MELBOURNE, Australia — The first time I traveled to New York City in the summer of 2014, I fell in love with a true American classic: the humble cheeseburger.
Of course, it wasn’t my first encounter with the mouthwatering combination of a perfectly grilled beef patty melded with melted cheese and sandwiched between two warm, buttered buns, but in the burger heart of the United States, every bite enlivened my taste buds in a way I had simply never experienced in my home country of Australia. Visiting one particular hotspot, a chain, came dangerously close to a daily ritual during that two-week trip. Ladies and gentlemen, Shake Shack.
This east coast behemoth is so much more than just fast food. It’s an institution. A national icon. A rite of passage. Have you really visited the city if you haven’t had a Shake Shack burger and fries? You’ll find these stores scattered across the Big Apple, routinely packed with hungry locals and tourists longing for a glorious, and let’s face it: absolutely worth it, calorie fix.
The immense popularity of the past decade has led to rapid global expansion. Today, Shake Shack can be found in twenty countries, including China, Japan, Mexico and England, but unfortunately, despite the desperate, persistent pleas of my stomach, Australia never made it onto this exclusive list. Until now.
In 2026, so were those prayers Finally responded by landing Shake Shack as a much-discussed, much-hyped pop-up at the Australian Open, tennis’s first Grand Slam of the year. It’s the latest culinary craze to sweep Melbourne Park, with hordes of hungry punters flocking to the two on-site venues from the moment the first patties are hit on the grill at 11am until the fryers are finally relieved of their duties at the end of the evening. Move over, Prime Rib and your $27.50 steak sandwich. You’re so 2025.
There was absolutely no way I was going to devour the burger that may have been single-handedly responsible for me joining a gym within 36 hours of returning to Australia after that trip to the United States in 2014. You might as well add fries to that!
So the question on everyone’s mind: was Shake Shack in Australia worth the hype?
Waiting time:
As mentioned, there are two Shake Shack stalls serving Melbourne Park, one in the John Cain Arena and the other in TopCourt, the next generation tennis playground based at Birrarung Marr. I chose to go to the John Cain Arena outpost on the first Tuesday of the tournament at 1:30 PM. Crazy? Good, Yesbut I wanted to get an idea of ​​how long fans would wait for their feed around lunchtime. When I arrived, the line to be served snaked its way out of the stadium, but to my surprise it took ‘only’ 20 minutes before I had food in hand. That’s far from shameful during a peak dining hour at a major sporting event.
7.5/10
Quality:
Here things took a disappointing downward turn. Although there was a very real feeling of nostalgia as I took that first, long-awaited bite, that feeling was quickly replaced by the disappointment of a rather tasteless, meaty bite. It wasn’t bland. It wasn’t spicy. And there was no trace of any pickle sweetness. It was, well, dry. Dry and undeniably bland. The kicker was the stone cold portion of accompanying fries that were saltier than movie popcorn.
4/10
Value:
When you consider that the classic ‘Shack Burger’ and a side of fries will cost you AU$31.40 (US$21.30), the value is non-existent. Add a shake and you’ll barely get any change on a $50 bill. Of course, you expect to pay more for food and drinks at a major sporting event, and that’s factored into the overall rating, but you definitely want something in return that will satisfy you. Not only would I not rush back, I would encourage those coming to Melbourne Park to skip the queues and look for their fuel elsewhere.
4/10
Given the non-stop production line in the kitchen that pumps out thousands of burgers and truckloads of fries every day, is there a lack of quality? Or is it that the burger landscape has changed so drastically over the past twelve years that Shake Shack is no longer the holy grail of fast food that I once convinced myself it was?
After all, these days Melbourne is littered with cheaper and, quite frankly, superior cheeseburgers. Think of the 14th best burger in the world, chardCollege Dropout, institution Easey’s, or even the Australian chain Betty’s Burgers. Pick any street on the map and you’ll likely find a place that will satisfy your burger cravings much better than any of these Shake Shack locations.
In recent years, the Australian Open has changed significantly into an event that is currently popular. Food. Drink. Clothing. Even the most fashionable sunscreen. Yes, really! Organizers cram it all into the precinct and have enthusiastic fans weave around the grounds, ticking items off their social media bucket lists one by one.
Maybe one day Australia will have a permanent Shake Shack location and maybe then it will be worth a visit because, much to my dismay, the Melbourne Park pop-up fails to live up to the immense hype.
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