The Retro 1930s Burger Chain That's Winning Over A New Generation

Everybody loves a comeback, especially one that delivers mouth-watering hand-dipped milkshakes and newly improved French fries made in beef tallow. The nearly century-old burger chain, Steak 'n Shake, is reintroducing itself to a fresh generation of fast food fans, with a renewed commitment to grab-and-go food that is delivered with an efficiency that Steak 'n Shake customers hadn't been experiencing in recent years.

The company got its start in 1934 in Normal, Illinois, with a core menu designed by Gus Belt, who liked to make his steakburgers (a combo of T-bones, sirloins, and round steaks) thin with curled, crunchy edges, stacked double or triple high, with American and Swiss cheese. The steakburger bun was a signature sourdough. About that time, burgers were having a moment, moving from persona non grata among elite diners to something of the cool kid entrée that customers were looking for on menus when they wanted a night out. With that wind in its sail, the company began expanding throughout Illinois and eventually built a franchise that today has hundreds of Steak 'n Shake locations across the country. By the early 2000s, however, Steak 'n Shake was in need of a pivot.

Throughout the early 2000s, Steak 'n Shake zigzagged between gaining, then losing, then regaining ground in terms of earnings. Sales looked steady around 2007, then dropped in 2008. They saw an uptick again for several years, then nosedived from 2016-2018.

Company leadership was ready to make major changes. They revamped their focus from in-house seating and instead directed customers to more take-out and drive-thru options. They also introduced changes that have in fact gone back to the basics that made the fast-food chain popular in the first place, like old school fries, made all the better with beef tallow rather than vegetable oil, a change the company announced in 2025. Their inaugural fries had been made with beef tallow, but the company switched away from it in the 1990s. The company is also reverting back to cane-sugar Coca-Cola, which most sodas used before corn syrup gained popularity.

Steak 'n Shake also now accepts Bitcoin at hundreds of locations, and has a reinvigorated focus on entrepreneurial ownership in its franchises, similar to changes made by Chik-fil-A in its owner-operator model. Steak 'n Shake leadership hopes to establish relationships with franchisees who want to be on-premises — not uninvolved owners. The changes have made a dramatic turnaround for the conglomerate, posting 2025 pre-tax operating earnings of over $22 million as well as claims of higher output of productivity per hour among employees.