I ate at Shake Shack. I'll stick to In-N-Out.

There is no shortage of good burger joints in Downey.

We have a wide selection of fast-food options, like McDonalds, Carls, Burger King, and Jack-in-the-Box. On the upper-end of that spectrum, you have The Habit, Five Guys, Nexx Burger, and In-n-Out. If you want something a little more, go to a Mr. Pete’s Burger, or a Tom’s Jr.

And that’s just scratching the surface.

That said, I was excited when Shake Shack was announced early last year.

My only prior Shake Shack experience was at Dodger Stadium, which opened a location in the outfield pavilion. Prices there are expensive, but the food was good enough to warrant getting it at the game from time to time.

Still, I was anxious to try “the real thing.” And with Shake Shack opening last week, I finally got my chance.

I pulled up and parked right around 11:48 am on Monday. When I walked through the door, I was met with a couple of tablet-sized self-order terminals where I could purchase my food. Everything was split up into categories: burgers, fries, drinks, shakes, etc.

I ordered a bacon avocado burger (single), cheese fries, and a large Coke Zero. My total (including a small tip) was $26.84.

I get that everything is more expensive nowadays, but ouch.

I put in my name and phone number and took a number, making my way to a table.

It wasn’t empty, but I had obviously gotten there before any kind of lunch rush had arrived. The atmosphere was simple and comfortable enough, though I admittedly didn’t have another Shake Shack to fairly compare it to.

Anyways, I sat down about 11:52 am, give or take a minute. My food arrived roughly eight minutes later (right about noon), delivered to me by a friendly worker who smiled pleasantly and asked if there was anything else I needed before departing.

My food wasn’t bad, but it was admittedly nothing spectacular either. The avocado overpowered my burger (and considering how much I love avocado, that’s saying something) and the bacon was tough, and my cheese fries could have stood for a little more cheese sauce.

After I wrapped up eating, I looked around for a place to toss my trash and buss my tray. It took me a minute to spot the trashcan; long enough to start wondering if I just needed to leave my tray on the table. Ultimately, I walked over to it in the corner and disposed of my trash.

Before heading back to the office, I jumped back onto one of the self-order tablets to order some fries and a cookies and cream shake for my co-worker. I decided to buy a black and white shake for myself; just to say I got the full experience.

Two shakes and an order of fries (plus a small tip again) cost me $21. 56, just a few dollars shy of my initial meal. Most eye-raising to me, however, was the 49-cent surcharge for whipped cream.

The shakes and fries were ordered at around 12:11 pm. By then, the lunch rush had started to trickle in and there was a steady line. It took 13 minutes before my second order came out. I didn’t realize until I got back to the office that my shake was wrong, and they had instead given me two cookies and cream instead of my one black and white.

So, to recap, I ordered one bacon avocado single burger, two orders of fries (one cheese, one regular) , one large soda, and two shakes (one with whipped cream, one without). It cost me $48.38 (plus tip), and an average of 10-11 minutes to receive. There was one mistake on the order that was not noticed until I had already left the premises.

Ultimately, my first Downey Shake Shack experience didn’t exactly meet the hype and expectations I had placed on it. The food was passable, but expensive and a tad underwhelming, and it was delivered to me slower than I would have hoped.

Do I still think it will do well? Yes, absolutely. Downey has shown a penchant for supporting fast food chains, and this particular restaurant has a nice location downtown.

I don’t know that the prices will ever change, but I’m willing to chalk up the slower service and the missed order as growing pains from a store that just opened up a few days ago. Hopefully, with time, the food might get better too.

Until then, I might just brave the line at In-n-Out a little while longer.