Panclog #43: The Shack
“And that’s how I beat The Shack” – Aaron Carter
Happy 2019 breakfast buddies, panclog pals, british biscuits. Panclog is back to review Kansas City’s finest breakfast spots. Today we will be discussing the hottest new bruncherie in town, The Shack.
The Shack began as a St. Louis based company. They had 5 St. Louis metro locations before taking the jump into Kansas in 2018. The Shack’s 2 Overland Park locations are at 135th and 69 highway and College Blvd and Metcalf Ave. The Shack is open from 6:30 – 2 PM everyday. Your trustworthy pancloggers have visited both, but will be reviewing the College and Metcalf locale.
Location/Environment: The College and Metcalf location is a prime location for Brentles. His office is right across the street. But it’s not only prime for the panclog crew. It is located at a busy intersection that will keep new customers aplenty.
The environment is welcoming. The walls are a dark shiplap design. These walls are adorned with customer’s kind messages and signatures all done in sharpie. It creates an ease that customers are welcome here.
Service: The service at The Shack was good. Quick prompt seating. Coffee stayed full. They truly push the giving back to the community aspect of the business. I think this is not only smart ethically, but financially. Customers like to do good things without doing much. If they are able to order a delicious meal with some portion of the bill going to a charity, then it is a delicious win-win. Here is The Shack’s community donations. More on the fancy charity menu items in the next section.
Menu/Selection: The Shack is a fairly typical upscale bruncherie but with an expansive breakfast entree menu. It is rare to see many plates that are unique for a brunch spot. They also have a lovely lunch menu, though we haven’t tried it, whenever I see a boozy shake on a menu I get a nice mischievous grin on my face. Check these menus out: Breakfast & Lunch.
Why the French hate us (Brently)
A dark secret lurks in the auspicious history of the Panclog. A secret that concerns us greatly. A secret that we discuss carefully when in mixed company. It seems the Breakfast Buddies have a knack for closing breakfast places down. It pains us to say but we have closed several restaurants in our area, although I am sure it is purely coincidental. Perhaps the restauranteurs feel so blessed by our patronage that they feel they have reached the pinnacle of their careers and thus quietly close-up shop. At least that is the version I will stick with because I can no longer take the sleepless nights considering what we have caused in our fair city.
One such establishment happens to be right next door to my, Brent’s, office building. Le Peep, a fine, if not slightly over priced, breakfast and lunch place, became a heaping pile of smoking ash about a year ago. Disappointment does not cover how I felt about Le Peep closing this location. While the Breakfast Buddies did not frequent Le Peep often, there was a level of comfort for me knowing that breakfast was only a few steps away. I was not too broken up as there is a Panera on the other side of the strip mall that serves up a fine Ham and Swiss quiche.
Thankfully from those ashes arose a new restaurant, one that promises great breakfast food, a tongue in cheek attitude, and a barn like atmosphere. I am speaking of course of “The Shack”. I have the twice daily pleasure of walking past The Shack which allows me to check its vitals to ensure its health and wellbeing. I would hate to see it prematurely exit the neighborhood.
For the past several months this daily walk included stalking the restaurant while the space was gutted, repaired, and finished becoming a part of the larger Shack family. I am sure the construction workers grew tired of seeing this strange man peek in the windows all the time. I am also sure that all three people that I interact with on Snapchat “loved” the weekly updates as well.
The inside of the Shack is made to look like a renovated barn with shiplap walls throughout the design. It’s like Chip and Joanna Gaines’ décor dream turned nightmare. Looking at the walls you’ll notice very quickly that patrons can draw on them wherever they can reach. Keep an eye out for, “I heart panclog.com”. Most folks sign their name and date, or write something like “Joanie Loves Chachi”, but if you look for them, you will find a good joke or two. I must say I am a fan of this, especially when a clever play on words is thrown up on the wall.
The menu is large with a myriad of options, with most items having a clever name. A couple sample menu items include, “Love Me Know, Hate Me Later”, “Make a Grown Man Cry”, and “Ma…the Meatloaf.” Not every item gets a fun name though, “Country Fried Steak” for instance, which can only mean it is not very good.
On “Panclog Day” (soon to be made into a federal holiday) I opted for the “Why the French Hate Us”. The name of this dish feeds that self-loathing monster that resides in the back of my conscience. It is an item I have had a couple times now that is akin to the “Country Benedict” at the Big Biscuit, or the “Big D” at Jerry’s Original Café.
“Why the French Hate Us” begins with a toasted croissant split like a bun then loaded with two sausage links. Scrambled eggs are gently placed on top and subsequently covered in sausage gravy and cheese. Hash browns come on the side.
The main components of the meal are quite good and pleasing to eat. The croissant is buttery, flakey and has a lovely texture. The sausage links are flavorful and robust. The scrambled eggs are light and airy and are well cooked complimenting the other elements. The gravy and cheese, while flavorful, did leave a powdery texture in my mouth though. Kind of like a gravy packet that was not completely mixed. The gravy issue did dampen the overall food experience, but not so much that I would not order it again. The hash browns are well cooked and crispy on the outside. This plate has a lot of food on it, so I recommend going in hungry if you want to make a serious dent in it.
The coffee offered by the Shack is better than most, but it is also $3 a cup as I recall. To me personally, this awfully expensive for a cup of coffee, even one with free refills. Most restaurants in the area seem to be moving toward this price point, so perhaps this is the price point that the market will bear. What it means to me is that I feel that I need to drink enough coffee till it becomes a mistake, then drink two more cups. Do not worry, Jared and I are working on a new coffee pricing scheme that will revolutionize the breakfast food industry where everyone wins.
I would give The Shack a solid B+. The food is decent, the coffee good, the experience fun. All things that add up to a positive visit.
Griddle Fling – Gingerbread Pancakes with Sausage (Jared)
Breakfast is the finest meal of the day. My boss states, “if you say no to champagne, you say no to life.” I completely agree that the same goes for breakfast.
The Shack was a long awaited journey. Brent and I basically watched it get built day by day. I can not describe the anticipation that builds during this construction.
The Shack did not disappoint.
The atmosphere is something to be seen. It has a different type of flair to it. I love any place that I can vandalize their walls without punishment.
The Shack has 2 rotating menu items. These seem to change monthly. There is The Wolf Pack and Griddle Fling. The Wold Pack seems to be a different entree item and the Griddle Fling is a specialty breakfast bread. I decided on the Griddle Fling this fine morning. It turned out to be gingerbread pancakes.
The gingerbread pancakes had a lovely topping of not only whipped cream but also broken up gingerbread cookies. These cakes were delicious. The cookies added a nice level of texture to the cakes. The ramekin of syrup was the perfect amount for this short stack.
I also had a side of sausage to give this morning a bit of protein. The sausage was easily the downfall of the meal. It was a side of two sausage patties. It tasted like it was steamed. This made the sausage very chewy.
Besides the chewy sausage, the whole meal was quite pleasant. Although it needs to be said that coffee should never ever be $3.00. A wise man once told me that coffee is simply dirty water. This dirty water has turned out to be quite a necessity since my wonderful babies have been born. But please don’t make this fine dirty water beverage more than $2.50.
My recommendation of the ‘clog is The Ringer. The Ringer dot com. Great Website. It is a news/pop culture company that also is an incredible podcast empire. Sheck it out, my dudes.
Overall: The Shack is now a regular in the rotation for the breakfast buddies. If you ever would like to join us for breakfast. Hit us up at the links below.
Grade:
Brent: B+
Jared: A-
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