Doughboys - Shake Shack 2 with Libby Watson

Episode Date: August 19, 2021

Libby Watson (sicknote.co) joins the 'boys to talk cat treats and L.A. eats before a review of Shake Shack. Plus, the debut of the new Pod Quiz America segment.Sources for this week's intro:https://patents.google.com/patent/US1727395https://www.exp1.com/blog/untold-nyc-history-hot-dog-cart/https://www.nydailynews.com/autos/auto-shows/new-york-icons-history-new-york-city-hotdog-cart-article-1.2152554https://www.mashed.com/253868/the-untold-truth-of-shake-shack/https://www.pentagram.com/work/shake-shack/storyWant more Doughboys? Check out our Patreon!: https://patreon.com/doughboysSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's up, everybody? It's your boy, The Spoon Man, and I want to talk to you about today's sponsor, UberEats. At UberEats, we've helped more than 400,000 restaurants across the U.S. reach new, hungry customers and deliver growth quickly through new orders. Uber's global platform can help you grow, reach new people, get valuable sales data, and unlock ways to expand with flexible delivery options. Put your business on UberEats. Get access to the UberEats platform, including valuable sales data to grow your business.

Dig in to your data. Really dig in there, anytime, to monitor your performance and customer order trends. Wow. Wow. Why, restaurant owners, enjoy 0% commission for the first 30 days on all orders, offer subject to change per the terms of the restaurant agreement. Wow. 0% on the first 30 days.

Coming up today, that link that you want to click on is down there in the episode description. Right down there. Check it out. There it is. Move your cursor, go ahead and click, or if you're on your phone, use your finger and click that link. Click that link in the episode description. What's up, everybody?

It's your boy, Mr. Slice, with some exciting news. The Doughboys are going back on tour in 2022. That's right. CS Live in Seattle on January 8th, in Portland on January 9th, Chicago, baby, January 29th, at the Fox Woods Resort in Connecticut, February 4th, and two shows in Boston, baby, at the Wilbur on February 5th. Ticket info at headgum.com slash live. That's headgum.com slash live.

Do it. One of the primary objects of this invention is the provision of a vending cart, which is equipped with an ice box, a cooking plate, and several storage bins for food, in position over a heating means and near the opening, through which the food is removed for use." This excerpt is from a 1926 application filed by American inventor Francis E. Coffey. And on September 10th, 1929, he was granted the patent for the F.E. Coffey Vending Cart, better known as the Hot Dog Cart. These original wiener mobiles would become ubiquitous in New York City during the 20th

century, slinging sidewalk sausages to harried commuters and tourists eager to lark as real New Yorkers. As a new century dawned in 2001, Manhattan restaurant tour Danny Meyer, founder of beloved white tablecloth joint Union Square Cafe, launched an upscale hot dog cart in the city's Madison Square Park as part of an urban renewal initiative. The cart was such a draw, it was converted into a permanent stand in 2004. And with the fixed location, the concept really hit its stride, adding the hot dog's disc-shaped grillmate, burgers, along with crinkle-cut fries and yes, shakes.

Our long lines would lead to more brick-and-mortar locations, first in the former New Amsterdam, and then eventually across the globe, including in actual Amsterdam. Today, the roadside burger chain that began as a humble F.E. Coffey Vending Cart is a publicly traded company with over 250 locations and a market cap of $3.8 billion. This week on Doe Boys, we return to Shake Shack. Welcome to Doe Boys, the podcast about chain restaurants. I'm Nick Weiger, along with my co-host, Ebba Sneezer Stooge, the Spoon Man, Mike Mitchell. Ebba Sneezer Stooge.

Jesus. Just because of my sneeze? Yeah, you're known for sneezing now. That's your thing. No, I wasn't the sneezer. There was a podcast sneezer that wasn't even me. Yeah. I remember you did it twice, Mitchie, two sneezes.

And a stooge. You're calling me a stooge. Well, the person who wrote that roast is calling you a stooge. That was courtesy of Neil Armstrong. That's right. Neil Armstrong wrote in with that roast. Wow. That's one small sneeze for a man, one giant achoo for mankind.

Fuck Neil, I'm sorry, I wish he froze on the fucking moon. You wish Nixon had given that second address that he had written of what would happen if the astronauts could not return from the moon? That's right. That thing that's like, we have seen that what we thought would be our new territory for exploration will instead be an extraterrestrial grave, like whatever the weird speech that was written but never delivered. Neil Armstrong writes, for the sneeziest slice around the Spoon Man, thanks for always being

such sweeties and cuties, roastspoonman at gmail.com. So how about that? How about that? It sucks. Pull the plug. Keep them up there on the moon. That's what I wanted. Mr. President, they can safely return.

No. This is better for my reelection. Yeah, that's what should have happened. I mean, it's been said before, there are a lot of comedians who say that astronauts are not good, you know, they're like the smartest and most athletic, and you know what, I don't like Neil Armstrong anymore. That roast may be not like Neil Armstrong. Well, you realize that was just someone who was either using that as a handle or they

just coincidentally have the same name. That's not the actual Neil Armstrong who passed away. Well, it doesn't matter. Okay. Now, here's my thought. If there was another moon landing, would it be prime time television? Would people tune in? Yeah, I think so.

You think so? Yeah. I mean, because I think it, well, I think whichever billionaire owns the networks and is orchestrating their own moon landing with their private enterprise is going to ensure that it's broadcast. You also know that there would be like terrible pop-ups at like like a, there'd be like like like Rick and Morty like, oh my God, we're about to land on the moon. Like there'd be shit like that.

You mean like a little vignettes? I think there, I think it would like it would be like it would, it would turn into like a Fox event is what I'm saying. Oh, got it. Yes. Like a crossover where we'd see, you know, like when we used to see Phoebe, Phoebe's twin sister Ursula also show up on Mad About You. Yes.

Yeah. That sort of thing. But in moon terms. I mean, you used the worst example possible. How is that? It's the same actor. I'm saying like. On two different shows.

Same character. It would be like a Fox Super Bowl is what I'm saying. Right. Okay. It would be like an event. Excuse me. It would be like an event. That was a that was a frog in my throat.

That wasn't a sneeze to be clear. Yeah. But it would be like an event. There'd be like weird like like a Billy Eilish would sing a song as the as the like spaceship was landing down on the moon. That's what I'm trying to say. You're talking like it would be like a Super Bowl. That's the way you're thinking of it.

Yeah. Like a Super Bowl. I get that. Yeah. I think that's a lot of ads and integrations and they make it as corporate as possible because that's how everything works now. But here's the other sad thing. We just won't go back to the moon.

It's just not going to happen. I think we'll be back to the moon. I think that probably like America's public sector will not fund another moon mission. But I think either some asshole with with too much money will have their own private moon mission or another country will do it. And the hey that's fine for humanity. I'll send your ass up there to the moon wigs just like that old classic threatening me. That's right.

Like what sitcom was that? What did it was it? The Honeymooners. Honeymooners. Yeah. Oh right in the title. I should have been able to get it. Is that what it was?

Is that why they said that? Is that what it was? I don't know if it was related. I think my sheer coincidence, one of the Honeymooners had moon in his catchphrase. Wow. But they were in different contexts. Wow. Otherwise, it would be like honey, I'm going to send you right to the moon.

Like if you're trying to make it a thing. Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood mysteries being unwrapped today on Doe Boys. That's what we do here. Anyways, I don't know to spoon nation wigs. I got a little drop. Let's hear it. Here we go. Wow.

Wow. Sort of a Beastie Boys pastiche, I don't know if that was a parody of a specific song or not. Yeah. I mean original lyrics so that we got some Beastie Boys sound elikes. Wow. Well, let's read into the email. Nick and Mitch, Kenny here from Somerville again, Somerville, aka Kendo in the Discord.

All right. What's up, Kendo? Hi, Kendo. A couple Somerville people in the Dosecourt is Kenny and Dano. Dano's in the Discord too. I thought that was fun info, but whatever, I'll keep reading. I thought you were just continuing. I didn't realize that you wanted an introduction.

No. Yeah, we love Dano. Great. Good. Thanks. Dano's great. Oh, great. What an introduction.

Do you know Kendo personally? Who? Me? Yeah. No, but I hope so. So that's why I think that's why you kind of tossed it in there like they were like both, but you're talking about someone in the user in the Discord versus one of your closest friends from childhood, and you kind of just put them in the same category.

No, I was just saying that there was a couple Somerville people in the Dosecourt. Okay, because Dano lives in Somerville. Is that what you're saying? Is that the connection? Yes. Yes. Okay. Got it.

Is it going to be one of these days today? I mean, clearly. Really? You mean like because we're off on the wrong foot, are we ever going to recover? No. We know what happens. We've got a good guess. This is fucked.

Anyways, all right. Can you hear from Somerville again, aka Kendo in the Discord? Hey, Dano. You know who else is in the Discord from Somerville? Dano. Dano? Yeah. I almost just did the same thing.

All right. All right. We're back on the same page. We're back on track. I just like to let you know they don't call it slumberville anymore, but growing up, my dad from Walpole used to say slumberville all the time the exact same way. So I understand. I'm going to still call it fucking slumberville.

Sorry. Sorry, Kendo. Excited to see you both when you come through Boston. I'll be the guy eating triple ranch fries in the balcony. Love the show. Wow. Gray at Kenny Gray three on Instagram and Twitter. And then a follow up email.

I bounced another version of it where the vocals are a little louder. I updated the link with the right track as well. Thanks. Mitch, while you were reading all that, I found the speech written by a William Sapphire for President Nixon in the event of a disaster besetting Apollo 11. Oh my God. This is it verbatim. Freight has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay

on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery, but they also know that there is hope for mankind and their sacrifice. Very grim. And one last thing. Yeah. I hate those no good watchmen. Oh, the watchman always sticking in my craw.

I think God, Dr. Manhattan, let me turn Vietnam into a state. I'm still president in the 80s because Watergate was fine. You know what? That is good. Yeah. You know what? That watchman is good. Now there's Zack Snyder.

I know. You're just asking for flak. I know. Always expressing your distaste for the MCU and always talking about your fandom of Zack Snyder, but I'm with you. I like Snyder. The man's got an aesthetic. More like MCPU.

Wow. People are going to be incensed. That deserves five seconds of silence. How dare he say that about WandaVision, you son of a bitch. For every human being who looks up at the moon in the night to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind. Because their corpses are up there? Frozen in stasis for all eternity?

Not decaying because there's no bacteria? If you look close enough at the moon, you can see a ghost. That is the ghost of Neil Armstrong, a big, who I agree with Mitch, is a piece of shit. You know who's not a piece of shit? Today's guest. Very, very excited to have her back. A writer and journalist, you can find her sub-stack, SickNote, a newsletter about American healthcare at sicknote.co.

Libby Watson. Hi, Libby. Hello. Thank you for having me, and I'm so excited to learn that I'm not a piece of shit. That's huge. It's always up in the air with guests. They sometimes don't know until they're actually speaking it in the microphone, but there you go.

It's front-loaded. I was going to say, in fact, a lot of guests actually probably are pieces of shit, to be honest with you. I mean, we don't have to mention which ones. I have been kind of nervous since I have heard you guys talk about which one gets the good guests and which one gets the dud guests, and I was booked by the one who gets the dud guests. Well, this is Mitch's criteria.

I don't pick duds, I pick studs, as far as I'm concerned. Even the dud catcher can catch a stud every so often, so that's what's happened today. You're the dud catcher. I don't like the sound of that. Like a dud finder. What are those things I find a stud finder? Yeah, you're a dud finder. I don't like that.

That stud finder is a fun tool, though, because you can always use the stud finder on yourself and be like, hey, look at that, it's going off. It's a fun bit. For you, it's actually because there's actual studs within your robot frame. Okay. Libby, before we started recording, you were showing a wonderful furnishing you have in your home, which is that you are a cat parent and you have a miniature taco truck for your cat Digby.

Wow. Yes. I'd love to claim that it's some very special thing that I got from Etsy or something, but it is literally just from Target. Every time I tweet a picture of it, like 50 people reply being like, oh, here's my cat with my taco truck. I'm like, okay. I mean, there's no need to embarrass me like this.

Right. I get it. We all go to Target, blah, blah, blah, but yeah, it's a little taco truck scratcher thing. It says fish tacos on the side, which is pretty cute. Oh my God. Yeah, it's pretty cute. That's what I love about that. But as I was saying, Digby does not seem to appreciate it.

She loves it. She loves rolling around in it and on top of it and stuff, but she does also want to destroy it, which I guess is kind of like you guys' relationship with the podcast. You love it, but you also keep trying to destroy it. For sure. We will. Oh, I've no doubt. Maybe today.

Maybe that's what we're in the process of. So what is going on with this truck? Is it just like a, like can Digby get inside of it? Oh yeah. Yeah. She can get inside of it. It has little, it's kind of funny. It has little windows.

