Shake It Up

After my Chicken Tender Bender last semester, I decided I wanted to continue with a little food series, this time with milkshakes. I went to Nutrition 402, Zesto, Ted and Wally’s, Louie M’s Burger Lust, and The Hunger Block to see who truly has the superior shakes.  

Zesto is close to my heart and I love their ice cream. They have a huge flavor variety when it comes to shakes, so I chose two options: peanut butter banana and strawberry. They were both phenomenal and the strawberry shake had actual strawberry chunks in it. Two medium shakes were around ten dollars, which I think is a pretty good price point. My only complaint is that the shake was too thick. I love a thick shake, but it would barely come up through the straw. 

I didn’t even know Ted and Wally’s made shakes until we went; I always thought it was just ice cream in a cup or cone. They can make any of their ice cream flavors into a shake and they have a unique variety that you can’t find anywhere else. The shake we had that day was white chocolate raspberry and it was delicious. It was a little expensive but a small size is bigger than one would expect. The shake was very dense but it wasn’t too thick to drink through the straw.  

I don’t know what I was expecting from Nutrition 402. I knew they specialized in protein shakes, rather than unhealthy, sweet shakes other places make, but I thought they’d be better than they were. For a protein shake shop, they have a lot of flavor variety. I’m talking everything from brownie batter to fruity pebbles to piña colada. We got the cookie dough and fruity pebbles shakes, and we were not impressed. The fruity pebbles shake was downright atrocious, and the cookie dough wasn’t that bad, but it could have been better. As far as protein shakes go, I guess they were okay, but they’re not the best protein shake I’ve had. They were also really expensive; it was nearly 20 dollars for two 16 ounce cups.  

Louie M’s Burger Lust specialized in alcoholic shakes, and, obviously, I can’t buy or try alcoholic shakes, so I settled with their other options. They just have the basic chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and root beer floats. The chocolate shake was good, but there wasn’t anything special or unique about it. It tasted like Hershey’s chocolate syrup, but it wasn’t too overbearing. It was also a little too liquidy for my taste; I wish it would’ve been thicker.  

The Hunger Block was an experience. They only have two flavors, chocolate and vanilla, but the shakes come with a lot of extra toppings. This particular shake was in a mason jar, and the rim of the jar was coated in Nutella and covered in sprinkles. There was a piece of cake placed on top of the shake, vanilla ice cream on top of the cake and two ice cream sandwiches propped against the straws with Nutella so they wouldn’t fall. The straws themselves were coated in Nutella and cookie crumbs, and there was a lot of cool whip on top. It was beautiful. The shake itself was a very nice consistency; it wasn’t too thick, but it wasn’t that liquidy either. With how much Nutella was on the outside of the shake, I was worried that it would be overbearingly chocolatey, but it wasn’t. It was a nice balance. The only downside is that the shakes are 14 dollars apiece, but you do get a lot of bang for your buck.  

For the most part, the shakes were all very good. However, Louie M’s and Zesto has shakes you could find anywhere else or make at home. Nutrition 402 just wasn’t that great of an experience. I want to go back someday and try something new, but I just don’t like that it’s almost 10 dollars for that small of a drink. I think it’s a tie between Ted and Wally’s and The Hunger Block. I didn’t really have any complaints about either place, and I like that Ted and Walley’s has such a large flavor variety, as opposed to two options at Hunger Block. The Hunger Block was really good, but two people couldn’t even finish it. It was kind of wasteful, and you have to take the time to go in and sit down, you can’t take it to go like you can with any other place.