"...Hehehehehe.....Look at all those hamburgers. You can't eat all those hamburgers..."
--Peter Griffin
--Peter Griffin
Last Saturday, David came home from work hungry. I had worked up a little appetite myself, chasing the cat around the apartment, reading beer magazines and folding laundry.
After considering our options while ignoring our tummies insistent grumbling, we finally agreed on Steak n Shake. Maybe I would get a milkshake, I thought to myself, quickly warming up to the idea.
We arrived at our local Steak n Shake and ordered diet cokes.
David perused the menu while we negotiated the shake we were planning to share:
Oh really? We'll see about that.
David's evil mathematician mind does not boggle. There are 45 combinations.
I then saw these advertised. 5 mini burgers of varying types: A1, BBQ, Chipotle, Frisco, ketchup and mustard. My craving for grilled cheese I was eyeing was instantly quelled. I ordered all 5 with cheese (.99 cents each).
David decided that he wanted to get the mushroom and swiss burger.
Our shake negotiations ended in a chocolate malt being ordered. I had never had a malt before. After Saturday, I can say I like shakes better.
It's not you chocolate malt, it's me...really.
Our Steak N Shake experience was like our last visit—super slow. I don’t know why, but it always takes forever. The other reviewer on Urban spoon says the same thing about this location.
As for the little burgers, they honestly need some work. For almost one dollar a little burger, I expected more. The patties were very small and thinner than the picture, which I guess is to be expected.
The little buns were very good. The cheese was OK. The little burgers of different styles had barbecue, A1, Frisco sauce (which I really liked, I found it tangy and a little spicy) or chipotle mayonnaise on top of the cheese. They are missing something. Maybe a pickle? A piece of lettuce, or some bacon on one would really help. I’d pay a little extra for some bacon. I doubt I'm alone in this.
What is the formula for calculating the # of possibilities for side orders? I remember doing such problems but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
ReplyDeleteI guessed maybe it was 3!+4!+3! but that gives 36.
You'll have to ask David. He's the one that understands the language of the Devil...er...Mathematics.
ReplyDeleteThis is commonly referred to as an "n choose k" problem, wherein you may choose k distinct objects from a set of n objects. Wikipedia, as usual, has the lowdown: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_coefficient
ReplyDelete10 choose 2 = 10! / (2! * (10 - 2)!) = 10 * 9 / 2 = 45
You can think about the choices sequentially. First, you pick from 10 choices, then you pick another from the 9 remainining, and finally you divide by two to account for the fact that there is no difference between picking beans then slaw vs. slaw then beans, etc.
And one last note, if you allow for people being weird and getting a double order of the same thing, such as two cups of chili, then the formula is a little more complicated and comes out to 55 possibilities.
Awesome. Yes, it makes perfect sense to think about it sequentially... so much so that I wonder if I was on meth at the time.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, at least I got some street cred for recognizing factorials were involved. Word.
My brain hurts!
ReplyDeleteAlso: I'd bet my next paycheck that that SnS location isn't alone in being ungodly slow. In fact, I've *never* been to a Steak n Shake that moved at anything faster than a handicapped snail's pace.