It has like the front windshield, as it were, of the taco truck is kind of open so she can stick her head out of that. And then the back is open as well, but it kind of bugs me that the people who designed it didn't include a window where the actual window of a food truck would be. So if I wanted to play, make believe with my cat, she couldn't, she can't really get it right. She can't stick her head out of the little window and I can't say, oh, three fish tacos please, which is something that I would do otherwise.

Yeah, you'd have to. Yeah. I think you should send that shit back with a note that says, get it right the fuck. I think I'm just going to find the guy who designed it and, you know, probably mail some bees to his house or something. Man, well, how crazy did that be? You're like, man, this, this, this envelope is like envelope, envelope. I say envelope, envelope, envelope, envelope.

I think I usually say envelope. And then I say, and whatever to see like the, like, well, it's like envelope is like pulsing. And then you open it up and fucking like, and then fucking bees come out. I know. Well, how would you react? I probably act like, ouch, ouch, ouch. There's bees coming out of this envelope, envelope. How do you say it?

Don't ask me, I'm just a bee. Envelope. This is what those improv classes get you. It's the best kind of shit. Neil Armstrong sent me a bunch of bees. And the bees like, wow, what a great callback. An audience of improv students politely applauding like. Yes, I spent 90 thousand dollars to learn how to do a callback.

What is, what is Digby like to Nash on? Does Digby have any food prefs? Oh, totally. I mean, you know, not to, not to sound like a fucking idiot, but one of her most popular picks that I've ever tweeted was this picture of her when I had a pizza. It was actually, it was, it was Brexit night in 2016, which is kind of weird. But I had a pizza and she is putting her little paw up on the table and kind of looking at it as if to say, you know, may I have some pizza?

She does love pizza. She gets very excited when we order pizza. You know, meat, especially if I order like barbecue or anything like that. She, she always, she always wants that. But, you know, in terms of actual cat food is very simple, you know, dry food, kind of wet food every day. She's like fine with that. You know, she doesn't love it, but it's really hard with cats.

You know, you feed them something for a week and they absolutely love it. And then you buy a big box of it and then, you know, exactly after you've placed the order for the big box, they're like, actually, this is shit. And I'm never going to eat it again and your shit. So this is how it goes. But yeah, no, she loves meat. She loves cheese. She loves bread. So along like her mom.

Oh, there you go. Yeah. What is the protocol with a cat? Do you like you can give them a little bit of that and moderation here and there? Yeah, kind of. I mean, I do avoid feeding her the things that I know will kill her, like chocolate onions and garlic are a big one that you can't feed cats or dogs. They can't have onions. Yeah, it makes them sick.

I mean, you know, I don't know if it would kill her to, you know, eat something that had onions in it, but, you know, I try to avoid that. I think grapes as well. Weirdly, something that grapes are, grapes are, grapes are big. Yeah. That's what I I think I talked about this on Doughboys Wise, but when I was going back east that night, Wally knocked a bottle of wine off the top of the fridge and he got covered in the wine. And then I took him into the shower like I like went into the shower with him.

Like I like I just grabbed him in all my clothes and jumped into the shower, which has as wise, I believe, joked at the time is how I shower normally with my clothes on and then and with Wally and with Wally. And so I so I so I I showered with him in there to get all the to get all the wine off of him, but what a mess, such a mess that he is a little guy. Yeah. The very stupid Nellie's done that with me before. Just take me into the shower with her clothes on after I spilled the entire bottle of wine over myself got to be done.

Yeah. I they are very stupid. I had a similar thing, not a similar thing, but last night I left my upper cabinets open and I heard like at four thirty in the morning, I was open up to like a big thud and Wally had fucking fallen. He'd fallen. I like it like he was like trying to jump up and he fell down. It is always fun though. It is always fun to catch them right after they fuck up a jump like that, like, you know, just the moments afterwards and they kind of shake it off

and try and walk away like like nothing ever happened. I have no idea like how it's possible that they've evolved to do that, but it's so clear that that's what they're doing, you know, they're walking away and they're trying to pretend that they were doing something else. And somehow that's been an evolutionary advantage for them to look cool. It's kind of it's like it's and it is kind of similar. It's like a little bit human behavior, like he's breathing heavy. I'm like, you all right?

I'm like, bubba, you all right? That's what I was saying. I'm like, bubba, you all right, bubba, bubba, you all right? And he was like breathing heavy and was just like, he was like looking around like, I'm fine, like it's no biggie. Like it was like that sort of thing of like a human guy like her. It was like, I'm fine. It's all good. Um, where is that little guy?

Anyways, I would love to introduce Wally and Emma to to Digby. But has Digby met other cats via zoom via video chat via zoom? Maybe, yes. Uh, she has met a couple of the cats in real life too. Um, one time I found a kitten outside my house. Um, just I literally, it was sort of literally on my doorstep. Um, and, uh, I went out and he was, he was all covered in engine oil. He'd clearly been living in someone's car.

They do that. They, they crawl into, uh, car engines because they're warm and you know, safe. Um, and so I scooped him up and I, I brought him inside. Um, and, uh, I put him in this like, um, you know, one of those huge, like rubber made container things. You like store stuff in under the bed or whatever. I put him in that just because he was, he was tiny in that way. He couldn't like, you know, get under the couch or something.

Right. Um, and, uh, before I put Digby in the bedroom, you know, I was going to quarantine her cause you don't know what diseases kittens have and stuff. But before I did that, uh, she kind of went up to the rubber made container and sniffed and then she just hissed at him. And I was like, oh, so sad cause I really was hoping that her motherly instincts would kick in, but no, she was, she was not happy. And then whenever I would go, whenever I would go into the bedroom

to check on her, she would sniff my fingers that smelled like the kitten and hiss at my fingers. Um, and he was only there for a couple of hours. And in that time, she managed to piss on my duvet, uh, in protests. So yeah, it wasn't a sparkling success. I would say, um, I don't think we'll be getting another cat at any point. She's what happened to the bitch. Oh, um, I, uh, the, the humane rescue alliance in DC kind of partners

with animal control here. So it's one of the places where you don't have to worry about turning a kitten over to animal control. And especially cause he was, he was good with humans and stuff. Um, you know, it's, it's, uh, he was, he was fine. I contacted the rescue where I got Digby from, uh, and they pulled him. And, uh, he was actually adopted out to someone I know on Twitter, which was very nice.

Yeah. He has a lovely life in Northern Virginia now. What a happy ending. Oh, it was great. It was a hugely heartwarming, uh, aside from Digby ruining my duvet, everything, everything worked out great. What do you do with a duvet when it's covered in cat urine? Can you just launder that?

I take it to the damn white house, you know, say, this is what I think of you. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Uh, no, I just put it straight in the trash. I think trash, trash bag, trash bin gone. You can't get that out. It's just too stinky.

You could. I mean, it was a cheap duvet. I didn't really care. It was like, you know, 30 bucks or something. Cat piss is tricky. I mean, what is it? What is it? Is a duvet?

What is a duvet? Is that like a blanket? Is it? Oh yeah. Sorry. That's, um, one of those British words that, uh, you guys don't use as much. No, I, I know, I feel like it's a, it's a new English word as well. But I feel like, uh, yeah.

So for us in the UK, we don't have anything called a comforter. A duvet is the thing you put inside a duvet cover. Um, and I was a little confused when I first moved to the US because I would go to Target and they had these things called comforters, which like you weren't supposed to use with a cover. And I was like, that's really gross. Um, but you could also buy like a comforter insert or a duvet insert or whatever. And I was like, but that's what a duvet is.

And I was so confused. But, um, yeah, I guess that was one of the more minor confusions of moving to the US. Um, but, uh, yeah. So that, that's what a duvet is. It's the, the big white thing you put inside the cover. I have a duvet controversy in my past. Wow. So Natalie and I eloped.

We got married in Las Vegas and we were staying at TI, uh, Treasure Island, which is a very obnoxious resort, but it was what we could afford at the time. And we, uh, like we, so we got married, uh, treasure Island. No, we didn't get married at Treasure Island. We got married by, we got married at Little Chapel of the West, which is like the chapel that's right inside the welcome to Vegas sign. So it's like this, this bit, it's like a really, it's been, it's been there forever. It's like the, one of the famous chapels where people get married.

They've actually physically moved it three times because of where new casinos being constructed, but it's still operational. And we got married by a guy, by a radio man with a radio voice who was just an absolute, absolute total pro. Just this pastor, he went up there. He's like, Oh, I'm going to, I'm going to marry you. And since just two of you, I'll also serve as your witness. All right.

Shall we begin? Like we are gathered here today to win. These two people just went into total radio. Wow. It was so fucking rad. Just absolutely crush it. And known to you for 15 years. First time I've ever heard that.

So, so anyway, we get married, uh, it's, it's, it's wonderful. We have a, we have a lovely meal and we're there. And we're also just like exhausted. And we're like, fuck it. Maybe we'll just go back home. And so we'd stay the previous night. We're like, this is the most fucking wagery. You want to say, just got married and you're, and, and, and, and you're just like,

Tom, let's go back. This is why this partnership works because we were on the same page. We're both like, and we're, we're kind of, we're kind of too worn out to do anything. Let's just go back and we can get a good night's sleep in our bed, you know, because it's a shitty hotel bed. So we, we check out early, uh, we were, we stay for one extra night. We're like, fuck it, we'll just pay for that night and we'll go home now. I get home a couple of days later.

I have an $1,800 charge on my credit card. Wow. Wow. Probably wouldn't have been so much fun to stay in a hotel room with Natalie when she was like, at night was like, what have I done over and over again? So we have this $1,800 charge on my credit card from the resort and it becomes this three month odyssey of getting this charge disputed because they claimed that, that when we left the hotel, we took the duvet with us.

Oh my God. We stole the duvet and they value the duvet at $1,800. Wow. That was impossible. That was impossible. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy.

I mean, and how do you prove you didn't steal the duvet? Like, do you say like, come to my house, you're not going to find it. You know, what are you supposed to do that? I took it to city hall and I, uh, no, no, I just, I just, kept escalating and kept going up the chains. I kept going up the chain and I kept, you know, and then eventually they were like, okay, we've investigated and we've reversed it. It's positive.

It's probably someone who worked for us who, it was missing, but it's probably someone who worked for us who took it. Good. You got the employee fired. Yeah. That's what I wanted. I was like, just fire everybody. I want you to clean house or I'm never going back.

And you know what? I'm still sleeping on that duvet of this day. I was kind of hoping that you had a dress up as like a pirate. I thought I was hoping that was pirate. Well, they get married by a pirate, you know, I mean, radio voice is great, but imagine if it was pirate voice, which as we know, it's not boring or nerdy or annoying or anything like that. I would have loved that.

Do you, do cats like parrots? What, how does a cat react to a parrot? Uh, I've never asked Digby what she, how she feels about parrots. I imagine that her reaction would be the same as it is to any bird, which is to, um, hunch down to the floor and make that weird clicking noise with her, with her mouth. Yeah. Very disturbing. While he does that to Irma sometimes, or he does like the like

Yeah. He does like a little chittering. Yes. Chittering. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, they, they want to, I mean, again, Wags. Yeah.

I mean, we don't, how are we to know? I don't know. I don't know if you have interactions with parrots. I don't know what, like you sometimes you'll, you'll, there'll be the parrot in the shoulder guy who'll come around, you know, like that's his thing. But you're, you're saying that like, if a parrot's like, don't eat me, like that sort of thing. And then the cats are like, wait a minute, there's like a voice coming out of it. No, the cats, the cats want to, the cats want to like put the bird in its mouth.

They want to eat it in some way, not eat it. So it's like any bird, maybe not, maybe not eat it as much as just catch it. And keep, I mean, there is, it is so crazy that there is just a, a natural hunting, like a mechanism that kicks in in their brains where they just want to, they just want to hunt the birds. Yeah. I grew up in the English countryside, um, in a village of about 300 people. And, uh, we had cats that would roam the village and they went, they would go pretty far.

Um, and, uh, the one that we had who actually just died this year, uh, he would bring in all kinds of stuff. He actually, I mean, you know, he would bring in like, you know, birds and mice and stuff. One time he brought in a live chicken, which was very impressive. Yeah. It was a very impressive feat. Um, I was, uh, I was in the kitchen. I was actually cooking chicken, which felt really gross.

Um, I kind of wanted to hide it. I was like, don't look at it. Um, and, uh, I heard this noise, um, at the, the cat door. And you know how like when your brain hears a noise that isn't what it's used to, and you kind of know something's wrong before you've seen it. Um, I turned around and I saw him pushing this like full grown chicken through the cat door. And he's just carrying it in his mouth. Uh, you know, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

And I was like, oh my God, Spencer, drop it. Um, and, uh, I got him to, I got him to drop the chicken. Um, and, uh, we put chicken was like dazed, but he was fine. Um, and, uh, so we put the chicken in like a bucket, you know, just like a normal like mop and bucket bucket. And, uh, my mom took him, uh, took the chicken up the road, you know, sort of covered in a towel and she would knock on each door. There's about, I don't know, 15 houses on our road or something.

