The Shack

On another day during our sojourn in Alabama, the Major Promotable Troubadour took us to a local burger joint in Marion, AL, the town where we were staying and the place where MPT grew up. It was The Shack.

This place was all about the atmosphere. Beef Boy and I walked in with MPT and you would have thought we walked in with Elvis. Everybody and their brother seems to want to greet our Julie McCoy and it was really nice to see community in action.

After much approbation, the three of us decided to have a seat on the deck. The two natives that I was with love the heat... well actually, I don't even know if they noticed the heat! We ordered a nice cold beverage and obligatory burger. MPT and I ordered onion rings and Beef Boy had his fries. No choice was given to us in the cooking of the burger. The burgers were $3.50.

The burgers arrived as you see above. The were blanketed in a standard hamburg bun, that was a good size for the burger and it was nicely toasted. The patty, which had a nice sear and seemed to be cooked on a griddle, was hand formed and rested on yellow American cheese, a tomato slice, a slice of onion, 3 leaves of iceberg lettuce, and a pickle. I wonder if it is a Southern thing that the burger is on top of the extras and condiments? I have never seen this done and in both Alabama establishments this was the burger construction.

Upon delving into the burger, we noted that it was cooked just past medium. It seemed moist, but we actually couldn't tell if the moistness came from the beef patty or the condiments and tomato.

The star of the show for me were the vidalia onion rings, which were crispy, delicious, and huge. I love onion rings, but rarely indulge in them, so this was quite a treat! Beef Boys fries were krinkle cut, good, and typical joe fries.

I do have to say that the plates were scary, but I decided to consider this part of The Shack's charm.

Our initial rating was going to be 3 burgers, but upon seeing the sign below, we couldn't help but give it an extra 1/4 burger for the sentiment.

Unfortunately, as you can see by The Shack's sign, it is not a Coca-Cola establishment.

The Shack
Route 3
Marion, AL 36756
(334) 683-8966