In the 1988 film Big, when someone asks Tom Hanks’ character – a 12-year-old boy in the body of a 30-year-old man – if he wants a drink, he asks for a milkshake.
Ha ha, right? He’s a kid, he doesn’t understand that “a drink” means an alcoholic beverage. Fast-forward 28 years, though, and there’s no reason his answer couldn’t be played straight.
Photos courtesy of Stack City Burger Bar
That’s thanks to a growing number of bars and restaurants that have punched up milkshakes with whiskey, rum, vodka and suchlike spirits – and made them all the more tantalizing in the process. We’re not just talking mudslides here.
In Columbus, the natural habitat of the booze-infused milkshake is the gourmet burger joint. Among the places you can order one are Stack City Burger Bar in the Short North, the B Spot in Gahanna and Flip Side at Easton Town Center.
Stack City was inspired to add top-flight milkshakes to its menu thanks to another movie. That would be Pulp Fiction, in which John Travolta’s character utters the line that appears at the top of the shake section on the menu: “I gotta know what a $5 shake tastes like.”
That, says Stack City supervisor Mary Dodson, means they must be “pretty damn good.” Though all but two can be ordered sans spirits, comparatively few customers pass up the opportunity.
“At least 60 percent of the orders coming in are alcoholic,” Dodson says.
The most popular shake is the Irish Car Bomb, which – like its cousin on the shot side of the family – has both Jameson Irish Whiskey and Baileys Irish Cream in the mixture. Another popular choice is the Chocolate Cherry Moonshine shake.
“We use cherries that are actually soaked in moonshine,” Dodson says.
While the menu suggests which liquors to add to which shakes, more daring customers can request any spirit to customize their order – valuable knowledge for those pioneering souls who might try to make their own frozen concoctions at home.
It’s difficult to go wrong with any combination of ice cream and liquor, says Dodson, but whipped cream flavored vodkas and rums are particularly versatile. Chocolate-flavored vodka is also of great use, as it is with Stack City’s Buckeye milkshake, the virgin version of which contains chocolate peanut butter ice cream, chocolate syrup and peanuts.
Bourbon, stouts, hard root beer and even liqueurs such as Kahlua and Frangelico can be solid mixers, too.
Jessica Williams is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
What’s in Your Milkshake?
Shake-friendly liquors and where to find them locally
- Bacon-infused vodka: Date Shake, Flip Side
- Bourbon: Vanilla Bean Apple Pie & Bacon, B Spot
- Cherry moonshine: Chocolate Covered Cherry, Stack City
- Dark rum: Chef’s Shake, Flip Side
- Hard root beer: Hard Root Beer Float, Stack City
- Hazelnut liqueur: Chocolate Espresso, B Spot
- White chocolate liqueur: Strawberry Shake, Flip Side
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