So she would knock on each door and sort of reveal the chicken in the bucket and say, hello, is this your chicken? Um, and, um, just like normal village stuff, village life things. Yeah. Uh, and eventually I know, and eventually she, um, she got to someone who said, oh no, I think that, um, I think that chicken belongs to the manor house. Um, and so the way this is, this is embarrassing, but, um, that's the most British shit I've ever heard.

It really is. Um, in, uh, in English villages, you know, let's say a thousand years ago, there would be, um, the, the Lord of the manor would live in the manor house. Um, and it would often be connected to the church somehow. And it would be just like the richest guy in the village who owned all of the land and people in the village. And then, you know, the serfs would pay the, you know, their wages to him or whatever.

And somehow in, in my village and many other villages, um, the manor house still exists. And now it's just like a normal rich guy who lives there. You know, he doesn't own any of our labor, thankfully. Um, but, uh, yeah. So he, that manor house, they've always kept animals, you know, sometimes when I was a kid, there were pigs there and, you know, goats and stuff like that.

Um, and so mom took the chicken up to the, up to the manor house and knocked on the door and, you know, uh, the, the man who owns it answered. And she said, hello, is this your chicken? And he peered into the bucket and went, oh, hello Doris. Yes. I believe that's us. Oh my God. Wow. I know. I just, I realized as I was telling the story that I'm

not doing any favors to Mitch's, uh, apparently pre-existing impression of England as the worst place on earth. So whoops. Sorry guys. My beef with, with, with, with England is, uh, is people, the, the, the, the Brits who are like, who are, who say America is the worst, which we are bad. I know that we are bad, but it's not one of the things that don't throw stones. We're both bad. But tell me about it.

I, you know, as, as a Brit who's been in America for almost 10 years now, anytime I'm on Twitter or in conversation and I see British people laughing about American, you know, like gun violence or healthcare or whatever. And then Americans laughing at British food or whatever. I'm like, this is, no one's winning this fight. It's, it's really, you could not have picked two worst countries to go at each other. And it's like, you know, I, I'm in no position to really comment on either. Cause I was born in one and then chose to move to another.

So really just, just the worst person. I like all places. I don't really hate anywhere except for those Italians. I was going to say, except for the Italians. Man, that's, that's, that's a, yeah. First of all, I got to train Wally and Irma to bring some chickens in. I think that sounds like a, I want, I want, I want Doris. I want Doris lived, Doris was okay. Doris lived, Doris lived a happy life as far as we know.

Although the, the Lord, I guess, if the manna has been known to, to shoot animals on his property. There's another kind of sad story about him shooting some deer that were chewing his plants or whatever. I mean, he's a real piece of shit. So I think Doris probably lived because, you know, she was probably an eggling chicken. And, you know, therefore had value. I doubt she ended up on the dinner table at least anytime soon. But that was, that was one creature that Spencer did not manage to kill. Many others, I'm afraid, did not meet the same fate. Wow.

Yeah. My cat, Zip, my cat Zip, who was an indoor, outdoor cat, like she would sometimes bring in a mouse. And then I had a cat Buster who was declawed. This is, but this is back in 1980. I know I, I, I felt, I feel the same way. This is 1989 or something or maybe 1990. My, my mom had her declawed. I think times have changed. She lived a bit, she lived a great long life. She lived till she was 18 and we loved her very much, Buster. We're canceling your mom here today. We're calling her out. Yeah. And so it's over for my mom. But, but I would never, I would never,

I would never declaw all in her. I would never declaw any pet, but, but Buster. Michael, I check social media. I'm canceled. Oh my God. You got to get me on two with those. What is it? What is it? What is the, what's the right wing tour again? Uh, you mean Ben Shapiro? Cancel call. No. I'm going to guest on Shapiro. No. Oh, Mrs. Mitchell. No.

The comedy, the, the, the, the, the, the, the right wing comedy people. What are they called? Um, I mean, there's all sorts of subsets, subgroups here, but do you want to poke this bear? Blissfully on a bear of this. Do you want to, do you want to take a stick to this beehive? Like the goons or whatever they call themselves. I forget the name of them or whatever. Yeah. It's not worth it. We'll sort all this out. Yeah. It's definitely not worth it, but we'll sort this out and we'll be back with more dough boys.

No. You know, Mitch, you're about to take a little trip abroad. You're going to Costa Rica. That's right. Why? So I'm going to Costa Rica with the family. It's going to be a lot of fun. Going to maybe see a monkey. Oh, that's fun. Going to maybe see a bird. Just that, just a one monkey, one bird. That's it. Hey, that sounds like a heck of a vacay. And you know what? Knowing some Spanish might be helpful down there.

And if you have an upcoming summer trip abroad, my go-to travel hack is Babel. Whether you're a season traveler or embarking on your first adventure, communication is key to fully experiencing a new culture. That's where Babel comes in. Babel is the language learning app that sold more than 10 million subscriptions. Thanks to Babel's addictively fun and easy bite-sized language lessons, there's still time to learn a new language before you reach your destination. You know, Mitch, I've been taking some Babel lessons in Spanish a little bit.

And it's a great benefit just in terms of having some sort of conversational knowledge of another language. With Babel, you only need 10 minutes to complete a lesson, so you can start having real-life conversation in as little as three weeks, wigs. Babel's expertly crafted lessons are built around real life. You learn how to have practical conversations about travel, relationships, business, and more. Other language learning apps use AI for their lesson plans, but Babel lessons were created by over 150 language experts

and voiced by real native speakers, not computers. Their teaching method has been scientifically proven to be effective. With Babel, you can choose from 14 different languages. Plus, Babel's speech recognition technology helps you improve your pronunciation and accent. There are so many ways to learn with Babel. In addition to lessons, you can access podcasts, games, videos, stories, and even live classes. Plus, it comes with a 20-day money-back guarantee. Start your new language learning journey today with Babel.

Right now, get up to 55% off your subscription when you go to babel.com slash doughboys. That's babel.com slash doughboys. For up to 55% off your subscription, Babel. Language for life. on your to-do list. Too busy to cook this spring with factors, skip the trip to the grocery store, and skip the chopping, prepping, and cleaning up.

You can skip all of it, Wags. Skip all of it because factors fresh never frozen meals already in just two minutes, so all you have to do is heat and enjoy, then get back outside and soak up that warmer weather. Looking for calorie-conscious options this spring, Wags? Try delicious, dietitian-approved, calorie-smart meals with around or less than 550 calories per serving. We offer delicious, flavor-packed options on the menu each week to fit a variety of lifestyles, from keto to calorie-smart, vegan and veggie, and protein plus.

Prepared by chefs and approved by dietitians, each meal has all of the ingredients you need to feel satisfied all day long while meeting your goals. With 34-plus chef-prepared dietitian-approved weekly options, there's always something new to try. Plus, you can round out your meal and replenish your snack supply with an assortment of 45-plus add-ons, including breakfast items like egg bites, smoothies, and more wise, I had a smoothie today you saw it in studio. Wow.

Tropical fruit smoothie was delicious. Wow, hey, want to cut back on takeout? Get factor instead. Not only is factor cheaper than takeout, but meals are ready faster than restaurant delivery in just two minutes. With factor, you can rest assured you're making a sustainable choice. We offset 100% of our delivery admissions to your door, source 100% renewable energy for our production sites and offices,

and feature sustainably sourced seafood in our meals. Head to FactorMeals.com slash Doughboys50 and use code Doughboys50 to get 50% off your first box. That's code Doughboys50 at FactorMeals.com slash Doughboys50 to get 50% off your first box. Do it. Welcome back to Doughboys. We are here with our guest Libby Watson discussing this week's chain, Shake Shack. Michael, I got booked in Skankfest.

There we go. Oh, no. Shake Shack opened first as a cart and then as a shack in Madison Square Park in New York City by power player restaurant tour Danny Meyer. This was a little bit after 9-11 that this first was founded as kind of like an urban revitalization initiative at first. Yeah, there you go. Later expanded as a local chain and today is a global chain with 250 plus locations.

Previously, we reviewed it with our friend Jason Concepcion and was a late addition to our first ever Tournament of Champions burger brawl. Mitch, this was in 2016. You no doubt remember the commissioner decree that Shake Shack, which had opened its first location a month before the tournament. This was like, so this is like February, March of 2016 when we're recording, had just opened its first LA outlet. Now, five years later, they have 15 locations in LA and 26 in Southern California.

So that's how rapidly they have expanded nationwide and to the West Coast specifically. Um, and do they expand too fast too soon? I mean, these are a lot of questions we're gonna do. Why is that? I didn't even get into it though. My cat, my zip brought in a mouse and then my cat Buster. No clause caught the mouse between her paws. She like caught it between her paws.

Yeah, what dexterity and did the mouse survive? Yeah, no, we put it outside. We put the mouse outside. Yeah. I saw, I saw, I also saw a dead rat at BugCon this weekend. It was across the street when I went to McDonald's. It was, and you know what? It was a cute little rat.

I think I love all creatures. I like creatures. Rats are pretty cute. I mean, we did have one in our apartment a while back. We never saw it. We just heard it scrabbling behind the walls, which is really fucking disturbing. When you can just hear a creature in the walls, really grim. And Digby was absolutely no help whatsoever.

She like heard it scrabbling. I was like, oh yeah, that's weird, isn't it? All right, I'm going to go back to bed. And yeah, that was nasty. The only way we knew that there was a rat in the, like that it was a rat was that it would shit on our stove at night, which was not nice. A lot of cleaning involved. But yeah, eventually it was caught and compromised to a permanent end.

This sounds like hanging out at Palmerston back when Koalic was Mitch's roommate. Koalic, the stove? Sorry. Now you know I'm here. So Libby, we were talking a little bit because you are, you spent some, you lived in LA for a time. You recently visited LA and you have like, you know, a big thing that actually was the finale of the aforementioned tournament of champion's burger brawl here on Doughboys,

but is also just generally discussed by West Coasters versus East Coasters is Shake Shack versus In-N-Out Burger. Now I always argue that these are completely different things. They're in completely different price categories. They're trying to do different things. But I think people still have a preference. I will say, I of course still think In-N-Out is better than Shake Shack, all those factors aside. As someone who, I believe you got In-N-Out on your recent LA trip.

What's your take on In-N-Out Burger? Yeah, we actually got it twice during the, we were in California for 11 days and we actually got a lot of fast food while we were there. It's kind of embarrassing. We went to In-N-Out twice. We did Del Taco and we did Jack in the Box. And I think that was partly because we were on the trip with fellow Doughboys fans, Emma Roller and her husband.

And so we were listening to Doughboys. We were driving back from Palm Springs and talking about Doughboys restaurants. Me and Justin were the big boys' heads in the car. And so we knew that you guys had talked about these chains that we don't have in the places that we live. So we kind of wanted to hit them up, which is really fucking sad. I mean, we're in this state with, I arguably the best food in the nation. You know, this place that I love.

And we were there for 11 days and we somehow managed to fit in like several fast food stops. But you know, it was good. Anyway, yeah, In-N-Out twice once, as soon as we landed in LA, which invited some unfavorable comparisons to Newt Gingrich from you, Nick. Right. That's the Gingrich move. Newt lands in LA and immediately goes in and out, Berger, the one right by the airport. Yeah, we pulled a Ging.

Well, we didn't go to the one right by the airport. We went and picked up our car at Union Station and then we went to the one in Baldwin Park, which I think is the original In-N-Out or it's by the original In-N-Out or something. Yes, that poor In-N-Out to see fucking Ging. Ging, as you call him, fucking his car waddling up to the drive-through line. His car can't move like a normal car. It has to pop like a cartoon. Yeah, I have actually seen Gingrich.

Gingrich is one of my few DC celebrity sightings and it was so long ago. It was when I was here as an intern in the summer of 2011. And I was in Alexandria, which is in Virginia, but it's on the metro line and it's, you know, nice sort of touristy place. And it was 4th of July weekend. And it was when he was ostensibly running for president in the 2012 Republican primaries. And he was sitting by himself in a sort of nice cafe in Alexandria, eating a bowl of tomato soup and reading like an off-brand Kindle, like a nook or something.

And he was just having the time of his life, you know. All of the other people I presumably running for president, they were in, you know, in Iowa or New Hampshire, you know, like doing grip and grin, like fundraising stuff or whatever. And this guy was just living his best life, eating his soup, reading his little, you know, some kind of airport novel on his nook. And I remember some lady came up to him and she was like, oh, you know, your campaign president isn't going very well or whatever. And he was like, well, we fired all the expensive consultants.

