Chocolate Chile Milkshake at The Stand in Phoenix

Where: The Stand
When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Dine-in and carry-out until 9 p.m., drive-thru until close daily
Dish: Chocolate Chile Shake
Price: $4.69

The Setting: The staff at The Stand was quite friendly, holding the door and greeting us as we arrived, but the service was slow during the lunch rush. A line of about 10 people snaked through the small restaurant, and while our food came out quickly, we waited to order for quite a while. We think doing drive-thru would have been a better choice because the dining area at The Stand isn't really a place we'd want to hang out. The handful of tables inside were crowded by the line of people, and the outside dining area is boxed in by walls — we imagine to protect diners from the noise and view of Indian School Road. We'd eat here in a pinch, but the real beauty of The Stand is the high-quality food combined with the drive-thru convenience.

The Dish: The Stand's chocolate chile shake comes in one medium size and is served with a drizzle of chocolate sauce on the interior of the cup. The chile flavor is subtle, with a creeping heat at the end of each sip. The shake itself is thick and chocolatey, and the best part is the bits of brownie spun throughout. Some of the brownie bits are soft while others are crunchy, and they're a perfect counterpoint to the otherwise creamy shake. The extra-wide straw The Stand provides is clutch, as this shake is thicker than most. 

The Best Part: The Stand's chocolate chile shake outshines all other shakes, not only because of how mouth-puckeringly thick it is, but also because of the delicate balance of the chile. It definitely was hot, but the heat didn't hit until the end of each bite, which of course sent us back for another drink of the cool goodness. Before we knew it, the entire thing was gone.

The One Thing We'd Change: There were large chunks of brownie leftover toward the end of the shake, and they had an odd flavor to them. It wasn't the most pleasant, but it also didn't stop us from finishing the shake.