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No wait staff in sight? It can’t be right…

Steak ‘N Shake gets rid of table service in favor of touch-screen kiosks

John I. Carney
3 min readMar 6, 2021
By Ed! at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36144292

When Geneva Smith was mayor of Shelbyville, she personally called the headquarters of Steak ‘n Shake to try to convince them to open a location here. She was unsuccessful.

I didn’t hear about this until later, but I’d have cheered for it. I’ve loved Steak ‘n Shake since they first moved into Tennessee, and nothing would make me happier than having one here in town. The restaurant inspires a lot of loyalty. David Letterman was thrilled when Steak ‘n Shake opened up next to the Ed Sullivan Theatre. Steak ‘n Shake was a sponsor for the racing team Letterman co-owns.

The late Roger Ebert was another big fan, as you can read in this essay:

If I were on Death Row, my last meal would be from Steak ‘n Shake. If I were to take President Obama and his family to dinner and the choice were up to me, it would be Steak ‘n Shake — and they would be delighted. If the Pope were to ask where he could get a good plate of spaghetti in…

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John I. Carney
John I. Carney

Written by John I. Carney

Author of “Dislike: Faith and Dialogue in the Age of Social Media,” available at http://www.lakeneuron.com/dislike

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