Aspen Food and Wine: Danny Meyer Talks Tech, Shake Shack Apps

Danny Meyer at Aspen; photo by Hernan F. Rodriguez 

By Kathleen Squires

After he delivered a Tech Talk at this weekend's Aspen Food and Wine Festival, restaurateur and Shake Shack maestro Danny Meyer shared some of his thoughts on all things digital with us. Can restaurants survive in this day and age without getting all up in social media? Check out his thoughts below.

 Zagat: What types of social media posts tend to get the biggest response from your followers?

DM: That is a million dollar question. If I knew the answer to that I would have a whole lot more followers than I do right now. But I think people like you to be genuine whoever you are. I give you a window into what I’m thinking, where I’m eating, sometimes where I am traveling and sometimes it’s just my observations. If something comes in my mind and it rises to the level of Tweeting I must think that this must be of interest to some people besides myself.


Z: What tech inventions are you personally waiting for?

DM: I want an iPhone that I can type really easily on. Because I write letters on my Blackberry and it’s the one thing of the Blackberry that keeps me on Blackberry is the ability to type really quickly and accurately.

Z: But what about a Shack App, jumping from your Shack cam at the Shake Shack?

DM: We have not employed the Shack cam anywhere except for the original one in Madison Square Park. When we opened in Philly last week the place was already jammed with a line and we had a bunch of people already say, “When do we get our Shack cam?” We might do that at some point….

Z: Which proves the need for a Shack App, no?

DM: There is a Shack app that someone else who is a fan of Shake Shack created called Shack HQ. I have downloaded it on my iPad, and I find it useful.

Z: Can the non-tech savvy restaurant survive in this era? I’m talking about a restaurant that doesn’t have a website or Facebook page, and doesn’t Tweet.

DM: Absolutely. At the end of the day you are going to return to a restaurant if you felt they were happy to see you there or if the food was good or if the price was right. I could give you a mediocre experience in a restaurant and I could Tweet till the day is long and you are not going to want to come back. The experience is the restaurant; the social media is trying to stay on the tips of people’s tongues.