This is what I really wanted for dinner: the Shack Burger from Shake Shack.
I’ve now been in the house since Tuesday night. I haven’t been shopping, I haven’t left for air, I’ve barely even cracked a window. And worse — I haven’t managed to make it out to Trader Joes for samples, which, I usually can muster the energy for in any situation. In fact, I haven’t been eating much at home in my sickly state, which is pretty much the opposite of my usual infirm behaviors.
Tonight I pined for Shake Shack, but it seemed much too much of an ordeal to head over there. And then there was the delivery options, or lack of them.
After ruling out Shake Shack, I started craving Chinese delivery, Americanized takeout box style – crab Rangoon and dumplings and roasted pork, and hot and sour soup and moo shi, and scallion pancakes and something sticky and sugary and meaty, which is to say, nothing like I’d actually order when I head to a Chinese restaurant – mostly I like piles of Chinese greens, soups, and things decidedly healthier than I was going for tonight.
But the options around here, are limited. The handful of places had Yelp reviews so awful that I couldn’t turn a blind eye.
And then it started getting closer and closer to the witching hour – 9:40, 9:50, 10:00 – and suddenly we’d made it past the hour of decent places, and onto the 10 thousand reviews of the place that closes at 2 am – a barely 2 star establishment on Yelp, which is to say – not quite what I had in mind.
And then the clock kept ticking, and I thought, desperately, one more time: Shake Shack? It’s not too late for Shake Shack? And then I remembered that the house was warm, and I haven’t left since Tuesday… And I might as well just go to bed. So tonight, that’s what I’m going to do.
We can’t win them all.