Milk Burger Owner Surprised That People Think He Ripped Off Shake Shack

Shake Shack? Never heard of the place.

Is it really plausible that somebody would be able to open a burger restaurant in New York City without being completely aware of Shake Shack and its various design elements? Erik Mayor, the owner of Milk Burger, that Shake Shack clone we told you about yesterday, says yes!

DNAinfo got in touch with him to discuss the, uh, similarities between his spot and Danny Meyer's ever-growing burger chain. Mayor says he was "shocked" to learn that the burger photo on his restaurant's website was actually a Serious Eats photo of Shake Shack's burger. He blamed an intern for that error — it's always those pesky interns! It's worth noting that the Milk Burger website itself appears to be down at the moment. We're willing to bet that when (if?) it returns, it won't look a thing like Shake Shack's. [Update: A placeholder is up now. And, yes, it looks nothing like the site did yesterday.]

The weird thing is that it actually sounds like the Shake Shack ripoff move is working in Mayor's favor: Here he is getting a lot of publicity for his joint, all in comparison to a much-loved institution. (Yes, we know there are some Shack detractors — that's what the comments are for.) Plus, we'll remind you, A Hamburger Today deemed Milk Burger's fries superior to Shake Shack's crinkle-cuts.

Harlem's Milk Burger Owner 'Looking Into' Alleged Shake Shack Rip-Off [DNAinfo]
Earlier: The Curious Case of Milk Burger, the Better-Than-It-Should-Be Shake Shack Clone