Review: Shake Shack's Smoked Brisket Chili Is A Heavy Hitter That Tastes Good On Just About Anything

Chili is a magical mixture of meat meeting peppers and spices, and it first took hold on the borders of Mexico and Texas in the mid-19th century. Over the following century, someone came up with the genius idea of placing chili on top of a hot dog. Once that Rubicon was crossed, chili was free to top other foods like hamburgers, nachos, and even fries. 

Restaurateur Danny Meyer is an admirer of Steak 'n Shake — one of the best-known purveyors of fast food chili — and channeled some of that malt-shop spirit when he opened the first Shake Shack in 2004. By 2017, Shake Shack had grown into a globally acclaimed chain, and that year it gave customers an initial opportunity to taste its beloved fare covered in chili.

In 2025, Shake Shack is back in the chili game — but it's only available for a limited time, and at a few very select locations across America. What you put in your chili is important, and this new version is infused with smoked brisket, a recipe which immediately had our mouths watering. So, are Shake Shack's new Smoked Brisket Chili Menu items rare gems worth digging up, or something not worth warming up to? The Takeout ordered up everything on this menu to see where the truth lies. 

The Smoked Brisket Chili Menu is currently available now at select Shake Shack locations, while supplies last, through February 10. The chili is served as a topping on a Shake Shack burger, hot dog, and fries in the following states and cities: New York (NYC's West Village), Massachusetts (Chestnut Hill, Dedham, Burlington, and at Boston's Prudential Center), Connecticut (Danbury), and Texas (Austin, Plano, and San Antonio).

These items can be ordered in-person at store locations at the counter or a kiosk. They can also be ordered in advance for pick-up through Shake Shack's app and website. The suggested price for the Single Smoked Brisket Chili Burger is $9.99 and $11.99 for a double, while the Smoked Brisket Chili Cheese Hot Dog goes for $7.49, and the Smoked Brisket Chili Cheese Fries costs $6.49. 

The burger can be customized to sub out the beef for a veggie patty. The standard potato bun can be swapped out for a gluten-free one, or the burger can be sandwiched with a lettuce wrap. The hot dog also has the option to be wrapped in lettuce. Both can also be topped with cherry peppers, avocado, and/or bacon. Additionally, the fries can have chopped bacon added to the mix. Packets of mustard and mayo are readily available, as well as pumps of ketchup into paper cups. However, there is no way to order Shake Shack's Smoked Brisket Chili by itself. No option exists on the menu, and even when I asked for some in the store, it was re-confirmed that the chili can only be ordered as a topping on these three items. 

A single Smoked Brisket Chili Burger contains 590 calories, and a double has 870 calories. It contains the allergens dairy, egg, wheat, fish, sesame, and gluten.

The Smoked Brisket Chili Cheese Hot Dog has 670 calories. It contains the allergens dairy, wheat, shellfish, soy, tree nut, fish, sesame, and gluten.

Finally, each order of the Smoked Brisket Chili Cheese Fries packs in 790 calories, and contains the allergens dairy, egg, wheat, shellfish, soy, tree nut, fish, sesame and gluten. 

The Smoked Brisket Chili Cheese Fries could be mistaken for an overloaded, double-wide hot dog at first sight. It was a truly beautiful and bountiful pile of ingredients, which looked like it was compiled by an overzealous patron who took gluttonous advantage of the 7-Eleven fixings bar. I will never object to piling toppings on high, but I had a suspicion that this may do severe damage to the excellent crispiness of Shake Shack's indelible fries. This is why poutine and disco fries are delicious in theory, but a muddle in reality.

I was definitely not jumping into these fries empty-handed. I turned down the provided wooden mini-pitchfork and proceeded with a plastic fork. It certainly helped to bring all the food to my mouth, but there was almost too much to tackle in one bite. Out of all the items on this menu, the fries were what allows the brisket chili to show its true colors and flavors. That resulted in demonstrating that this was more chili than brisket, which was a little disappointing to me. The chili was fine, sort of like the Cincinnati-style chili similar to Greek Bolognese, with a sweetness to it and some dabbles of spice hidden within.

With the chili dominating the fries here, it became almost too tall a task to take on — a bit of a heavy hitter that won't necessarily sit well in your stomach. The scallions helped to ease the pain, but a creamy mayo topping would have been an ideal partner here, too. 

