Shake Pit

Delicious milk shakes (try the peanut butter!) and the fries are SO good. Cash only, but there’s an ATM in the CVS next door.

I love it. It’s a great old fashioned type burger place. The owners and staff are super friendly. They have a small indoor 50’s style counter where you can eat, or you can take your food and ice cream out to the nice big outdoor sitting area. It tends to get busy around lunch time so if you preferred inside, come early.
The food is fresh and yummy :-)… They are cash only so make sure you have some cash handy.

Strawberry shake was delicious as always. First time ordering burgers there… Frozen as expected but not terrible. $ 25 for 2 burgers, 1 medium shake, and 1 medium soft drink. Nice stop on the way home from a beach day.

Warning: CASH ONLY
Great local place to grab a bite before or after a day at the beach! Delicious shakes and burgers!!! Oooo and I loved the onion rings too! Love the walk up indoor/​outdoor seating and window ordering. Classic old fashioned burger joint style. I recommend this place for sure!

I LOVE shakepit. Their food is a tad pricey, but so good! Their icecream is literally the best EVER. Cash only so make sure you have some. If you like it drinkable, order your milkshake that way because they’re so so thick!

Went here with my family on a trip to Bradenton to see the Pittsburgh Pirates play a couple of spring training games. It was the day we arrived after a long day of travel and we wanted something quick but good, and this place was a homerun. The burgers were top notch, the fries (crinkle cut) were cooked perfectly, and the shakes were delicious. I got the butterscotch shake and highly recommend it. This place has been around since 1959 because of the quality of its food and service. Cash only, so be ready to pay with the green stuff.

This was super fast and delicious cheeseburgers and fries. The staff were very friendly. You can tell that it is a local favorite, and it had a great home-​town feel. Although we didn’t try the ice cream, it looked delicious and the servings looked very large. It was everything you would hope for from a cheap road side stand!

Went here because of all the hype I hear about its shakes, did not disappoint, I got the peanut butter one, and it was perfect! Also got a hot dog that was very good, although a little overpriced. The staff was nice and friendly but could use more smiles in front of customers. I definitely can’t complain about the atmosphere because it has that older setting and style which I liked, what I did not enjoy is sitting inside and the cramped space of it, and I can’t blame the business for it but people were very selfish with the seats. For the the future I’ll probably just pick up and go rather than sit there and dine. If it wasn’t for the great food I would give it a 2

5 stars all day because this place sells delicious ice cream treats and has a real hometown feel to it. I had the chocolate covered cherry ‘Spooner’ and wow! It was delicious. I ordered a medium and thank goodness I didn’t get a large as I would have devoured the whole thing. Tiny bits of chocolate shavings with maraschino cherries and that sugary red cherry flavoring you loved as a kid! Seriously, delicious. If we lived closer to this place I’d be 400 lbs, Great/​Fast service even on a busy Saturday afternoon and a decent amount of outdoor (covered) seating. Try this place out if you like that old-​school ice cream experience.

After trying this place for the 1^st time my family & I want to go back. We were on vacation & happy we stopped at the «Shake Pit.» BEST thick (and we mean thick) delicious milk shakes. Ate a YUMMY lunch too, for reasonable price. Had to wait a bit till served, But the food was hot & well worth the wait. THANK YOU!!!

This is a cool retro 1950s /​1960s. era ice cream /​soft serve /​burger shack. There is an outside patio area with picnic tables and a small interior diner area with counter seats and a couole tabkes overlooking the grill.
They do an oinkster and pecker two bacon cheeseburgers with a BLT inbetween sandwich. Only $ 11.50.
Malted shakes. Coffee shakes. Other flsvor shakes. Ice creams. Vanilla, chocolate and swirl soft serve. Mozz sticks. Onion rings. Fries. What more could you ask for? I have no idea. The stand itself has cool architecture and signage. Friendly young peeps working. Part of community with photographs and notices, news clippings of local happenings and teams etc.

YUM YUM YUM! Be sure you take out of town visitor’s here. FYI CASH ONLY though! Also they are closed one day during the week… I think Wed’s maybe? Call to check hours. Great menu. Great ice cream treats! Nothing fancy and it can get a little buggy when the sun sets as well as a little over crowded at times but other than that it is more than worth a trip! The banana split is insanely large, insanely unhealthy, but INSANELY GOOD! I can’t speak on their food bc I only order ice cream there but it looks like good ol drive in fast food style. Go there. Their ice cream will turn any bad day into a great day! :)

You. Must. Visit. !!! My personal fav: chocolate, peanut butter, fluff milkshake. Mmmmm! Best place in ALL Manatee County for a shake!

I can’t give this place any less than 5 stars simply because I’ve been obsessing over their malts and they’ve been on my mind since I first went over a year ago. I’m tempted to drive here for a malt every time I’m on the Skyway (north side). I had my 5 year old with me last weekend and our fishing trip was cut short by the rain, so it was the perfect excuse to drive over here. The malt (root beer flavor) was everything I dreamed about/​remembered and more. Their malts are THE reason why I love here so much. There are soooo many flavors to choose from. I’ve had one «standard», which requires a spoon, but this one was «drinkable» since I was driving. My daughter had a strawberry shake that was super thick, which also required a spoon. I also gave in to an impulse buy and got the fried mushrooms. They only have one size, and it is big enough to share. They were good, but not remarkable. I had forgotten that they were CASH ONLY, so I got to walk in the rain to the CVS across the lot for cash. Don’t be like me and forget or otherwise not bring cash. The staff and service were friendly enough. I will definitely be back, as I’m also curious to try their burgers and chili cheese fries.

