Shake Shack: Delicious / Jeff Schlesinger

What do Dubai, New York City, Saratoga Springs, Washington DC, and Miami all have in common with Westport? They are all home to Shake Shack, Danny Meyer's vision of the perfect family restaurant to enjoy great hamburgers, hot dogs, fries and shakes. Shake Shack arrived this week in Westport, and I was one of hundreds of people who snaked through the 30-minute line (nothing compared to the hour-plus line at the New York locations) to savor the newest addition to the Fairfield County culinary landscape.

Danny Meyer transformed many of his St. Louis childhood memories, plus several of his later Chicago experiences to create the Shake Shack menu, and each of these creations is delicious. The frozen custard, dubbed "Concrete" at Shake Shack, is reminiscent of Ted Drew's famous frozen custard in St. Louis, and the Shacks' hot dog is a tribute to Meyer's later culinary experience in Chicago. They both evoke memories of a simpler time when family and friends shared a Saturday evening at the local hamburger drive-in, where you stayed and enjoyed a family-oriented meal, versus the current drive-through philosophy where the food is secondary and all is eaten on the go.

Shake Shack's menu contains both traditional and non-traditional offerings in each of the three menu sections; hamburgers, hot dogs and shakes. The hamburger section includes the traditional beef version, the ShackBurger, or customers have the option of ordering the vegetarian Shack `Shroom Burger, a crisp fried portobello mushroom.

The hot dogs that are offered include the Shack-gago Dog, which is a Chicago, Vienna all-beef variety, or the Bird Dog, a Usinger's chicken-sage variety. Shakes are offered in the traditional vanilla, chocolate or strawberry flavors or one of Shake Shack's super-thick Concretes, plus Root Beer and Purple Cow Floats are available. On opening day I waited in line with dozens of other eager customers in the 90-degree heat as employees smiled and brought free samples of chocolate ice cream for all to enjoy. I am a traditionalist when it comes to my hamburgers and hot dogs, and I knew that my first Shake Shack experience should include a ShackBurger, a Shack-gago Dog, fries and three flavors of the famous Shake Shack Concretes.

The ShackBurger includes Shake Shack's signature hamburger topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and ShackSauce, half wrapped and half exposed to tease the customer. After one bite it was clear why so many love this delightful creation. The meat was deliciously seasoned, the tomatoes were ripe and flavorful, the lettuce was crispy and the cheese was nicely melted. The ShackSauce was the epitome of a tomato-mayo delight and was a great complement to the meat and cheese. Overall it was an outstanding hamburger.

Overlooked by many is the Shack-gago Dog, a Midwestern transplanted Vienna hot dog topped with Rick's Picks Shake Shack relish, onions, cucumber, pickle, tomato, sport pepper, celery salt and mustard. The only difference between this hot dog and my favorites from the Windy City is the bun.