Our order taker couldn’t stop recommending the Mexican Poutine, so we decided to give this a shot (and it did sound tasty). Mexican Poutine (Schmaltz Fries, Pollo Asado, Jalapeño Cheese Wiz): And nothing like the made-from-scratch ones out of the oven we had at Plow. The Miso-Maple Butter had some notes of Miso and Maple Syrup, but overall, the flavors were just OK.

It got a bit too sweet after a quarter of the way through, though.Ĭlearly something like Miso-Maple Butter isn’t something found usually at most fast food restaurants, so we were hopeful Chef Blais’ personal touches might come through in the food. This was refreshing! Tasting like you were eating a solid Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream in Milk Shake form. Here’s their collection of Sauces, which sound interesting, but seeing these industrial spigots and you needing to pump your Sauce kind of took away any illusion of this being a “chef driven” restaurant, making it definitely feel like you were eating fast food. But it does come with free valet parking. You serve yourself (get your own utensils, water, napkins, and buss your own table after). It turns out Crack Shack is like a “gourmet fast food” type of restaurant, where you order at the counter window, before taking a number and finding a seat.

The pedigree sounded decent: Top Chef contestant Richard Blais developed the menu, and reading their website, it sounded hopeful: Using Jidori Chicken, Non-GMO Eggs, although fresh Produce from “Boutique Farms” sounded a bit ridiculous. The Crack Shack opened up in Costa Mesa (and is expanding to Culver City and Pasadena soon). After reading a few articles on a San Diego artisan Fried Chicken Sandwich eatery arriving in L.A., we were curious.

The crack shack costa mesa calif