Second up in our parade of Texas fast-food joints is smashburger. I tried the Classic: normally lettuce,
tomato, onion, cheese, pickles and smash sauce over a single patty, I ordered mine easy on the onions (still
a little scarred from WHATABURGER) and easy on the smash sauce. It was excellent. smashburger's thing is
that their burgers start as meatballs that get smashed onto the grill using weights. The "smash" creates
lovely crispy edges on the patties — and THAT, in my opinion, is the true smash sauce.
I didn't really understand their fries. They looked wet. My wife, who had more than I, mentioned she
could taste some very nice spices on them, suggesting they're tossed in some sort of oil. Other reviews
online confirm the fries are tossed in olive oil with rosemary and garlic (she mentioned detecting the
rosemary and garlic at the restaurant). Guess I'll give them another try later.
Overall, I found smashburger's product superior to WHATABURGER. Comparing the two, the WHATABURGER
product is larger — about the size of a Whopper®. The smashburger was smaller, on par in diameter
to a Big Mac®. I thought the meat had better flavor, plus the sear. The vegetables on the
smashburger were sliced, not diced — true of the onions, anyway. Both brands offer sliced tomatoes.
As for buns, hon, I was impressed by how flat the WHATABURGER buns were — the smashburger buns are
egg buns which also didn't seem particularly bready.
So that's what's up with the smashburger.
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