A_Date_Shake_With_History_Header

A Date (Shake) With History

The date shake is disappearing from the Orange County landscape.
Have tastes changed, or did the county?

By Cynthia Furey


Click to find out how to
make a Date Shake
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TAKE A BLENDER. To it, add vanilla ice cream, milk, and a dried and shriveled fruit that resembles an overgrown raisin. Blend until smooth, and what do you get? A sweet, creamy treat that was once one of the most popular milkshakes in Orange County’s history: a date shake.

Decades ago, you could find date shakes all over the county, from the Orange Inn in Laguna Beach, to Watson Drug and Diner in Orange, to, of course, the Crystal Cove Date Shack.

The latter was a sunny yellow roadside stand that served the concoction against a backdrop of ocean waves, a warm beach, and towering bluffs. The shack has seen a lot since it opened in the 1940s.

Somewhere along the way, amid ownership and menu changes, the word “date” disappeared from the name, and the beachside landmark became the Crystal Cove Shake Shack. While it remains the county’s most recognizable hub of date-shake devotion, it’s worth noting that name change is only part of an obvious trend: The quirky date shake is gradually disappearing from an Orange County landscape now dominated by chain restaurants and focus-grouped menus.

But, just for a moment, let’s remember what was.

The date shake’s spiritual home in Orange County was the Shake Shack. “It was a wonderful place to work,” says Katie Flamson, a Newport Beach resident who owned the place from 1990 to 2005. “Every day was an experience. I feel very blessed to have been a part of the Shake Shack’s history.”

Fred Stemmler, a San Francisco resident and former Shake Shack employee, agrees. Though his employment lasted about a month in the summer of 1999, he still recalls fond memories of his short stint. “It was the sweetest job in the world,” Stemmler says. “It was right on the water, and you spend your day making shakes and making sandwiches for people who are just so happy to be there.”

In 2005, there was another ownership and name change. Toward the end of Flamson’s tenure, the state of California issued a Request for Proposal on the management of Crystal Cove. Crystal Cove Alliance was awarded the contract and sub-contracted the food service sector to Ruby’s Restaurant Group.

“We got wind of what was happening with the Crystal Cove Historic Park,” says Doug Cavanaugh, founder of Newport Beach-based Ruby’s Diner. “We became interested because we felt it was kind of a sweet spot. They had been making shakes for a lot of years, and it just seemed to be a really good fit.”

The shack was renovated and air conditioned, and its bright yellow exterior was painted a clean blue and white. When it reopened in May 2006, it officially had become the Ruby’s Crystal Cove Shake Shack, though it still retains many of its original cold sandwich menu items.

History with a Straw


Considering the many changes that Crystal Cove has undergone in recent years, it’s nothing short of amazing that its most familiar feature, the Shake Shack along East Coast Highway, is still standing.

“Behind the Shake Shack used to just be rolling hills and Mediterranean deserts. You could just wander through there, and find nothing but rattlesnakes and jackrabbits,” says Fred Stemmler, a San Francisco resident who used to live in Laguna Beach.

Fortunately for those who miss the old Orange County, the Crystal Cove Alliance has worked hard to maintain the cove’s historic cottages through tours and educational programs. And Ruby’s, which reopened the Shake Shack under its corporate banner in 2006, took pains to preserve the shack’s original building.

“We repainted it a different color so people would know there was a change,” says Ruby’s founder Doug Cavanaugh. “We’re trying to make it a little bit ours, while still respecting the history of what was there.”
—C.F. 

“It’s always been an icon along the coast,” says Laura Davick, president and founder of Crystal Cove Alliance, a nonprofit organization that works to preserve Crystal Cove and manages the cottages there.

Before Davick founded Crystal Cove Alliance, she too had a history with the Shake Shack. “I was the girl who made those date shakes,” she recalls. She worked there in the summers of 1972 and 1973. “I just remember people coming in, and everyone was always enamored by this silly date shake. But it’s pretty darn good.”

Times and tastes change. Sales of the date shake and its cousin, the Monkey Flip (see sidebar), waned. “A lot of people tend to shy away from the date shake, but I think it’s one of the best flavors we have,” Cavanaugh says.

The shack’s menu still boasts about 20 shake varieties, including the date shake, but flavors such as chocolate peanut butter appeal more to today’s customers than the date shake. Stemmler also thinks consumer ignorance and marketing strategies play a part in the fading date shake sales.

“I think dates are a little too exotic for young people,” Stemmler says. “You’re not really exposed to too many exotic fruits. And a date is kind of exotic. I can’t think of a single place where you can get a date anything in Orange County. But it’s really a wonderful ingredient.”

Though not as popular as they once were, date shakes still have a core following. Food personality Rachael Ray recently stopped by the shack to try the shakes, later declaring theMonkey Flip her favorite.

Ruby’s Crystal Cove Shake Shack is open from 10 a.m. to sunset daily. 7703 E. Coast Highway, Newport Coast. 949-464-0100.


Gotta Have a Date Shake? In addition to Ruby’s Crystal Cove Shake Shack,
you can order a date shake at these local establishments:

* The Stand Natural Food Restaurant makes a healthful date shake
that contains papaya and cashew milk.

238 Thalia St., Laguna Beach. 949-494-8101. 


* The Mother’s Market chain of stores sells a 16-ounce date shake for $5.95.
Its Orange County locations are as follows:

225 E. 17th St. Costa Mesa 949-631-4741

19770 Beach Blvd. Huntington Beach 714-963-6667

2963 Michelson Drive Irvine 949-752-6667

24165 Paseo de Valencia Laguna Woods 949-768-6667

—C.F.