So it's going a little better or whatever. And I'm like, dude, like, what are you doing? It's clearly not going well. If you're just chilling out in, you know, the fucking the King Street cafe or whatever, eating your soup, yeah, that was one of my few celeb sightings here. Anyway, I got way off track there. Sorry, in and out, very good. Love, love in and out.

I had it when I was at UCLA. I did a year of my undergrad at UCLA back in 2010, 2011. And we would go because there's one in Westwood and we would go there fairly, fairly often. And then, yeah, I haven't really had it at all since I've probably had Shake Shack more than I've had in and out by now because, you know, living on the East Coast for all of the rest of the time, living in DC. But it was it was quite a treat coming back and having in and out. There are a few Shake Shacks in DC, I would imagine.

Yeah, so there's actually one very close to my apartment. It's like two blocks away. Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. So it's there is, I mean, I think part of the reason we did so much fast food eating when oh, I forgot one. Sorry, we did the habit as well. The habit is the other place that we ate.

Oh, the habit. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was pretty good. I think part of the reason we did so much fast fooding when we were out there is that, you know, in DC, we don't have a car and especially with coronavirus. It's like, I'm not, you know, getting on the metro to go all the way up to, you know, Van Ness or whatever to go to Burger King. So our options for fast food are kind of limited here.

Whereas when you have the freedom of a car, you're on the road anyway. It was a big road trip. The whole vacation was a road trip. So, yeah, I do, I do kind of feel a little limited in the fast food options that I have here. There's like a Shake Shack and a Popeyes and like a McDonald's in walking distance and that's kind of it. You know, it's not like living in LA, you're driving, you know, you're in traffic all the time, whatever you're driving into your big Hollywood meetings and, you know, to go and plan

some QAnon stuff, which I assume that's what you guys are all doing out there. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. I like QAnon Tuesday or something. And yeah, so we don't really have that. So Shake Shack is like one of the sort of old reliability that's in the neighborhood that we can walk to.

So I have been there a fair amount. It's one of those like, I don't really know what I want to eat. I'll eat Shake Shack kind of things. Yeah, it's like a decent default option, I'll say. I think my issue with Shake Shack is something Mitch that you touched on earlier. And this is a thing we've talked about on the podcast, although we have not really explored it since we gave Shake Shack its proper review all those years ago. And I think they have expanded too quickly.

And I think there is so much inconsistency between locations that it becomes a frustrating dining experience because they'll be out of things or things will be prepared differently. Or it's just sort of like a, this Shake Shack has a different system for ordering and pick up than other Shake Shacks. It's like, it's so location dependent and there isn't that kind of universality that you'd expect, especially for a chain that's as expensive as it is. And that's always the thing that strikes me about Shake Shack is every time I go there, how much money I spend.

I get that everything is fresh, except for the fries, which are actually frozen, but still good. And I get that it's like a higher quality product and I get that it's, you know, it's overseen by, you know, they have like a, you know, these fancy restaurant tours and chefs who are overseeing all the operations. But I like, I, you are paying a premium. You are paying a good amount more, again, like then in and out burger, right? It's often three or four times the cost, a meal there. This isn't fair because you're, you're making it a competition between these two places.

They're just two burger places. I'm not even trying to do that. No, I'm not, I'm not trying to even make this competition. Well, you are, you're doing it. That was, that was, that was settled in and out burger one. It got its name engraved on the Dave Thomas cup. So that's, that's trash thrown in the fucking trash. It's fucking, that's, you know what?

I think Nixon should send the fucking that cup to the moon. Leave it fucking let it sit up there on the moon. I'm just going to say this is every time you look at the moon. No, there is no hope for the Dave Thomas cups of recovery. But there is hope for mankind in its sacrifice. Oh, Spiro Agnew, I'm going to do Watergate. Oh no, why did he say that on TV? Oh boy, hide this tape, erase this tape.

So the, the, it's a, yeah, but, but I'll put that a comparison aside. Don't even, I'm just talking about this as a chain, Mitch. Like just to shake shack, I feel like it's inconsistent. Do you disagree? I mean, I probably don't eat it enough to know if it's inconsistent. My thought on it is like, sure, I mean, a lot of these places, especially when you, when you expand, you're going to get some inconsistencies. I always went to the one near the Americana and I always thought it was pretty

decent. And then the, the one on sunset. And then I ordered from the one on Hollywood Boulevard and I ordered, yes, I got it delivered. Shut up, everyone. I've been there plenty of times. But my thought is, hmm, yeah, I don't know, expanding of course, you know, it, it, it causes some issues. It's not, it's, it, it, it will, there will definitely be quality issues between locations. It just, there's bad Wendy's, there's bad Taco Bells. It just happens. I mean, that's, that's what happens. I, I do think that, I do think that too many people

think that one, they turn it into In-N-Out versus Shake Shack because it's a east coast, west coast thing. And two, I think people are too mean to Shake Shack. People are like, ugh, Shake Shack. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Shake Shack is good. Shake Shack is, it's, it's good. It's high, it is high quality. People are too mean to it. I, like, the first time I had a Shake Shack burger, I'll say this, when I was in New York City, at the original Shake Shack location, I was far more blown away than I was the first time I had an In-N-Out burger. Different experience though, because that's, you're talking about the, like, I'll agree

that the New York Shake Shacks, back when Shake Shack was New York exclusive, I was like, oh, wow, this is really something. They really have something here. And I think it's lost a little bit of its luster as it's expanded nationwide. Yeah, I agree with that. And I will say that, I mean, it's hard for me to tell because when I think back to when I first had Shake Shack, it was, you know, maybe 10 years ago, I just, you know, I had recently moved to America and I was very much in the mode of finding everything that was good and American, like good American food, like incredible. And I was like, I can't believe they have this here, you know, because, I mean, British fast food sucks, you know, like,

growing up with like, you know, Burger King, and that was really it in my town. It was Burger King and Pizza Hut. And so it was, it was, it was kind of a revelation to be able to go to a fast food place that had, you know, I was hoping that you would be, you'd list off like, the mushy peas depot or something. Here we go. Here we go. He's on one. Oi, Governor's Fish House. The Chippery. Oh, let me get a fish-bound sandwich, would you? Why would anyone order that, Mitch? Think about it.

You had a side of mushy peas with that? You know I would. You know, I don't know much about English culture, English food. You got it. You got it. You got it. That's right. That's correct. You know, I don't know much about American culture, American food. I'm starting to think, I don't know much of anything, Wigs. No, surely not. I will say, you know, the fast food that we had was pay limitations of American stuff. There was a KFC, there was a McDonald's, there was a Burger King, there was a Pizza Hut, and then there are like local fast food. Like, you know, there are a couple of fish and chips places in Bambury, where I grew up, or the town nearest to where I grew up, that are really good.

And they're just, I don't know if there are really any like homegrown British fast food chains. Maybe there are. I mean, this is part of my... Cheeky Nandoes. Cheeky Nandoes is good. I mean, yeah, there are, I mean, there are tons of chains that like sit down restaurants. You know, we have loads of chains that's like, the one in our town was Pizza Express, which sounds so shit. It sounds like, you know, a place on the corner where you get kebab as well. Yeah, it sounds terrible, but it's actually kind of like, I mean, at least what I was growing up, that was like the upscale option for you to go on a date

or whatever, was to go to Pizza Express and get the American pizza, which has just like pepperoni on it. Wow. Hell yeah. Yeah. But anyway, I do think that kind of coloured my perception of Shake Shack, you know, when I was, when I first had it, because I was having, you know, at the time of my life here, you know, I just moved here, everything was possible, and you could get a peanut butter milkshake, which is something I had never experienced before in my life. So, yeah, I mean, I used to, I used to really love Shake Shack. And now it's like, I don't know whether it's not to preview my review a bit, but that I don't know whether it's fallen off or whether I have fallen off because now I'm 31 and everything sucks. So it's, you know,

kind of hard to, to weigh those two things. Yeah, it's a, I mean, I do remember it being like a sensation in New York and waiting and waiting for it. Yeah. I was just gonna say, you're right that everything does suck. So for sure. Yeah, but I'm also not sure if I could blame my lesser enjoyment of Shake Shack on coronavirus or climate change. You know, I don't think that's really weighing on my mind too heavily when I'm biting into my burger. But, you know, life isn't as joyous, I would say, as when you're 22 or 21. You know what, you know what I like about here? Here's, I'll say something that I like about British food. I like that. I like that there's a breakfast that you can just order the full English.

Yeah. That's pretty good. A full English is good. Yeah. A full English is something I'll, I'll stand behind for sure. And also just, just to go in and say, look, give me the full English. That's a fun, that's, that's fun to say. Fun thing to say. Would that be weird to do if I just, if you went in and said, can I get the full English? No, you absolutely can do that. I give you permission. In fact, I can, I can even recommend specific spots in London to go in and get a full English, which, well, I can recommend one specific spot. There's a cafe, a cafe right by Marleybone station. You go in there, the guy who owns it, his name, I'm afraid is Italian, Mitch. His, his name is Mario. And it's a great little like, you know, holding the wall.

You're running me back a little bit. Yeah. He runs it with his, his brother Luigi and they're often gone for some reason. I don't know why. But yeah, no, I mean, there are, I will defend the full English. I can't defend British breakfast fully because I didn't know about a bacon, egg and cheese as a concept until I moved here. Like if you get a breakfast sandwich in the UK, it is bacon in bread. And if you are lucky, ketchup or brown sauce. And no one is fucking thought to put, I mean, occasionally you can get a bacon and egg, but no one has thought to put cheese on it in however many years of British history. No one has thought, what if we put cheese in this breakfast sandwich, you know,

you can't get a fucking bacon, egg and cheese. I mean, I will say a lot of this is out of date. You know, I've been here for almost all of the last 10 years. And I, you know, I only visit occasionally the town nearest to where I live is kind of a backwater sort of kind of Columbus, Ohio style place, you know, it's not the place where you would go to experience the forefront of British cuisine. But I, my mind was blown when I was like, Oh, bacon, egg and cheese, what a country, you know, so can't fully defend our record on breakfast. You know, I think you got to do, I think next time you're back, you're back in the UK, you got to go up to the Lord of the Manor and just hand him a bacon, egg and cheese.

And he could be like, this is brilliant. And all of a sudden it'd be everywhere. Here you go, here's your keys. You're the Lord of the Manor now. And you're a wizard, Harry. This is fantastic. It is Doris, you're free to go. Come on now. I'll take Doris to America show other sites. It'd be great. I like that. Like a bucket list for, I'm guessing Doris must be an old chicken, if I had to guess. Yeah, I haven't seen her in my recent visits. I can't say I've seen her around. Probably moved up to a farm, you know, from kind of a farmish place.

Moved to a different farm. Another farm, yeah, in a different county. It's much nicer there. Man, that's what, yeah, what are you doing if you're, if you got a dog on a farm, do you say the dog went into the city? Is that what you say? I think so. I think that's the move. Don't go to an internship at NBC. It's really big for him. Oh, no, he's working for Matt Lauer. Oh boy. Get him out of there. I went to, so I went to the Shake Shack in, right by Mitch, you and I watched the Suicide Squad for a, for a different podcast we guessed it on. And I went to the, I saw the Suicide Squad. I was sitting in, I'm sitting next to my lovely wife Natalie and she's like, Hey, order the Shake Shack

now and we can just pick it up. And I was like, Oh, there you go. And so I got it. I busted out the app, which is perfectly okay. And order the Shake Shack. When was this free movie? This was during the end credits. The credits are going. We're waiting for the mid-credits scene. She's like, Oh, the Shake Shack now. Keep your phone in your pocket, bud. Okay. It's during the credits. Keep your phone in your pocket, bud, until, you know what? There were some mid, there were some mid-credit and post-credit scenes. Keep your phone in your pocket. Okay. Once the credits start rolling, you can bust your phone out. I think that's totally fair. Once, once the movie is over. Hey, we don't know if we're gonna see some member of the Suicide

Squad come back to life. Well, now he's kind of spoiled something. And in the mid and post-credit scene. Yeah, we might see one character come back to life. And then you being me would think, Okay, that's the end. That's the credit scene. I can go now. And then you find out later that there's another credit scene where another character comes back to life. Okay, sure. That's what movies are. So you ordered, so you disturbed everyone watching the fun movie and you ordered your Shake Shack. Everyone was going, Sir, if you don't mind, I'd like to see what happens to the Weasel. That sounds very British. I was, yeah. I was in a small village. The theater was on the grounds of a manor house. So there was a popcorn container filled with mushy peas.

I think that sounds lovely. Order, put in the order. Went over, it's kind of a chaotic pickup. I feel bad for the workers because it's like a very high traffic location. They're currently kind of scrambling there. There's a shelf for online orders that some places have that's clearly just been discontinued. They don't use that anymore. So like I went over to go pick it up and they were like, No, please just wait outside. We'll call your name. I was like, Okay, fine. Everyone's very nice. They did forget a couple of things in our order. They forgot Natalie's cheese fries. She went back and got those. And they also forgot our side of Shack sauce that was not included. Shack, S-H-A-C-K, I should clarify. Not S-H-A-Q. You nearly did say side of shit, by the way.

