Black Bear Diner

So, we planned a trip out to Orem/Provo the other day. Among other things we were gonna go to Zeek's with my brother and his wife! We were pretty exited! My sister-in-law Renee works there and had been wanting us to try their Oreo pie shake. (Brian also suggested going there too).

To our dismay Renee found out shortly before we were gonna go that they were closed. I guess they've been remodeling and it's taking longer than they planned... So we decided to take our quest elsewhere and settled on going to Black Bear Diner because they had a location in Orem!

They've been on our list for months, but we didn't realize they had a diner in Orem, so off we went. We got there before my brother and his wife so we got a table while we waited. They gave us some menus, which were pretty fun because they looked like old timey newspapers on the outside, but on the inside the had all the menu info. Which was good because Naomi's dad said he wanted us to bring back a menu for him and I thought we'd hafta steal a fancy one...

Brice and Renee were caught in traffic, so it took them a little longer to get there so, we decided to  order their Oreo shake...         As an appetizer...                     Cause we're adults...

The happy couple showed up, so we sat down to order. They serve breakfast all day so naturally me and Naomi had breakfast for diner. I got the Eggs Benedict with bacon and avocado and it was super good. They have pretty good hollandaise sauce which is a big plus!

Brice and Renee ordered a chocolate Oreo shake with their meal. Which was actually just them asking our server if he could make them a shake that's just their Oreo and chocolate shakes.

Back to the shake though... Opposite of California Burgers and Deli we got our shake first by itself, so we had some time to critically, you know, rate it.

Here's our take on the shake:

To start off the milkshake had the best presentation to date! It made a lot of other shakes look bad with its fancy glass, whipped cream, cherry-on-top, crush Oreos, and chocolate syrup. The bar is pretty high now. Because the presentation exceeded our wildest expectations we decided to give it a 5.5 out of 5! You heard us right, better than full marks!

We had to ask about price, because it wasn't even on their menu. For some reason they decided not to put any desserts on their menu... They just had a little blurb about how they have desserts... Anyways it was $4.99 for the shake, so a little on the pricy side. That being said it was pretty big and actually had quite a bit of shake in the leftover shake cup which is customary at fancy establishments. It ended up with a 3 out of 5.

Taste was pretty good. Evenly mixed and Oreo-y throughout. It had a fairly good Oreo flavor, but because it was kinda watery we gave it a 4.

Lastly is texture. The shake didn't fare so well in this category. Opposite of Jack in the Box it was too thin to eat with a spoon. Luckily we also got straws. Which wasn't the case for Brice and Renee who had to ask because the just got a spoon... The shake didn't have a great consistency either so it ended up with a 2.

the shakes total score came out to be:

Presentation - 5.5

Price - 3

Taste - 4

Texture - 2

Overall - 3.625

Make sure to find out where Black Bear's Oreo shake falls in the list, and let us know if you've been to this fine establishments various locations throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah.

Comment and let us know!

Homemade

When we were planning our trip to Oregon for the holiday season, we mentioned our continuation of this quest. My dad had the great idea of making our own Oreo shakes and see how good we could do. We agreed, and when we came down we headed to a couple store where my dad had found sales on Tillamok ice-cream and Oreos. We got Vanilla and Cookies and Cream ice-cream and double-stuf, peanut-butter, and chocolate Oreos! We also had some extra whipped cream as well as strawberry, carmel, mint chocolate and chocolate hazelnut syrup from my brother's wedding (the waffle bar that is). We also had some left over heavy cream from my sister-in-law's french toast casserole for Christmas morning! This was either gonna be the best shake experience to date, or we would go into a sugar coma and get diabetes. It was worth the risk so we started blending!

I started out by making us a by making an Oreo shake consisting of:

Chocolate Oreos

Cookies and Cream ice-cream

Chocolate Hazelnut syrup

Heavy Cream

2% milk

Excluding the numbers I thought I'd take a stab at judging it.

For price it ended up being kinda expensive for a shake with all of the Oreos and ice-cream we bought. That being said we got a lot of the ingredients for free so it wasn't too bad considering. Seeing as my whole family had multiple shakes (and maybe some Oreos on the side) it wasn't too bad for all of the ingredients.

Presentation was pretty good. We forgot to get some maraschino cherries to put on top, but with the whipped cream on top it looked pretty nice.

Taste was the best I've had! It wasn't a traditional Oreo shake by any stretch of the imagination, but it was amazing! I'll go into detail of why it was so good good in my eyes in a little bit.

Here's what I did:

1. I started with a Cookies and Cream ice-cream base which gave it a nice flavor right off the bat.

2. I added some milk, but most importantly lots of heavy cream. This shake wasn't gonna win any nutrition awards, but the cream gave it a nice full, smooth flavor. It was silky smooth, and although the overall texture was still pretty poor, it definitely wasn't watery!

3. I blended some Chocolate (why not right...) Oreos thoroughly, giving it a rich Oreo flavor throughout.

4. I then broke up some Oreos and added more ice-cream, and mixed it by hand. This gave it lots of chunks and really added to it's over all Oreo flavor. It helped with the texture, because from my experience, you just can't make a chunky, thick milkshake in a blender. But I knew this going in, so I did my best to give it chunks and make it thick.

5. Finally I poured it into the cups (we used tiny ones so we could have more shakes!) and enjoyed!

So, like I said, texture wasn't ideal. It probably could've been drunk through a straw if it wasn't for all of the chunks. The pieces of Oreo did really add to the texture, and without it i'm sure it would've suffered.

Next my wife decided we should make a traditional "Oreo shake" with vanilla and original "double-stuffed" Oreos. I followed the same procedure as with the first and it turned out pretty good. Maybe not the best Oreo shake we've had, but probably the best tasting. Especially with the heavy cream!

