You can get a double or single, with
chili or bacon. The Cowboy Burger has
barbecue sauce, bacon, onion rings,
and Swiss cheese. The Bluesy Burger
has bacon, grilled onions, and crumbled
blue cheese. There’s a veggie burger,
too. Love beer with your burger? There’s
Budweiser, Bud Light, and Stella Artois
by the glass or pitcher.
Still, notwithstanding its logo - a burger
and shake - the Shake Station offers
much more. On the menu are numerous
salads, wraps, sandwiches, and all-beef
kosher hot dogs (which you can order
with a choice of 14 toppings.) Among the
restaurant’s most popular menu items are
the Fried Green Tomatoes; the Crinkle
Fries, which you can get with cheese
and/or homemade chili; the 301 Nachos
Supreme; and the Fish Tacos, which
come with fried, grilled, or blackened sh,
chipotle lime slaw, tomatoes, cheddar-jack
cheese, and homemade pico de gallo.
The Beer-Battered Fish N Chips is a
Shake Station signature, as is the Apple
Pecan Salad, which features fried, grilled
or blackened chicken, plus apples,
dried cranberries, candied pecans and
crumbled blue cheese over fresh greens.
In the numerous positive reviews of
Shake Station on TripAdvisor
and Yelp, customers
also note the
c r i spy
tater tots and the fried pickles (spears,
not chips.) There’s a kid’s menu, and daily
specials. The restaurant is open for lunch
and dinner every day.
Serving Up Nostalgia
Andy Ameres was “raised in the
restaurant business,” as his parents
owned and operated several in
Manatee County, including the Popi’s
Place restaurants. After graduating
from Manatee High School, Ameres
went on to study hospitality management
at Johnson & Wales University in
Providence, Rhode Island.
After that, he worked for a national
restaurant group, first at Houston’s
restaurant on Long Island and then
helping to open a location on Park
Avenue in New York City. In 2001, tired
of the weather up north, Ameres moved
back to Manatee County and opened
a Popi’s Place location in Lakewood
Ranch. He sold it when he opened the
Shake Station in 2015.
For the last three years, the Shake
Station has swept the “Best Family-
Friendly Restaurant” category in the
annual Bradenton Macaroni Kid Gold
Daisy Awards. Macaroni Kid is the
publisher of weekly, local e-newsletters
and websites about family-friendly
events, activities, products, and places.
The Shake Station’s family-friendly
draws (besides the food) include
welcoming and attentive servers,
generous portions, and
cleanliness. Several
high chairs and booster
seats are stacked
against one wall.