Before my eyes lay a bun overrun with legions of crispy onions and thick-cut bits of scallions. On the far edges of the bun peeked out the split ends of the frankfurter. From some angles, a layer of cheese could be gleaned, and its bright orangey-yellow was a welcome sign of warmth to this item's color palette. What was not seen at all was any of the brisket chili.

I dove right in on the whole shebang, and the first full bite — with all the components stacked together — revealed a cornucopia of flavors. The snappy 100% Vienna Beef hot dog combined with the salty crunch of the onions and freshness of the scallions; slathered in the oozy cheese and the chili brisket, this made for quite the combo. In this item, the chili's flavoring wasn't as strong as it was with the others, but hit a perfect level, serving more as a complementing co-star to the hot dog.

There's really no other way to eat this than by hand. While picking it up, some of the toppings fell off into the supplied hot dog box, yet plenty remained aboard the bun. As I bit into the dog, juices not only flowed into my mouth, but also all over my fingers, with the red of the chill greasing my palms. The bun's splitting at the bottom didn't help to hold things together, but some messes are totally worth it, and this is one of them. 

In a thin pocket of wax paper sits the super-packed Smoked Brisket Chili Burger. It looked much different from the standard Shack burger, where in lieu of slices of orange American cheese, a more transparent white cheddar is congealed in its place. Also visible on top of the burger patties are oodles of diced scallions, which sort of gives off the vibes of a cheesesteak sandwich loaded with green peppers. 

This burger is housed in a beautiful potato bun, which looks particularly shiny here. As I pulled back the top bun, its innards revealed a sea of brown, punctuated by even more helpings of the grass-green scallion pieces, and some slight patches of an unidentified cream.

After my long take of observations, it was time to get to the tasting. The first bite revealed that this is a great burger, but the flavor leading the way was the seasoning and juiciness of Shake Shack's always-solid 100% Angus beef patty. Physically and taste-wise, the chili was present, but it felt a bit muted in both of those departments. The chili had kind of meshed in with the beef patty itself, becoming more of a sauce. Further bites brought out more hints of the chili's flavor, but it acted more as a textured paste than a standout topping. When I finally brought some ketchup — and later, mustard — into the mix, the chili's flavor actually started to stand out a bit more. 

What's really interesting about Shake Shack's Smoked Brisket Chili is that it worked magic with some items, but was too much of a burden with others. If you're looking for a true taste of this special brew, then the loaded fries are the way to go. However, this item's density ends up backfiring in two ways. First and foremost, its wetness eats into the fries' strong structure, making them a little pointless for even being there. Chili cheese fries are hard to get right, but this is essentially a chili brisket bowl with cheesy mashed potatoes, and it's just too much to digest at once. An order should come standard with a side of Tums.

The burger made for a solid base for the brisket chili, even if it disguised some of its flavors. While I wouldn't say the chili made this a truly unique burger, there was no denying that it was a delicious one. The combo of the brisket chili paste, white cheddar, and scallions worked together to serve the beef well, and, like the hot dog, didn't require any additional condiments like ketchup, mayo, or mustard to improve it.

Speaking of the hot dog, this is where the brisket chili undeniably found a perfect home. You can never go wrong with a chili dog, and if you're hungry for this, Shake Shack has a glorious one that you can order up right now. Sadly it's not at every location, or around for too long, so let's hope chili returns on a more permanent basis for Shake Shack's hot dogs. 

I went to the only Shake Shack in the state of New York that is offering the Smoked Brisket Chili Menu, in Manhattan's West Village. I pre-ordered my items in advance on the Shake Shack app, and when it was ready, I ate it on-site.

I ate the three menu items in an order based on freshness. I correctly figured that the fries wouldn't hold up physically well over time, so I ate that first. The hot dog was next, followed by the burger. After an initial round of taste testing, I then tried further bites of each item for comparison between the three.

The ultimate criteria for this chew-and-review was based on flavor, uniqueness, chili essence, brisket quality, lovability, and the likelihood of it sticking around as a future permanent menu item. For that latter factor, I'd like to reiterate that this chili should definitely be an option for the hot dog now and forever.