We were sugared out by the end of the second shake, but the next day me and my dad made some more. It was great to spend time as a family doing what we do best, enjoying freshly made Oreo shakes!

Let us know how you make shakes? Be sure to comment and let us know! Also check out our list of the 69 and counting Oreo shakes we've had so far.

Fuddruckers

We figured we could incorporate the quest to our vacation to Oregon. My parents asked us where we wanted to eat for the lunch after the wedding and we subtly suggested Fuddruckers so we could try their Oreo shake. I had only been a couple of times growing up, We only went there for special occasions and stuff, and what's more special than my brothers wedding and Christmas!! 

Fuddruckers has always boasted "The World's Greatest Hamburgers" and while that might not be true (they do have good burgers though) I like that they have lots of different kinds of burgers (IE: ostrich burgers, buffalo burgers) even through I usually just stick with the standard cheeseburger. I also like their "toppings bar" where you just add however many pickles, tomatoes or whatever you want to your burger. They also have a bunch of condiment despensors where you can put on as much ketchup, barbeque sauce or honey mustard you want on your burger and fries. 

But we all know the real reason why you're reading this. To find out how their Oreo shake was! We were pretty exited because not only were they supposed to have "the wold's best hamburgers" but they also advertised "the worlds best shakes"! We had to find out it it was true!

The price was decent for what you got. It was pretty big and came with the extra shake in a metal cup! I don't recommend trying to finish it yourself, but with company it's just right! We were kinda surprised too because the food was kinda on the pricy side... It ended up with a 3 out of 5.

The presentation was pretty great. A 5 for the whipped cream and literal cherry on top. Naomi let me eat it and it was great! They had a pretty fancy glass too!

Taste was pretty good too. It was mixed pretty well and had plenty of flavor. it got a 4.

Texture was less than satisfactory earning it a 2.5. It was definitely made to be drunk. With the straw it was pretty obvious, but I would've liked a few more chunks.

All together it wasn't amazing and "the world's best shake" but it'd recommend it.

The totals came out to be:

Presentation - 5

Price - 3

Taste - 4

Texture - 3.625

Also, make sure to check out our full list of all the shakes we've tried and where they stand in the line-up.

Fred's Sports Grill

While alot of us don't frequent Manti, it's home to one of the best shake places around. We visited Fred's Sports Grill (It's a sports grill in that it's a burger place with a TV that plays sports and sports words written on the walls) when we were down in Manti for the Mormon Miracle Padgent with my folks.

It took a couple of drive by's down the road to find the place, and it didn't help that we had a caravan with my family joining us on our quest. We found it though!

It's kinda a hole-in-the wall place. But it's definitely worth a visit! Whenever you're in Manti that is...

My family was down from Oregon, and wanted to go to visit the Manti pageant, so naturally, we looked up shake places in the area. We might as well take a family vacation detour to continue our quest. My parents were more then happy to go along with our milkshake driven suggestion (it definitely helped that there were a bunch of good reviews online for Fred's).

After working it into our schedule we stopped by. My family loved the small-town feel and we ordered a small feast. Seriously, my dad ordered a giant burger with sweet potato fries and what turned out to be an enormous shake (He got Mint Oreo [Sorry Naomi]) and he couldn't finish it all. He had to enlist the help of my brothers (My preteen brother happy to help him finish his shake) to finish it all.  But, that's how my family rolls. Get a lot of different things and if you share you get a little bit of everything.

Me and my wife ordered their Oreo shake, and like I said it was big. I'm glad we only ordered one because we wouldn't have stood a chance and finishing two.

Starting with taste... It topped the list with a perfect 5. It was Oreo-y throughout and its chunks of Oreo gave it a great flavor!

Texture also got high marks with an additional 5 in Fred's score. It was thick and didn't seem to melt after a couple minutes.

Price was great as well! we definitely got the bang-our-buck that we were looking for with the shake. It was pretty reasonably price and huge. We gave it a 5 in this catagory too.

It was perfect...except for the presentation. I'm not saying it was bad at all. It just wasn't exceptional. It was simply a shake in a cup. We gave it a normal 3 out of 5.

The total score was...

Presentation - 3

Price - 5
Taste - 5

Texture - 5

Overall - 4.5

        Check out our full list to see where this shake sits on the list of all the Oreo shakes we've had.

Shari's

When my little sister heard about this adventure we had embarked on she suggested Shari's. I grew up going to Shari's (it's like an Applebee's type diner). I hadn't even thought about it in regards to Oreo shakes, but sure enough they had one! and they even have delicious Pie shake! (which we didn't rate...but we will!)

When we were in Oregon visiting my family for Christmas we took my little sister and headed over to Shari's to continue our quest. Because, after all, there's never any reason not to quest!

We sat down and ordered the Oreo shake.

In addition we got the S'more Pie Shake. Although it's not really an Oreo shake it was super tasty, and I would highly recommend it and any other of their pie shakes. Maybe in my next life I'll go on a pie shake quest.

Back to the Oreo shake...

When they brought it out I was impressed.

It was in a tall glass with the extra in it's metal mixing cup. With the whipped cream it easily scored a 4 in the presentation area.

The price was pretty reasonable for what you got. A lot of shake! The shake itself was pretty big but combined with its sidekick in a metal cup I would recommend sharing it! It received a 3.5.

The taste was amazing! It was Oreo through and through. It scored a perfect 5.

As for texture, It left a lot to be wanted. If you're looking for a shake you can drink this is a good choice, but it wasn't the thick, chunky shake I was looking for. It only scored a 2 for texture.


The scoring goes as follows:

Presentation - 4
Price - 3.5
Taste - 5
Texture - 2
Overall it was:
3.625

Check out our full list to see where this sits on the list of all the Oreo shakes we've had.