a cherry on top. That being said, it did come in a nice BYU Creamery styrofoam cup. It is also notable that it was overflowing with shake. It ended up with a 3.5 out of 5.

As far as texture goes it got a 2.5 out of 5 because, it wasn't very thick. It was definitely "over the rim" but as you can tell it wouldn't have lasted long in that state... As far as thinner spoon shakes in was nice and creamy, but with the lack of texture or and chunks at all it was less than perfect in that area.

Price was pretty descent at $3.20 for a small and $4.20 for a large. I don't know what happened to medium... Anyways, we got a large which was plenty for two people eating lunch. The definitely tried to had extra value with the overflowing ice-cream too. we gave it a 3.5.

Presentation - 3.5
Price - 3.5
Taste - 3
Texture - 2.5
Overall - 3.125

It definitely didn't get the same score as the 4 we gave it the first time, but i'm pretty confident we did a better job this time. What do you think?

Also make sure to take a gander at our master list of all 66 shake places we've been to!