You think I ordered a side of shit? You nearly said side of shit. That's all I was saying. Do you think that was maybe the issue? That's what I put in the app. And they're like, well, he clearly doesn't want that. Don't even charge him for it. Where's my side of shit? So, but we got the, that was rectified. I got the shroom burger, which is, they don't have like a plant-based patty there. Their vegetarian option is a shroom burger, which is a crisp fried portobello mushroom filled with melted Moonstone cheddar cheeses, very, very ooey-gooey and topped with lettuce, tomato and Shack sauce. Not a lot of Shack sauce, I should say. A very, very lightly, light amount of condiments on it. Ordered a hot honey fries,

which are supposed to be dusted with their hot honey seasoning and served with abonero mayo sauce. It did come with abonero mayo sauce, but they were just conventional fries, which is fine. Probably I would have liked them more than the ones with the hot honey dust or whatever the fuck that is, but it was, it was definitely a kitchen error. Shack's off. You got to get yourself some side of Shack's off. I also got the, I mentioned the cheese fries, which we got, and then the, I got the, I got a 50-50, half lemonade, half iced tea, Kinde the Nick Weiger, which is a third lemonade, a third, two thirds iced tea. And then I also got the cherry pop shake, which is vanilla cola, frozen

custard, handspun with real cherries and popping candy. So kind of a pop rocks thing topped with whipped cream and cherry caramel candies. Here's what I'll say overall. Maybe someone else got that too. Go ahead. What, what, what will you say overall? The shroom burger is a miss for me. I just don't like it. I don't love it. I don't love the, I think the, the combo of the, the portobello and then just the, the Moonstre cheese tastes honestly kind of rotten. It's a little putrid. I don't, I don't like those, those flavors together. The texture of the, of it is, is okay, but it's not the texture I want in a burger. Like I'd rather, like there's so much resistance in, in fast food to just doing what Burger King

did so brilliantly, which is like, we have the whopper. This sandwich works. We're going to make this exact same sandwich with a, with a plant-based protein. We're just going to make the impossible whopper. Here you go. And you know what? This is perfect. This is exactly what someone who doesn't eat meat wants. Give me the shack burger. Give me the roadside double with a plant-based protein. And also there's this other thing I feel like with a lot of these chef-driven fast food places where, or, or, or fast casual places where there's some resistance to having just using the beyond or the impossible protein. They want to like, like we have our house-made veggie patty or whatever. Like put that in the trash with your house-made ketchup. Give me the thing

that's been engineered by food, in a fucking lab that tastes like a good simulchrum of the real thing. Give me the fucking beyond. Give me, just give me a fucking beyond shack burger. That's what I'm looking for. The Schoomburger I thought was a total miss. Wow. This is inspiring. This is like being in a Bernie speech or something. I'm really like whipped up right now. I'm like, yeah, fuck your ketchup. And you know what? Fuck your profits too, man. Wow. I wish I could do a Bernie, but I respect the man too much. Yeah, but it better not to try, I think. Yeah. Mitch, you have anything, anything to add? Mitch, did you have, what did you get? Health care for all. All right, I got, well, the 1% is hoarding the profits.

Here's what I got. I came back from Bunkon. Like I told you, I saw a dead rat, very cute rat, ratatouille type rat. This was on my way to McDonald's. So I had a Big Mac meal earlier in the day. I'm just a mess over here. We're taking, we're taking a couple of week break from Doughboy, which thank God because I, Doughboy is, because from recording apps, we stacked them up, but I, but I just, I can't go on eating this way. I'm just, I'm, I'm a fucking balloon wags, but I'm, and I mean, look, this order isn't going to help matters at all when you hear what I got. Wags, we, we, we crossed over a little bit, but I'll start with my drinks. Yes. I got to say this, Shake Shack switches up their drinks. They have some fun drinks.

I do like that. And, and, and, and so it's that sort of thing of like, hey, that's, it's, it's fun to get a, it's fun to have a different lemonade every week. There's a strawberry lemonade. There's a whatever, you know, like, uh, there's a lot of different stuff you can, you can try and they, they switch it up. Sometimes it's going to be bad. I mean, that, that is an issue is that, is that look like you're going to, it's going to be fucking like whatever. I didn't want to, I didn't want to say mushy peeds lemonade, but it was the first thing I came to my mind. God damn it. Sometimes it's going to be, I mean, I should just say what this one was because I didn't love it. It was lime agave lemonade, which is real lime juice. Started

with agave nectar, orange, jalapeno, smoked salt and, and shack made lemonade. And it was just too much, too much going on. Just too much. It just, it just, it was, it was, it was too thick. It was like, I'd like, it was like, uh, it was just too sweet, too, too much. Why? It was ungepachka. It was. Wow. Wow. Ungepachka. And then I also got, I got a small of that. And then I also got a small watermelon mint lemonade. Cause I want to, or sorry, watermelon mint limeade. And this is real watermelon and lime juice is stirred with mint, orange, white tea and shack made, and shack made lemonade, which doesn't really make me think it's a limeade, but whatever. There was lime juices in it. This one didn't really work for me either. So I had two drinks that were like

just okay. These okay. Lemonades, they're high calorie. You know what I mean? A lot of sugar in these bad boys. It just, it just, they, they, neither of them were working for me, but I like that they try. There was a 50 50 and there was a pinia berry punch, which I didn't get, which maybe would have been better. Or I probably should have just gone with the shack made lemonade. Um, but, but, uh, yeah, neither of these drinks kind of worked for me. I also got two shakes, but I'll get to those at the end. Uh, here, here's my rundown of, of, of sandwiches. Um, I got myself the hot honey chicken wigs, which is a honey glaze, crispy chicken breast topped with habanero, uh, mayo sauce and shredded lettuce on a toasted potato bun. And I,

I took a bite of that bad boy and I thought it was really good. Wags. It was a good, it was, it was a well made chicken sandwich. I thought it was all right. There wasn't much in ways of topping. Like they should put something else on there. Just the shredded lettuce and the mayo was kind of not enough. Maybe throw some pickles on there or something. You know what I mean? Like it just, it should, it should by default come with something more. Um, then I got two burgers wags. One was like my backup in case I didn't like it, which the other burger I got, which was a good move because I didn't like it. So I got a, a double shack burger, which is like, that's my, like my go to, which is two cheese burgers with lettuce, tomato, shack sauce.

And I think it has a good burger. I think it is a good burger. I think it's, I think that they, they do, they may, they do a good job with it. This is the classic burger that everyone gets. Uh, I'm a fan. I like it. I think it's good. Um, and I was happy to have that backup because I got the shack stack, which is a cheeseburger topped with a shroom burger with lettuce, tomato, shack sauce. So basically the burger you got with the cheeseburger under it. And I had just heard of it so many times before and I was like, I got to try it. I've never tried it. I'm going to try it. I didn't like it. I'm with you on the mushroom patty. I just don't like that mushroom patty. Yeah. It's, it's, it's, it just doesn't taste, it doesn't taste good. And the, and the combo of

the, the burger with the, with the mushroom patty doesn't, doesn't help it much at all. I just, it is also just this weird experience of you got a cheeseburger and then you bite into this mushroom patty and like this other gooey cheese kind of explodes out of it. Yes. And it's just kind of fucking, I thought it was kind of gross honestly. Um, but that double shack burger was great. I really liked it in the chicken sandwich was great. I also got myself some cheese fries like Natalie did as well. They didn't, they didn't send any ketchup and there was no option to add ketchup. I've been in shake shacks a million times. You can of course get ketchup there, but I'm just saying for takeout, there's not a great option for that. But the cheese fries are

good. They, I got the cheese sauce on the fr, on the side. I think that they actually do, I think I like shake shack fries. I like crinkle cut fries and I actually think that their cheese sauce is decent. Um, yes, I like their cheese sauce as well. And I do like their fries. I think their fries are a highlight. Their fries are good and they actually travel pretty well too. There's, they have, they have, since the last time I went there, they have even more like they have, there was like boxes for everything, which they didn't always do now that like every single thing, like the fries have like a specific fry box and all the burgers have like specific burger boxes. And that was new and that's nice, but it also just feels like that sort of thing

again of, of like, oh, this is expanding. And this feels kind of like corporatey and a little more McDonald's-y when it was at one point, it just was wrapped kind of like in and out burger, right? Like it was just kind of wrapped in a white sleeve, I feel like, but I can't remember specifically, but maybe that's changed. And anyways, Wags, I got two shakes. Well, let's, let's get to the shakes in a second because I have, I have thoughts on my shake as well, but Libby, let's talk about your, your mains and your sides. What did you get burger and fries wise? Yeah. So I got, I went with my husband. We got pickup. And so we got enough for both of us. So what we did was I got a single Shack burger. And I will say they did really well at, they

didn't get anything wrong, including our modifications on our stuff, which, you know, not major modifications, but they didn't get anything wrong. Everything was right. I got a single Shack burger and added pickle. And those pickles were thick. They were thick boys. They were like, you know, half an inch thick or something. They were pretty, pretty substantial pickles, which, which I like. I think that's good. My husband got a smoke shack and added lettuce, sliced onion and pickle. And the smoke shack is bacon and cherry peppers. And the Shack sauce, I think. And we both liked our burgers. Lewis is a, my husband is a little bit of a shake shack hater. He, yeah, he, well, he doesn't hate it. He just thinks that it's

overrated and not that good. And said he would always rather have McDonald's or something, which I disagree with. I think Shake Shack burgers are just obviously better than McDonald's. It's just, you know, it's about our quality of ingredients and stuff. But anyway, my burger was good. I wrote down burger, good. That's it. That's a better, that's a better note than any Doughboy has ever taken. You capture the discourse on here very well. I think so. Yeah. Yeah, I liked them. I was, I was thinking about In-N-Out the whole time. I was cheating on Shake Shack in my head with In-N-Out. Wow. And it's hard, it's hard not to compare. We had just had it. I know there's been the controversy on Doughboys in the past,

and it was hard not to think about the whole time how an In-N-Out burger is just better for a lot less money. And, you know, the Shake Shack burger was still good. I was still happy eating it. I enjoyed it. You know, I really liked the sauce. My husband does not like the sauce. He thinks it's too mayo heavy. Not for me. I love it. I think it's great. And, you know, I like the Shake Shack burgers enough that I have actually made this a recipe on Smitten Kitchen called Fake Shack Burgers, which is like how to make a Shake Shack burger at home. And I've made that a lot. I really like it. You know, I am happy to kind of emulate that smash burger, you know, like the smashed patty thing. I think is really that that's what sets it apart from other regular

fast food burgers. So I think the burger was the high point for me. We also got some of the Hot Honey Chicken Bites, which is, you know, like a nuggets version of the Hot Honey sandwich. It comes with the Habanero Mayo, and it has the dust sprinkled on it. I thought they were pretty good, but the dust, I mean, I could certainly think the dust would be really weird on fries. On the chicken, it just tasted like they had been sprinkled with sugar. You know, it's meant to be honey, but it really did just taste like someone has sprinkled it with sugar, which is just weird. It's just a weird thing to do. You know, everyone's so anti-dust on fries. What's so wrong with some dust? A little dust. I like dust. Give me dust, but it's the kind of

dust. You want to give me like some Cajun seasoning or something? That's a great, that's a great, yeah, put that on some fries and shake them up. But this Hot Honey seasoning, it doesn't seem, first off, I didn't even get it on my fries. They didn't add it, but it sounds like what you're describing sounds like it would not be pleasant on fries. Yeah, it was a little strange. I mean, the mayo was fine. I thought it was pretty good, but we had also had, and I realized that talking about our eating habits on here is not a particularly flattering portrait, but we had had Popeyes the night before, and we got their new nuggets, and those are really good. It was again a sort of an unfavorable comparison point for Shake Shank, but at the same time, I think the

reason the Popeyes nuggets are so good is that they just absolutely load them with salt. That's just cheating, basically, in terms of food. You're just going straight to the pleasure center of the brain and just loading it with salt and probably God knows what else. But yeah, they were fine. I would probably get those again. We just got plain fries, which were honestly pretty bland and unimpressive, and we didn't eat many of them. I'm not opposed to crinkle-cut fries in principle, but I don't like... When you get crinkle-cut fries or waffle fries or any kind of special cut fry like that, you'd know that they've got to be made by four factories in America, and when you go to a bar and get waffle fries or whatever, it's like,

well, I know what these are going to be like, because there's clearly just one place that makes all the waffle fries, because your local bar is not buying a fry waffle. They're not buying the thing that they have to... They're like KitchenAid attachment or whatever that would cut a fry in a crinkle or waffle shape or whatever. It's like, you know that you're getting basically the same fries that you would get in the grocery store, and that's kind of what these taste like. They're fried rather than you would probably bake them at home, but other than that, not that good. Just not that good. I've been a defender of Shake Shack fries in the past, but this time, I cannot tell a lie. I can't defend these. They weren't good. They were bad.