CASH Only ! The Shake Pit is 4+ stars.
The food (the things I have had so far) is outstanding. GREAT burgers, Great shakes, Great ice cream. The burgers are thick and juicy, the shakes are super thick with lots of flavor and the ice cream is creamy. Need I say more? ?
The reason for it not being 5 stars? A few minor issues. Being cash only in 2015 is flat out weird. The prices are somewhat on the High side so it can’t be that they can’t afford to eat the 3% credit card fees. They don’t do a good job of listing all of the many things they offer (I just learned of a bunch of stuff from the other reviews). I guess I need to go inside to find out.
I have to believe (as a business owner myself) that they are losing sales and profits by not accepting credit cards. Several times I have passed by and thought about getting something but realized I didn’t have much cash and I don’t want to go find an ATM just for the benefit of eating at this establishment.
Having said that, it really is a nice «old fashioned» kind of burger, shake, ice cream joint. It reminds me of the roadside stops from my youth. The front window display of food offerings looks like it hasn’t changed (other than the prices) in 20 years. While it is nostalgic, it too is costing them sales. If I knew all the things they offered, I might buy more or go there more often. Just my 2 cents.
Also, please note, I believe they are closed on Wednesdays (I have no problem with this). It is a nice break for their employees.

By moonlight miles, my favorite grub-​out spot in Bradenton. After the beach, who doesn’t crave a righteous burger, side of crispy o-​rings and a milkshake so thick spoons are the weapon of choice?
With a throwback diner-​esque sign prevalent from the road, Shake Pit’s atmosphere brings back the Happy Days ambiance of yesteryear. As expected, the line was to the road, so we walked ’round back and sat at the counter. Not only did we get a chance to witness our food being made on the grill, but also the opportunity to converse with the line cook and what seemed to be a manager from our seats.
The milkshakes were thick and creamy. The mocha packed a nice punch and the peanut butter was rich and forced your lips to pucker with each spoonful. The cheeseburger was cooked to order, topped with the works and served on a soft bun. The only word that comes to mind to describe the burger is classic. It’s an old-​fashioned burger with perfectly melted cheese. Mmmm. The onion rings were giant, crisp and full of flavor. It doesn’t get much better than this.
To me, five stars means the combination of excellent food served properly, a cool/​fun atmosphere that invites you back, and friendly service. Shake Pit delivered on all of these fronts. I’m counting down the days until my return.

Does not understand or care about food allergies.
Unfortunately, after years of frequenting The Shake Pit, we will no longer be giving them our business. They have a rule of no outside food on the patio, with no exceptions. Even in the case of life-​threatening food allergies.
We brought in McD’s for one child in our party of 5. My nephew is severely allergic to dairy and we know the ingredients of their burgers and fries are dairy free. However, when we arrived at Shake Pit we were told by the owner that we could not have outside food on the property.
I said I’d be happy to purchase food for him there if she could tell me what on the menu is dairy free and has not been fried in the same oil as the mozzarella sticks. I also asked to see the ingredients of their hot dog buns, which she could not provide because they come from a bakery. She confirmed that even their hot dogs touch dairy bc they use the same griddle and fryer for all their foods.
So there is NOTHING there that he could order and be safe. After that admission, she still did not make an exception for my nephew because, «if I make this exception, then everyone will be coming in with their picnic baskets from the beach». We even offered to show her his epipen to prove this was serious.
She was more concerned about the scene we were making in front of the few customers that were there (even though her reason for not letting him eat there was limited seating) than about helping us figure out how to enjoy a family night out together.
It’s really sad. I know they’ve been in business for over 50 years, but food allergies are a recent epidemic and these places need to change with the times. We desperately want to support local business, but it seems the chains are much more accommodating when it comes to special needs.

Let me preface this by saying that it would be 5 stars if reviews were only about the food. My family got two small soft serve ice creams, one small sundae, and a chocolate milkshake. The ice cream is fantastic. It’s homemade, smooth, and not too filling. The size portions are huge so unless you’re sharing or have a huge appetite don’t bother going larger than a medium!
On to the negatives. When paying, one of my family members pulled out a card to which they were met with the response of «oh it’s cash only.» Well that’s perfectly fine, but the issue is that it doesn’t say it anywhere. I actually looked around for a sign stating that’s what it was but I couldn’t find one. The worst part was that when they went back to the car to get their cash the employees closed the two windows from which they serve and proceeded to laugh and give the not-​so-​friendly looks to my family members at the car. Granted, they’re probably teenagers or early 20’s, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like we did something wrong.
I could be overreacting here, but when you’re dealing with other’s food you have to be mindful of your body language at all times. Overall, I’d come back here for their ice cream but I wouldn’t say it’s the best around when taking in your surroundings.

cash only
Shakes were great
Burgers actually sorta suck
It’s really a Shake Place. order that

BRING CASH!!!
This is a landmark in Bradenton and for good reason. They have an amazing selection of shakes, malts, ice cream, etc. Their milkshakes can’t be eaten with a straw and are to die for. This is a very popular place so come with some patience as all orders are made fresh.
You are missing out on some killer desserts if you don’t come to Shake Pit!