Let’s together agree on what Artichoke is. It’s...

“Let’s together agree on what Artichoke is. It’s like Shake Shack, really, if instead of perfect burgers, Shake Shack’s headline offering was huge piles of melted butter and cream on tasteless crackers. If instead of it being a pitch-perfect, living vision of the future of fast food, it was a bunch of cash cows satisfied with minting money as fast as they can, eager to turn their brand into a theme park, quietly waiting for their ridiculous house of hype to cave in on itself and hoping they make boat-money before it does. It’s no different from Shake Shack, except for the fact that instead of a $4.50 burger, there’s a $5 slice of pizza. Indeed, Artichoke is Shake Shack insomuch people are willing to wait on massive lines for three to five minutes of gustatory bliss. Although — sorry one more point of comparison — at Shake Shack there is a payoff and at Artichoke the only post-game emotion is the empty feeling that you have gotten a little fatter for no good reason.”

Ben Leventhal: Comparing Shake Shack and Artichoke Basille’s Pizza*

Yes.