We got the lemonade. We got the watermelon lemonade too, and I think it was pretty whack. It wasn't good. Because their lemonade is normally pretty good. I love lemonade. I love especially getting an Arnold Palmer or a Nick Weiger. That's a great drink. Really just pandering so much here. I mean, you can tell that I'm not a real guest. I'm just like a Doughboys fan who got Nick Weiger's phone number, and therefore just pandering so much. But anyway, and it's working. I thought it had a weird taste. It reminded me of when I was a kid and I would put orange juice and cranberry juice together, cheap orange juice and cheap cranberry juice together. I was like, I'm making a cocktail or whatever. It just tasted like,

it had this sort of odd bitter taste. Did not really get any mint flavor at all. Didn't even really get watermelon. It was just like, this is some bad lemonade. I mean, it wasn't awful. We drank it, but it certainly wasn't delivering on the promise from the description. And I was really torn between that and the like jalapeno one, the margarita style one. And I don't know whether I would have liked that more. I think they're just, they're not adding quality enough ingredients to the basic lemonade, which is good, I think, to make it really good. So that was a bit of a shame because I was really excited about that. I love a lemonade. And then the last thing we got was the chocolate shake, a malted chocolate

shake, which I believe is also what Donald Trump gets from McDonald's. He gets a chocolate malt. Is that true? I think so, yeah. I know he likes the filet of fish and he calls it the fish delight. Yeah, yeah. It's pretty cool. God, fish delight is so fucking. It's so good. His brain man is incredible. Yeah, he calls the chocolate malt something stupid too. He calls it like a malt delight or something stupid as well because he can't retain any true facts in his brain whatsoever. So it's got to go through the Trump machine. And then just surrounded by enablers who tell him he's right. Like, yes, some people do call it a fish delight. You're right. I'll say this just to touch on the drinks real quick. The 50-50 that I got, I thought was quite good. I thought

the mix of lemonade and iced tea was well balanced and I thought it was, as advertised, fully refreshing. It was a great beverage. But yeah, let's get into shakes because that's half of the name, Shake Shack. It's one thing they're known for and one thing I think they do well. I think I will say that Mitch, like you talked about them varying up the drink side of their menu and that includes the dessert side. The desserts in liquid form, the shakes. They do have new shakes like basically every month. And that was one of the ones I got, the cherry pop shake. So it's a, as I mentioned reading the description earlier, vanilla cola frozen custard. Not just vanilla. It's vanilla cola. So it's meant to have like sort of like a soda taste to it.

And it's very cherry forward. Cherries are not necessarily my favorite thing in a dessert. I do like a cherry pie, but in general, I opt for non-cherry things. And then the pop rocks, I didn't realize we're going to be so forward, such a presence in like basically every sip, but you are getting that sort of that, you know, popping sensation. I'd say all that put together, it was pretty good. And I do kind of think this was well thought out. Like the idea of the pop rocks working with something that's cola flavored, it had that sort of, that right sort of carbonation sensation, but just in a frozen dessert. And I thought that was fun. I thought the cherry flavor was good. It wasn't artificial, you know, it tasted fresh. It just was like very, very dense and very,

very sweet. I don't know. What did you think of that cherry pop shake, Mitch? So yes, I got the cherry pop shake as well. My thing is that I didn't taste any like real cherries in it. And the pops were from pop rocks, which I... Interesting. Yes. Which did you, did you taste like real like chunks of cherry? Just like a, cherries were just kind of just like, like ground up in there. I thought they were, they were pretty pureed, but I got a cherry flavor. I mean, like I tasted cherry flavor, but I didn't,

but I didn't taste like actual like chopped up or mixed in cherries. But I thought it was, I thought it was okay. Like I thought, again, why is it, it felt like this sort of thing of like, maybe I should have just gone with kind of like the more basic version. That I agree with. I'd rather I just got in a vanilla shake. Yes. Yeah. It feels like a, again, not, not to steal your phrase, but a little ungepochka. And also, I don't know if the vanilla, I don't know if like the cola came through as, as much for me because there's like popping candy and then it's topped with whipped cream and cherry caramel candies and caramel candies. And I don't know if I tasted any of the cherry

caramel candies. Like it was just basically like the popping stuff that was all I was tasting the, the pop rocks basically. Yes. And then not enough of the cherries, but I also, I got another shake. I got myself the triplet triple chocolate chip shake, which is chocolate frozen custard, hand spun with chocolate chip cookies made with milk, dark and semi-sweet Peruvian chocolate, topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips. And I didn't get enough of like the, the cookie flavor in this too. Like they were both kind of like, there's a lot of chocolate chips going on, but the, the, the base of that one was, was good.

Like I actually, I, because it was just basically a chocolate shake almost, but both of them just kind of trying a little, it was, they were, they were, it was like a Taco Bell version of, of, of the, of the shakes or something. It's like something Taco Bell would try and like, you don't expect that out of Shake Shack. And I should have just gone with a plain old shakes, I guess, but I, but I wish these crazy ones were better. That's my thought. Like I wish that they were both better. I think that's a good rule of thumb, Mitch, to just sort of stick with what they have, but, but that said, I think I had, I'm, I hope I'm not misremembered, but I think I had a key lime pie seasonal

shake there seasonally once and it was delightful. It was just like all the elements really work. So I think they take some swings and sometimes they connect and sometimes they strike out. Libby, tell us about your shake again. Yeah. So I, I just went plain old chocolate malted, which is what I've, I kind of go to all the time. I love chocolate ice cream, I love chocolate shakes. And I was tempted by both of the, I always want to get the, you know, special shake or whatever, cause you know, the, the time limited thing that kind of works on me as a marketing gimmick, I guess. I was like, oh my God, I've only got a month to get the cherry pop shake or whatever. But neither of them really appealed to me because,

I mean, firstly, I, I had my first migraine ever when I drank a Coke float when I was maybe nine. And so forever, the combination of Coke and ice cream is just disgusting to me. It's, it's like repulsive. And so that did not sound good, but that's just a me thing. And then the triple chocolate shake, I kind of, I wasn't that impressed by the idea because I think chocolate chips, when they are in ice cream or, you know, really any form other than melted can be kind of whack. They can be like dusty, waxy, kind of crumbly. And you know, I'm a little, I want my chocolate to be good, you know, if it was like pieces of Ghirardelli or something, maybe, but I think cold chocolate tends not to be that good. And especially cold chocolate chips, you know,

like from a bag of chocolate chips, not gonna, not gonna be great. So just went plain old chocolate malted and it was good. It did come out a little warm. Like I could see when she was loading it up there that it was, I think maybe they had made it a little early, like they had made it before they made the finish making the food. And so it was a little melty. I put it in the fridge when we got home and then took it out, but it was still, it was a little runny and a little warm. And it was also, I thought it was slightly too sweet, but I think, I think those things are related because I, I'm an ice cream maker myself. And I know that when you make ice cream, it has to be like, the unfrozen base has to be a lot sweeter than you would want it. So that it tastes

sweet when it's cold. So if ice cream melts or gets warm, it's going to taste a lot too sweet. So I think that's kind of why, I don't think it's a fault with the shake. I think that's just because it was too warm, it was tasting too sweet. But still really good drank the whole thing. Love a chocolate shake. So yeah, that was, that was definitely, that was definitely pretty good. That was, I think, second to the burger in terms of, you know, quality there. Wow. Yeah, I think they do, you know, I think they do make good shakes. And I think just to reiterate Mitch's point, which I think is, is very good. I think, I think just you're, you're, you're gonna, it seems like you had the best luck of the three of us Libby just by playing it

pretty straightforward. And I think, I think that's the way to go when you're ordering from this spot. I fucking sneezed again. I fucking sneezed again. Oh, we sneezed. Everybody. The fucks, what's the fucks going on? Hey, Mitch. Busted. How the fuck did I sneeze? What's going on with me? Why are you sneezing? Oh, Mitch, he sneezed today. The American people can never find out that I sneezed. Make sure you delete this section

of the watergate tapes. Wow. All the Spoonman's men. Well, we should get to our final thoughts on Shake Shack. So Libby, you know the show, you know this, how this will work. We'll each go around, give our closing argument, if you will, and, and by giving it a score from zero to five forks, you are our guest. We'll begin with you. Yeah. So I will say that when I, you know, going in, I thought Shake Shack's probably gonna be a four fork restaurant. And, you know, I didn't want to prejudice it too much, but I was like, to me, Shake Shack is like a solid four on a good day, 4.5 kind of restaurant. And I don't know. I mean, I don't think it is just that this was a so, so outing. I do think

that you're right that the expansion, and it's kind of, you know, they're wild and out too much. They're trying to do too much stuff, you know, and it's like these weird lemonade, you know, the shake, it's just like coming up with sillier and sillier stuff, like pop rocks in a shake, like you just, you know, you don't need that. Maybe that's something that, you know, maybe they're trying to appeal to a specific demographic or something that would love something that crazy. I mean, can you imagine anything crazier than pop rocks and a milkshake? I certainly can't. Not me. No. You know, I do feel like they are kind of straight, and this is inevitable, you know, like for a place to kind of stay fresh or whatever they want to come up with new stuff.

You know, it's like Chipotle introducing queso or, you know, something like that. But I do think it has kind of, you know, they, I think the fundamentals that were underneath all of that were still pretty good, but not quite as good as they used to be. And I don't think it is just that I have grown older and more cynical and more crone-like. I think it is just that it's, it's becoming, it's, it's kind of falling off a little bit, but not a lot. You know, it's still, if I went to Shake Shack, you know, because I was, I wanted a burger and I was hungry, I think I would still have a good time. Certainly, you know, putting all in and out aside, because they're not in the same place, they're not competing, you know, they are all, you know,

they are in LA about that, you know, they have expanded there. But to me, I don't think of them as really competing because Shake Shack is an east coast thing and it's expensive. In-N-Out is its own California thing. It's just one of those things that is a miracle. In-N-Out is a miracle, you know, it's, it's just- Hell yeah. It's, it's, it's the best fast food, I think, that exists. And- Wow. Yeah, that's, you know, I mean, I love burgers, but to me-

God, Wiger's loving this. Oh yeah. Well, I told you, I have to pander to him because he's the reason I'm on the show. So, it's, it's just, I just think it's silly to, to think about In-N-Out too much when you're going to Shake Shack, even though it was hard for me to shake my dreams of her coming in through the window like Mr. Burns. But it, you know, I really wanted to, to, to love this, if only because my husband is a hater and I wanted to prove him wrong. And I think I only really liked it. So, I'm going to go 3.75 forks. Wow.

3.75, three forks, three tines, just on the outside of the Golden Plate Club, looking in. Spoon Man, what say you, your thoughts, your fork score? Well, hmm, I don't think it's the, I don't think it is the best fast food. I don't, I don't think it's the best burger, but I do think it's really good and I think it's underrated. Is it as good as Mushy Peas Depot? I don't know. Okay, first of all, we pronounce it depo, so get out. Is that true? Yeah.

Wow. Yeah, we say everything weird. That's kind of cool. That's worse than spelling check with a QUE. What is going on? Well, how are you supposed to know whether it's a check mark or a check that you're paying with, you know? Fair enough.

I, I think people are too hard on this place. I think that it is, why isn't I just going to say it right off the bat? I think it is a Golden Plate. I think that there's issues going on with it where I think that they need to figure some stuff out. I don't know if they should expand it. This is the issue with all the places we've seen it. We saw it happen to Umami Burger. Or how many Umami Burgers are left?

What's the deal with Umami Burger? Like you just saw this, you know, that company basically get destroyed. Yeah. Will Shake Shack suffer the same fate? I don't think so. I think that there are big enough fans that they like Shake Shack and it seems like the quality is high enough still that, that it shouldn't be an issue. But you're, I get it.

I get that it's getting inconsistent sometimes. And, and I get that they're trying to be a little, they try to go a little too crazy with some of these. They try to be, they try to be like Taco Bell and they, they're no Taco Bell. They're not Taco Bell. That's not the, that's not the business they're in. But I still enjoy the burgers there. I do. And I think the fries are good.

And I think the shakes are, are, are decent as if you don't go too crazy. And I wish that the crazier ones were better, but you know, what can you do? I'm going for forks, nothing higher than for forks, but nothing lower. I think, I think, I think, I think Shake Shack is good. I think it's good. I just, it just has issues. So I, I feel for it. I think it's interesting when people are like, I hate Shake Shack.

