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| - Meh...I'm torn between 2 and 3 stars for this place. Maybe 2.5?
I love the concept of fast casual restaurants (huge Chipotle fan here!), so I was hoping to be impressed by Smashburger's offerings in this space. Unfortunately, my recent experience here was pretty lackluster.
Smashburger purports to be a higher quality burger joint, positioning itself above places like McDonalds and Wendys. The restaurant itself is contemporary and clean and offers a wide variety of burgers and sandwiches, along with sides and shakes.
I ordered a crispy chicken sandwich with a side of their signature smashfries, my husband got a Steel City burger with a side of sweet potato smashfries, and then we split a Butterfinger shake for dessert. Of note, my husband's food came out before mine did, which was a little annoying. Why can't they sync up meals so a table can eat together? I appreciate them not serving food that has been sitting around getting cold, but at the same time, it seems like there could be better synchrony in the kitchen so that one person doesn't have to watch their partner eat while waiting for their food to arrive (I don't think my husband appreciated me hungrily pilfering his fries since I had no food!)
Anyway, my chicken sandwich consisted of a crispy chicken breast, onion straws, BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, and bacon (which my husband promptly stole from my sandwich and ate for himself). I wasn't too impressed with my sandwich. The chicken's breading was flavorful, but the chicken itself seemed to be overcooked (very dry and not juicy). That wouldn't have been as much of a problem if there had been sufficient BBQ sauce on it to provide moisture, but there was hardly any sauce on the sandwich at all (I couldn't even taste it and could barely see it when I opened the sandwich to look for it). The cheese was only half melted. The onion straws were ok, but only served to add to the sandwich's dryness. Overall, pretty disappointing.
My husband thought his Steel City Burger was just okay, and he noted that it was supposed to come with blue cheese, but there was barely any on his burger. It's nice that they're trying to make their burgers more gourmet, but if they skimp on the pricey ingredients, it kind of defeats the point. I do like that they use local BBQ Stu sauce on the Steel City Burger. We've met Stu at several food events, and he's a good guy, so kudos to Smashburger for supporting his business.
The highlight of our meals were the smashfries (both regular and sweet potato). They were crispy with just the right amount of rosemary, garlic, and olive oil flavors that worked well together. The Butterfinger milkshake to end the meal was also pretty tasty...thick and creamy with sufficient pieces of the candy in it.
Service was mixed. The cashier (Amber) was very friendly and hardworking, handling the long line with grace, even when customers kept coming up to her and interrupting her work. However, behind her were two food runner ladies who clearly didn't have enough to do, as they were goofing around and shooting balled-up paper receipts or napkins or something into a trash can. Our poor cashier kept staring daggers at them, and I can't say that I blame her....it sucks to work hard when others around you are slacking off. It seems like it would've been more efficient to have one of those ladies open up a second register, but what do I know?
So, overall, the food was average but not great....probably 3 star food. What makes me rate it a 2.5 overall is the value for the price. For 2 meals (sandwich, fries, drink) and a shake, we were pushing $30 total. That's only a little less than what we normally would spend at Burgatory, and the quality is much lower at Smashburger. For its price point, I think Smashburger probably needs to up its food game to be competitive (and perhaps make a few service tweaks as well).
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