Steak and Shake,
St. Petersburg, Florida – Revisited
November 6, 2010

I last wrote about Steak and Shake back in December of 2006. In the interim I have been back to Steak and Shake several times as well as use their drive-thru for a quick milkshake to help ward off the Florida heat. On this day, a family friend, Martha, wanted to take us out to eat. We had not seen each other since going on vacation. And, as always, Martha, with coupons in hand, wanted to go to her favorite place, Steak and Shake.
Steak and Shake had been a presence in the St. Petersburg area in the late1960’s and early 1970’s. When the restaurant chain changed hands, distant stores were closed including the St. Petersburg facilities. If memory serves me correctly, it was in the late 1990’s that Steak and Shake made a comeback in the St. Petersburg, Florida area and opened the store we visited today. Although the store is about fifteen years old, it has received careful cleaning and maintenance. The outside of the store is clean, neat, no significant signs of wear. The inside is bright and sparkling clean. The tile is immaculate, the floor clean, mopped and polished. If I had not known and I was told it was the grand opening, I would have accepted that as fact. The store just looks new.
Entering the store, a sign ask you to wait to be seated. We had only just entered when the closest server noted our presence, picked up some menus and escorted us to the booth of our choice. Within moments Scott was there, place mats and silverware in hand, introduced himself as out server and took our beverage requests. We still needed some time to read over the menu.
Steak and shake has added many items to the menu recently. There are breakfast items including eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns. There are salads, Chicago-style franks and melts. There are chicken, club and BLT sandwiches. As well, like many of the other burger chains, they have added some specialty versions of their signature Steakburger such as guacamole, chipotle, and Portobello n’ Swiss cheese to name a few. All very intriguing and calling for further investigation. But this was Martha’s treat and she had her coupons.
The mail and the local paper frequently have coupons for Steak and Shake. Per visit they will accept a single coupon but they honor that price on all of the same items. So, as long as we all ordered the same thing, it was covered by the coupon. The classic Steak and Shake dinner it was. The menus of long ago listed it as a Steakburger and milkshake, with two sides of your choice. I don’t find it on the menu that way anymore but the Steakburger combo (Steakburger, fries and shake) plus a side order comes out the same. The sides include onion rings, soup, chili, Mandarin orange slices, coleslaw, baked beans (in their distinctive little bean pot), garden salad, cottage cheese or apple slices and grapes. The coupons are a really good deal if everyone orders the same thing. If you are local to a Steak and Shake, watch the mail and paper for those coupons – get some good food at a low price.
The milkshakes a diner classic; tall frosty glasses of thick milk shake topped with whipped cream and a cherry. You can drink it through a straw but a long handled spoon makes it so much easier. For Martha and my wife the big draw to Steak and Shake are the banana milkshakes. They were not disappointed.
It was Steakburgers all around. The nice thing about ordering a Steakburger is that every order is a special order. You have your choice of condiments (lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, mustard relish, Frisco sauce, yellow mustard, mayonnaise and ketchup). They are not frugal with their condiments and if you like a dryer burger, you may want to ask for the mustard, mayo or ketchup on the side.
While waiting for our order, I looked over at the grill where all the burgers are cooked. It is open to view and is a relic of the original Steak and Shake’s founder, Gus Belt, who coined the slogan, “If it’s in sight it must be right.” It is a curiosity of Steak and Shake, neither good nor bad, but the way they do it. The fresh ground meat is in balls. The griddle man flattens out the balls on the griddle with his spatula to make the round patty shape. I would suppose that is also a holdover from Gus who ground fresh steaks and roasts in front of the customers so they could see what was in their Steakburger.
Scott delivered the first part of our order, the sides. He had some bad news. They were temporarily out of the baked beans my wife Janis and Lynda had ordered. Lynda changed to coleslaw and Janis ordered onion rings. Since she doesn’t really like onion rings, it was a bonus for me. The remainder of the order followed shortly along with the reordered sides. All of the burgers, with the specific combination of condiments, were correct. Even Lynda’s out of the ordinary order, Bleu cheese dressing, was as ordered.
My vanilla milkshake was thick and rich. The full glass was a more than ample serving. The coleslaw was cool and crisp. The dressing was a nice combination of tart and sweet, thick enough to cling and pool under the slaw, but thin enough to enjoy the cabbage underneath. A good sized scoop served on a saucer, not a dab in a little paper medicine cup, it was a sufficient serving. The French fries were nice and hot, cooked golden brown and nicely crisp. The onion rings were real onion rings, rings of onion cut from the bulb, not ground up onion extruded into little circles. They were hot, crispy fried and nicely browned; a welcome addition to the meal. The burger was medium well, probably a wise choice considering the problems that other chains have had with undercooked beef. All the requested condiments were as requested. I drizzled my own sauce, ketchup in this case; therefore the burger was exactly what I wanted.
Besides our server, Scott, there were two manager-types making the rounds of the facility. They stopped by the tables and made sure all was correct. Almost as soon as one of us thought of something we needed, it seemed as if there was someone there to fill the request. The food was good. It was served in a timely manner and in adequate serving sizes. The facility was bright, clean and well maintained; it instills confidence. If they put that much effort to the exterior, they probably do as much in the back where it counts. The serving staff was courteous and efficient. It was a pleasant afternoon out. Good friends, good conversation, good food in a very pleasant environment. And, it was a good value considering the coupons.