That to me is strange. And maybe that does really go into the thing you're saying wise of, of the inconsistencies at these different restaurants. I haven't experienced that as much, but I believe it to be true. Sure. I that that's something that I, and, and yeah, I don't know. I wonder what the future holds for it as it, as it certainly becomes more corporate and, you know, as it merges into a McDonald's, as, as it kind of

certainly has started to do anyways, but for forks. I like it forks. Good, good score. I would think probably some of the backlash Mitch is, you know, imagine you, you live in Tucson and you have some New Yorker friend who's been talking about Shake Shack's the best can't get a better burger than shakes. You've been hearing that for like a decade and then they finally open a Shake Shack in Tucson and you go to see what all the fuss is about and you get a burger fries and a drink and it's

$18 and you're like, okay, that's kind of pricey, but maybe this will be really good. And then you bite into it and you're underwhelmed for whatever reason. Either it's just you had outside expectations or this location just isn't quite up to snuff because they've expanded too rapidly or a combination of the two. And then you're like, fuck this place. Like I think that's where some of that reaction comes from. I'm with you. I don't hate Shake Shack.

I like Shake Shack. I want to like Shake Shack. I've had some good meals at Shake Shack and let me say, I think I would be this, if I'd had a burger there, if I'd had a proper burger there, I think this still would have been a four fork meal, despite all of the other issues, despite the inconsistencies. But I think based on the meal I had and based on their offerings for vegetarians that currently exist, because it's the Schoenberger or a grilled cheese sandwich

off of the kids menu, that's it for your mains from Shake Shack. I think I got to go a little lower. I think the fries are very good. I think the shakes are good. I think they have a good, they have a good expansive drink menu, but I think this is as it currently exists for this price point. Nellie and I get two burgers, two orders of fries, two drinks. That's a normal order for two people, for two adult humans.

Thirty-two dollars. Thirty-two dollars. That's a lot. That's a lot, Mitch. And when you're paying that much, I think you should get a little bit of a better meal than what we had. For that reason, I'm going to give three forks to Shake Shack. That's insane.

This is so biased, this is insane. Are you accusing me of West Coast media bias? You're being a little biased, bitch. I can't. You're calling me a coastal elite? You are being a fucking coastal elite. You're like in the back of the 90s, when people were stoking the flames of West Coast, East Coast versus West Coast, when it came to hip hop and rap,

you're doing the same shit in the burger wars and it's fucking bullshit. First of all, your precious In-N-Out burger. I've heard of East Coast, West Coast beef, but this is ridiculous. Fucking, you're In-N-Out, you're In-N-Out burger. Your precious In-N-Out burger has worse vegetarian options than Shake Shack. Disagree, disagree. How do you disagree? The grilled cheese or In-N-Out burger, I will go get on my own.

I think the grilled cheese is great. This place has a grilled cheese and it has a mushroom burger. No, their grilled cheese is not their burger. Their grilled cheese is a grilled cheese sandwich off the kids menu. It's an inverted burger bun with a slice of cheese in the middle. The In-N-Out grilled cheese is a sandwich, is a composed sandwich. It's a meatless version of their burger. It scratches the exact same itch that you get from having a double double.

Then you're getting into a larger debate. Yes, it has a larger menu. Yes, it has more options. Like, that's a different concept. It's a different approach. It's also more expensive. I actually don't believe you. This is your watergate.

You fucked up. This is bullshit. Are you saying we have to delete this episode, bury it in the archives? I mean, we might have to. I'm sorry, Libby. We have to cover this up? I am very stressed right now. This is extremely stressful.

I'm going to go hide in the car or something. This is just bullshit. I will say, before any members of Spoon Nation mail me a box of bees, I will say that I think if the fries had been better, I would have gone higher. But to me, if you're a burger joint, you have to have good burger, good fries, and good soda. And I didn't get a soda this time, whatever. I'm sure that Coke is fine or whatever.

But to me, the American meal, the quintessential American meal that I crave when I want a burger, is burger fries and a Coke. And if one of those things is not great, it's going to be disappointing. And the fries were really disappointing. I didn't even want to eat them. And I love French fries. I'll eat some bad French fries.

And these were, they just weren't good. And they're never that good. And when we went back to In-N-Out in California, not to keep bringing this up, I know it's unfair, when we went back to In-N-Out in California, I was expecting, I told Emma and Lewis. My door just rang. I'm sorry, I'll be right back. Here we go.

It's the ghost of Nixon come to yell at him. That impression was so bad. Someone's delivering an envelope full of bees. Oh no. I mean, I have sent one, but I didn't want it to arrive in the episode. Oh boy, yeah. I was hoping it would arrive after the episode. Inopportune timing.

Finish your point, Libby. Yeah, sorry. I forgot what I was going to say, because all I can think about is bees. Fries. Good fries, good soda. The quintessential American meal. I had warned my dining companions that the In-N-Out fries are not that good. I don't know if, I think Justin, Emma's husband had never been,

and I don't remember where the Emma had been, and Lewis had only been once like 10 years ago or whatever. So I warned them, like the fries are done now, they're kind of famously shitty. When we went before, I kind of didn't like it. I thought the fries were actually pretty good at In-N-Out. They were solid. They were like, especially, I think if you get them well done, they're slightly better, but even if you don't get them well done, they're still really good,

and they enhance the meal. Whereas at Shake Shack, they didn't enhance the meal. They were kind of limp. They were under-salted, under, you know, they were bland. They just didn't, they didn't taste as much. And I would have rather had the like frozen sweet potato waffle fries that I have in my freezer than the Shake Shack fries. That's an indictment.

I have generally, I've never really not had success with their, the Shake Shack fries. I feel like those, the crinkle cut fries, they tend to do well, but if you had a bad experience, yeah, I mean, the bitch maybe just speaks to, you know, they, they, they gotta up their, up their consistency factor. Mitch, who was at the door? It was Rorschach, and he's coming for you. I'll deal with this. We'll be back with more dough, boys.

Fresh pastas and artisanal pastries delivered right to your door. That's right, Wags. Wild grain is the first ever bake from frozen subscription box for sourdough breads, fresh pastas, and artisanal pastries. Unlike typical supermarket bread, wild grain uses a slow fermentation process that's easier on your belly, lower in sugar and rich in nutrients and antioxidants. Every item bakes from frozen in 25 minutes or less. You'll never run the risk of getting bored with wild grain.

They're constantly adding new seasonal and limited time special items to try. Plus, for every new member, wild grain donate six meals to the greater Boston Food Bank Wags, Boston Baby, so you can eat good and do good all at the same time. All you have to do is sign up at wildgrain.com slash dough boys and choose which type of box you want to receive and how often it's easier to reschedule, skip or cancel. Plus, for a limited time, you can get $30 off the first box, plus free croissants in every box. When you go to wildgrain.com slash dough boys to start your subscription. You heard me.

Free croissants in every box and $30 off your first box when you go to wildgrain.com slash dough boys. That's wildgrain.com slash dough boys, or you can use promo code dough boys at checkout. Do it. Welcome back. We are here with our guest Libby Watson. Mitch, over the break, Rorschach hopped on the Zoom, hopped in our video chat here, and we had a little convo, and I guess just kind of the... He threatened to expose the lies and corruption that were at the heart of my administration,

so I have a statement I'd like to read. Let's hear it. Therefore, I shall resign as host of dough boys effective at noon tomorrow. Joe Saunders will be sworn in as dough boys host at that hour in this very office. So... That's a one-term or if I've ever heard one. I know. Oh my god.

Well, yeah, so big news there, but as of now, I'm going to continue in this role and finish out this episode with our segment. Now Libby, you previously guessed it on dough boys double. You gave us a British food test in a segment called Blimey. It's a quiz, isn't it? Yes, I did do that. It was a lot of fun. That's right.

Well, the tables have been turned. God, what a shitty... Do we make you do that? Sorry. No, it's even sadder. I fucking pitched it. I was like, this is a great idea. And that way I can be on dough boys and I break the quiz.

I put a lot of effort into it, like an absolute loser. It's truly awful. Well, we do that every week. It's time for an examination covering food American style in today's segment, Pod Quiz America. Oh my god. That's right. You'll be competing in Pod Quiz America.

Wow. So after each question, I'll be keeping score. Buzz in with your name and the winner will be crowned Captain America. Oh my god. And the loser will become a DeVos. You'll have to marry into the DeVos family. Oh my god. Yeah.

So the stakes are high. Let's get into it. So these are American food based questions. Some are Gimmies. Some are a little trickier and we'll see how you each do. All right. It's first to buzz in, gets the first crack at each query. First up, what is the primary difference between Manhattan clam chowder

and New England clam chowder? Oh, Mitch. Mitch. I can't believe that I just even didn't immediately get that. One is a red broth, a reddish tomato-y broth and one is a white broth. Yes, I'll give it to you. It's a tomato base versus a potato base, respectively. Well, come on.

Not only did I not get that point, but now I'm going to be kicked out of my husband's family because he's from Boston. So I'm never going to be allowed back to Thanksgiving again because I've never even had any clam chowder, let alone New England clam chowder. Never had clam chowder. Wow. I don't really like seafood. It's something that's a personality flaw of mine, but I just don't really like it.

And the idea of clam chowder is actually pretty repulsive to me. Wow. All right. Well, Mitch has a leg up from the get-go, 1-0. Next up, which breakfast food also formerly known as toaster crumpets was invented by an Englishman in New York City? Mitch. Go ahead, Mitch.

I want to say pop tarts, pop tarts. It's not pop tarts. Libby. You want to take a... Yeah. Yes. Toaster strudel. Strudels.

Not toaster strudel. Wow. Come on. The American invention by the Englishman, English muffins. English muffins invented in New York City. Originally called toaster crumpets. All right. Still 1-0, Mitch.

Oh, that makes so much sense. God damn it. They look so similar. What an idiot. All right. 1-0, Mitch. Next question. Two different Los Angeles sandwich shops.

Each claim to have invented which wet sandwich in 1918? Libby. French dip. You are correct. From English muffins to French dip, you are on the board. Wait, what was... Can you start that question? I just want to hear this question.

Two different Los Angeles sandwich shops. Each claim to have invented what wet sandwich in 1918? I wasn't... I didn't hear the first part that it was Los Angeles. I would have... Is there a bonus... Libby, you know which... You know what they are too, but...

What do you mean what they are? You mean what a French dip is? You know the two places, right? The names of the two competing shops. Oh, no, I absolutely do not. No. Oh, what? Old Phil's French dip shop and Old Jerry's French dip shop.

I should get a point for this. It's a Philippe's. I was going to answer in Kohl's. You can't... You got to let me answer to show my knowledge when I get it wrong. That's... There isn't a bonus question. You stole it.

Yeah, this is your quiz. You can't add a bonus question to try to sneak an extra point out there. Mitch is going January 6th on us. All right, it's one apiece. Next question. Which famously processed snack cream cake takes its name from the archaic phrase twinkle-toe shoes? Libby.

Libby. Twinkies? You are correct. Twinkies. The etymology derives from twinkle-toe shoes. All right, next question. Two-one Libby. Everything but the oink is commonly used to describe which breakfast meat popular in

Pennsylvania and Delaware. Mitch. I heard Libby first. You... How? I mean, I... Emma is nodding. I heard me before you, Mitch.

But, you know, I mean, if you want to take this to the Supreme Court, then go ahead. Libby, guess... Your guess was Scrapple. Yes. You are correct. I don't think I asked you guys anything hard. This is so hard. I thought that I got...

Is it really? No. I think I got two. I thought I got two right. I got clam chowder. What was the second question? You're the question you invented that gave you a bonus point. The first question was...

Okay, it was the French dip. Manhattan club chowder, New England club chowder. Second one was toaster crumpets. Neither of you got that. Third one was French dip. Libby got that. Fourth one was Twinkie. Fifth one was Scrapple.

And now we're at six. The sixth question. Three-one Libby. Still alive, Mitch. The Cold War is over as evidenced by the biggest selling liquor in America, this Russian brand. Libby. Mitch.

I heard Libby first. Emma? Emma is nodding. Smirnoff? You are correct. It is Smirnoff. That sucks, bullshit. I definitely came in before Libby on that one.

Two in a row, where obviously you just have an audio connection. He obviously has lag. I said it first. If he has lag, wouldn't we both come in late? Yeah, why would it just affect you? Maybe you have lag. I said Mitch and then I heard Libby say Libby after I had finished saying Mitch. Yeah, that would still indicate that you might have lag.

You've got to get better internet, bro. If you want to win... What was the name of this quiz again? PodQuiz America. If you want to win PodQuiz America. I mean, it will be revealed in the episode when people hear me first when it's synced up. Oh, that's true. This is going to be embarrassing for me.

Wire's going to make it so that my whole episode is fucking synced. Emma, don't pull any fucking bullshit. I would never. No, Emma's a trustworthy source. Emma, if you could pull just a little bit of bullshit, that would be really nice for me, thank you. Mitch, there are enough questions where you can still win this thing. Jesus.

