My first thought was "who thought mushed-up chocolate cake in a shake was a good idea?)

Then I remembered this, which was a really good idea, but not anywhere near close enough to include in your crawl.

Side note: Elakin of Edzo's was working on a chocolate-and-chili shake; I don't know if it's made it to the menu yet.

Mhays wrote:Side note: Elakin of Edzo's was working on a chocolate-and-chili shake; I don't know if it's made it to the menu yet.

Texas-style or not?

You'd have to ask him, but I don't know what that is, myself - can you offer more info?

Mhays wrote:You'd have to ask him, but I don't know what that is, myself - can you offer more info?

I think cilantro is making a quip - if you mean that the shake is chocolate and [the hot pepper], it would be chocolate and chile, but you said the shake was chocolate and chili, so he was wondered if it [the chili] was Texas-style. I could be wrong, but that's how I understand the comment...

Silly me, taking cilantro at face value...

jesteinf wrote:
Good times, but not something I'll do again for a long long time (the crawl has been over for about 7 hours and I still feel pretty crummy from consuming that much milk).

There were quite a few places mentioned in this thread that you didn't hit. My vote is for a Summer Solstice Shake Crawl & let's get all of the offerings, Scooter's, Brown Sack, etc. into the rotation. Plus you should be completely recovered from yesterday's Shake Crawl by then.

Pauline's at Balmoral and Ravenswood makes killer shakes in a homey and nostalgic atmosphere that is sort of a cross between (a somewhat quirky interpretation of) a 1950s corner soda fountain and a thrift store. The shakes are not that wild in the flavor department. Only vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and fudge are available. They are simple but good, made with three scoops of Ashby's butterfat rich ice cream and whole milk, topped with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and a cherry. I am not a great fan of shakes, but I have one almost every time I visit Pauline's (even at breakfast). At $3.55 for a 3 scoop shake, they are a relatively good deal also.

Pauline's
1754 W. Balmoral
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 561-8573
http://www.paulinesbreakfast.com/

d4v3 wrote:At $3.55 for a 3 scoop shake, they are a relatively good deal also.

We found little to no price differentiation on yesterday's crawl. Granted we're talking about a sample size of 4, but I think all shakes were in the $3-$4 range. My oatmeal/banana shake at Irazu was (I think) $3.95, well worth it considering how good the shake was (the single flavor shakes were $3).

jesteinf wrote:So the shake crawl went down today. We hit 4 places (tried for 5 but The Brown Sack was closed due to illness).

Funny, a friend of mine and I drove out to Brown Sack yesterday for lunch only to find the sign posted on the door that they were closed. Ended up at Al's on Taylor . . . not so bad.

jesteinf wrote:

d4v3 wrote:At $3.55 for a 3 scoop shake, they are a relatively good deal also.

We found little to no price differentiation on yesterday's crawl. Granted we're talking about a sample size of 4, but I think all shakes were in the $3-$4 range. My oatmeal/banana shake at Irazu was (I think) $3.95, well worth it considering how good the shake was (the single flavor shakes were $3).

Interesting. By "relatively good deal", I meant milkshakes vs. scoops of ice cream. With scoops of ice cream going for $2.25+, a 3 scoop milkshake for $3.55 seems like a bargain, although it seems rather high compared to historical milkshake prices. For ice cream value, shakes seem to be the way to go.

aschie30 wrote:if you mean that the shake is chocolate and [the hot pepper], it would be chocolate and chile

In American English, the hot pepper is most correctly spelled "chili," the same as the stew. "Chile" is a country in South America.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chili

If one is writing in Spanish, both capsicum and stew are spelled with a final e: chile y chile con carne

Some U.S. food writers advocate the Spanish spelling, but they are on a par with those who insist on "theatre," "centre" and "shoppe."

LAZ wrote:

aschie30 wrote:if you mean that the shake is chocolate and [the hot pepper], it would be chocolate and chile

In American English, the hot pepper is most correctly spelled "chili," the same as the stew. "Chile" is a country in South America.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chili

If one is writing in Spanish, both capsicum and stew are spelled with a final e: chile y chile con carne

Some U.S. food writers advocate the Spanish spelling, but they are on a par with those who insist on "theatre," "centre" and "shoppe."

Yes, I know - I was just trying to help interpret the joke as I understood it.

I've had the Boston Shake at Scooter's and it's deadly goodness. It's a milkshake with a scoop of the best custard in the city on top. They give you a giant straw (one of those bubble tea straws) for it. I don't think... no... I KNOW I couldn't do a shake crawl after one of those. Maybe not a shake crawl, but I'd be crawling out of there.

I am curious about trying some of these other places for their shakes. I've never been to most of them.

By the way, I've had some great shakes at In N Out Burger out west a few times, and they only cost $1.99 each.

Mhays wrote:Side note: Elakin of Edzo's was working on a chocolate-and-chili shake; I don't know if it's made it to the menu yet.

Not on the menu yet, but I was at Edzo's today and asked about the chocolate-chile shake. Eddie just picked up a large container of ancho chile powder from the Spice House and was happy to oblige.

He's not had a chance to play with proportions so we tried 2 heaping teaspoons of the ancho (I think). It leant a very nice complex sweetness to the chocolate (actually the chocolate was almost obscured by the chile). As we told Eddie, I'd like to see more ancho and a kick of cayenne. I like the possibility of more of a dark chocolate dimension to the shake, too, but that could be a separate drink.

I also had a banana and (separately) Nutella shake. I liked both very much, though of those two I preferred the Nutella because it was thicker, the way I like my shakes.