You're a little quicker on the buzzer. I wish I wasn't alive. I mean that in both ways. I, Mitch, I actually, I, knowing you, I think you might get this next one. Takeru Kobayashi is the most famous competitive eater of all time, but his hot dog eating record has been shattered by which American? Mitch. I got that way before.

I heard Libby just a touch ahead. This is... I defer to Emma. I don't know, that felt like a tie to me. Give it to Mitch. What the fuck? All right, Mitch, go ahead. I'll be generous.

Joey Chestnut. Mitch, you are correct. It is Joey Chestnut, legendary competitive eater, though less beloved than Kobayashi. Personality goes a lot way. All right, number eight. Deep fried bull testicles are referred to by... Mitch.

What? ...what euphemistic? Mitch. I got it first. I had Mitch first, yeah. Rocky Mountain Oysters. You are correct. The comeback is in process.

Four points for Libby, three for Mitch. Trust the process. Two questions left. That will decide it. Next question. Buffalo wings are the signature dish of Buffalo, New York, but which trashy dish of French fries, Mitch and sauces?

I heard Mitch first. Garbage plate, Rochester, New York. You are correct. Garbage plate is the answer. All right, final question. Because I knew that, and I feel so proud of knowing that, even though there's no reason to be proud of knowing what garbage plate is.

Should feel a sense of shame if anything. All right, final question for this food quiz for PodQuizAmerica. According to the CDC, what is the U.S. obesity rate as of 2019? Jesus, Mitch. Libby, I heard Mitch first, yeah. The obesity rate is 70 percent. Okay, Mitch is on the board with 70 percent. Libby, we'll consider this a tiebreaker if you can come closer.

Wait, what the fuck? Well, because you were completely wrong. How close do I have to be? I don't know. It's closer than Mitch. Closer than Mitch, right, right. I'm going to say 35 percent. Libby, there she comes, Captain America.

You have won PodQuizAmerica. The U.S. obesity rate as of 2019 is 42.4 percent. So your price is right at it. You just snuck in underneath there. There we go. A spirited contest, Mitch. I'm happy to marry into the DeVos family. Cole and Orlando magic.

A lot of benefits. Yeah, nothing to worry about. No shame. When climate change goes down, you can escape to whatever geodesic dome they build in the Yukon or New Zealand that we sit in pretty. Look, the fix was in from the start just like your score was fixed for the fucking restaurant. I think with better internet, you might have gotten in there, Mitch. I think you were just a little laggy because clearly a lot of those you knew.

It was just whoever buzzed in first. I think we both did really well. You both did really well. Libby, you did great. That was great. You got a good win there. Thank you. Hey, that was PodQuizAmerica.

Just like a restaurant, we value your feedback. Let's open up the feedback. Today's email is from Ben, aka Debizbaum. Ben writes, at Debizbaum, Ben writes, Hey all, when you go to a new restaurant and have something amazing, something that you're thinking about a week later, what do you do when you go back? Do you order the same thing or do you run through the menu to find out what else is amazing? Personally, I want to try it all and my wife sticks to her first favorite dish

and chases the dragon. Then she wants to eat whatever I order. So first, you go to a new restaurant, you have something you like, do you go back to that restaurant and get the same thing? I would say, I mean, I've definitely done that. I have definitely like gone back and ordered exactly the same thing. I think I've probably done that more than I haven't. But I will say, I mean, also, like if I'm going back somewhere with my husband,

a lot of the time we do split-seize anyway, we'll both get, you know, some things that, if there's like multiple things on the menu that we want, then we'll just share. And so I think a lot of the time we would do that, where one of us would get the thing that we loved and then the other one gets something new and then we can both have a little bit of it. It's just one of the many things that's lovely about being married. Oh yeah. Well, Mitch, what's your, yeah, what's your routine?

Because like, I know you try a lot of new spots and oftentimes you'll, but you're also a man of routine. I know this about you. Yeah, I'm not bringing a, I'm not bringing Wally and Irma to the restaurant. We can't split anything. Oh, I wish you could. So yeah, me too. It would be fantastic.

How do you think they would review Shake Shack? Um, you know what? There's no real like fishy options. I feel like they wouldn't, they maybe wouldn't like it. They don't like human food. It's a thing with Wally and Irma that, yeah, I know it bumps me out. I wish that they did. Um, so do I get like the same thing when I go back?

If, I think it's, for me, if I'm going with friends, it's a, and I don't usually go to like a fancy restaurant by myself and I know that something's good. I'll try to be like, Oh, we should get this thing that I know is good and split it. So like a, like a, yes, I will revisit it, but then also at the same time, try to get something new. So I'll, I'll, I'll try to dance in both worlds. Wags put my foot in over there, try the old dish that I love and also try something new. I mean, I do that almost with every restaurant I go to with Shake Shack. I got the old standby and I got the thing that I, the old standby, the thing that I,

sorry, the thing that I knew was good. And then I also got that Shack Stack, which is the thing that people had talked about before and I never tried. So it's a, it's that, that's the thing that's, I think oftentimes our approach, Mitch, yours and mine is that you can just order two meals. Now look, is that wasteful? Is it expensive? Yes. But you know, if you're a glutton, that's, that's one thing you can do. It's one thing I have done. I, I so get in, I called you a man of routine, but I'm someone who so gets in food ruts where like, I would just like, I would just get like the same Jersey Mike sandwich, like twice a week and do that for like four months straight before I got tired of it.

And I've definitely done that with a new restaurant. Like I've tried this place and like this is years ago, but there was a, there was like an Italian deli that was adjacent to this. I think they're both closed now, but there was this Italian deli La Bottega that was adjacent to this fancy sit down Italian restaurant, Il Grano, that was, that was, you know, way above my pay grade at the time, way above what I could afford. But the, but La Bottega was more affordable and they had like this great seasonal sandwich that was like a BLT made with pancetta and, and you know, like, like heirloom tomatoes and, you know, like, like some whatever some fucking fancy ass lettuce, the lettuce equivalent of an heirloom tomato. And then

they had burrata on there too. And it was so fucking good. It was just like such a sumptuous fucking sandwich that I, yeah. And I just went and like, I just remember just getting that for like, I like, I went there for the first time I had that I was like, this is so fucking good. This is all I want. And I went and I got that so many times until it was no longer on the menu and that eventually that place shuttered. So I think of the two schools, I'm more likely to be in sync with, be in sync with your wife, who you described as chasing the dragon, Ben. But I like, I, but I don't know. But also, I do have the thing of like, if I go to a restaurant as a really good reputation. And I've been and I was just like, Oh, wow, this is I got a great app.

I got a great cocktail. I got a great main. I do want to try more of the menu to see what else is there to see what other earthly delights await me as products of this kitchen. Emma our producer, Emma Erdbrink. We've mentioned our friend Emma Roller a few times in the course of this episode. Too many damn Emmas. Get rid of some of them, you know. Emma, do you, what's your routine? You go to a restaurant, you order something, it's great. Do you go back, you order the same thing, or do you mix it up? I'm a big fan of like, of the split seas. I do that. I ask that a lot. I like to try different things. I don't know. Cause like, what if the thing you tried first was like delicious, but

then the thing you try when you go back the second time is even better. You might have something you like more and you're just missing out. But like with certain things, like sandwiches and sub shops, I tend to get the same thing. Yeah. Yeah. With a fast casual place. Yeah. Like someone like a Chipotle or Carver is one in DC. We go to a lot, which you reviewed when you were here. You know, I tend to have like a standard order that I don't really deviate from too much. I might change out the protein or something like that, but I tend to have a standard order. And that's kind of because with those places, there tends to only be like a couple things that I really want. You know, I'm not that interested in trying, you know, like a quesadilla

or whatever from Chipotle. Whereas if it's like a fancy restaurant, I mean, I'm thinking of a place like there's a place in DC is a really expensive restaurant that we've been to a couple times for like, you know, big special occasions called kinship. And it's, it's incredible. And they have this thing, the menu changes a lot, but they always have this roast chicken. And you like order it and it takes them like 45 minutes. They roast it fresh. When you, when you order it, they bring, they bring the whole chicken to the table to show it to you. They're like, yep, here it is. And then they take it back, carve it and then bring it back to you carved. And it's, you know, it's, it's ridiculous, but it is so good. And we, we had that the first

time we went there. And then every time we've been back, which is only a couple of times, but whenever we've been back, it's been like, well, we got to get that chicken because it's just out of this world. You know, it's really good. And it feels silly because it's like, you know, how many times can you really have a roast chicken? You know, but it is just that, it is just that special that it's, it's, it's sort of hard, you know, it feels like dangerous to go off, off that, you know, knowing you've had such a transcendent experience, then being like, well, I don't know, what if the meatballs or whatever, this place is not serving meatballs. I don't know why it came up with meatballs, but you know, what, what if something else is good? I'm, I'm,

I'm pretty risk averse. I would say, especially for an expensive place, like, Oh, for sure. You know, if you, if you know something is good, you know, if it's quite expensive, then you want to make sure it's really good. So that tends to make me a little more risk averse. Yeah, that, that makes a lot of sense. Although Libby, I do have some unfortunate news to tell you. Oh no. That chicken they brought you. No. It was Doris. No Doris. I'm so sorry. I tried to save you. Wow. How about that callback? That's what you pay the big bucks for. $395 worth every penny. It's that sort of thing of, I mean, look, it just,

it's like, you got to break these down by the restaurants. Cause if you're going to subway, you're getting the same, I'm getting the same fucking thing every time or something like that. But then also if I'm like Wendy's, I'll get, I'll get my Wendy's order. But then it's the thing with Taco Bell, they'll get a new thing. So I'll add that onto my order or whatever. That's the deal. Yeah. That's where I thought you were headed, Mitch. And I totally agree with that with like, if they have, if there's like a new thing at a fast food place, I'm fucking trying that. Like, but I think that maybe also speaks to just, to Libby, your point about the, about how much money you're spending. But yeah, if there's like a new Taco Bell or

new Del Taco thing, oh yeah, that thing's going in my mouth. I'm fucking, of course, adding that on to whatever my regular order is. But let us know what you think. Let us know if you like to mix it up or if you like to stay with your old routine. Hashtag mix it up or hashtag stay with your old routine. And if you have a question or comment about the world of Shane restaurants, you can email us at doughboyspodcast at gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at 830 Godot. That's 830-4636-844. And to get the Dough Boys double, our weekly bonus episode, join the Golden or Platinum Play Club at patreon.com slash Dough Boys Libby Watson. Thank you so, so much for doing the show.

A delight to have you. We wanted to have you on because you are our friend. But also, you have a, you have a lovely sub stack that you put together. And I think a pretty essential sub stack that I'm a subscriber of and that people should definitely check out SickNote, which is about America's thoroughly broken healthcare system. And you do a lot of reporting and writing about that. You can subscribe at SickNote.co. Tell us about the sub stack and tell us about anything you're working on and anything else you'd like to plug. Yeah, it's really just SickNote. That's the only thing I do. And yeah, it's like you said, it's a newsletter about America's broken healthcare system. Each week I interview someone who has

been harmed by the healthcare system in some way or, you know, it's a pretty broad mandate. I keep it, you know, kind of broad. So I've interviewed, you know, people who have had high medical bills, people who have chronic illnesses that make it hard for them to keep jobs or who have had to keep jobs because of keeping insurance, things like that, you know, nurses and doctors who are sick and tired of all the bullshit that they have to put up with just to treat patients and stuff like that. And there's some new features coming in the next couple of weeks. So if you sign up now, you can sign up for free and see if you like it. And if you like it a lot, you can subscribe. And yeah, I wouldn't say it's the lightest read. It can be a little

grim reading about our healthcare system. But people have also said that it's cathartic to see, you know, someone saying things that they've gone through, you know, every time I write about a particular illness or whatever, if I write about diabetes or if I write about my own migraines and stuff, people write in and say that it feels good to see someone saying it. So, you know, I hope that people do get something out of it in that way. Yeah. And I won't dox this person, but there was a, you know, the Drop King sent this over to us that there was someone in the Doe Boys Reddit, the Doe Boys subreddit who started, who like has been following you and has been following your work and reading your work and was able to

figure out like a, you know, like figure out some substantial savings they could have in their healthcare plan via some substantial financial benefit to themselves via their healthcare plan, via what you were doing and what you were putting out there. So, you're doing great work and benefiting people. And I hope people check that out. And thank you for all you do. And thank you for being here. Oh, not at all. Any time. It's truly my favorite podcast. So, it's a huge honor to be out from behind the paywall. Wow. There you go. And hey, that'll do it for this week's episode of Doe Boys. Until next time, for The Spoon Man, Mike Mitchell, I'm Nick Weiger. Happy eating. See ya. On the next Doe Boys Double, we return to Palmerston Studios for our first

in-person record since March 2020. Can Mr. Slice live up to his name as I sample his homemade bar pizza for the first time ever? Get the Doe Boys Double every Tuesday, only at patreon.com slash Doe Boys. Want to see the sources for this week's intro? Check the episode description.