By Sydia Bell and Timothy George
Denver-based Smashburger has opened its first Atlanta location at 2625 Piedmont Road, former home of the failed Fat Burger. This location is the first of 20-plus scheduled to open in the city within the next three to five years. The burgers are tasty, but we’re not quite sure if Smashburger will make a dent in an over-crowded arena of burger eateries with Five Guys across the street and Flip, Yeah!Burger and Grindhouse just a couple miles away.
We sampled the BBQ, Bacon, Cheese burger ($5.99 to $6.99 depending on which size you orderΒ β 1/3 or 1/2 pound) with the peach BBQ sauce. Good, but not groundbreaking. We also tried the signature Smashfries seasoned with rosemary, garlic and olive oil and fried pickles ($1.99 with sandwich or $2.99 if ordered individually). Again, good, but not exactly memorable. Do you see a theme emerging?
The biggest problem with Smashburger is that it doesn’t provide customers with anything different and it’s nothing more than a mediocre burger house with a dΓ©cor upgrade. Sure, the burgers are made to order, but so are Wendyβs. Every franchise pridesΒ itself on delivering βcooked-to-orderβ burgers made from βrealβ meat with a selection of condiments and toppings that you can choose from, as long as you donβt mind paying for each individually. And the recently opened Smashburger is no different. Obviously, they didnβt get the memo that “fresh never frozen” meat shouldnβt be the biggest selling point you have in a city overrun in hamburger joints.
For more information visit www.smashburger.com.
It seems like the crux of your review of Smashburger is that it is no different from any of the other burger joints- but in writing with such a negative undertone, I must ask, what is is it that caused this thought?
Is it that unlike Five Guys, your food is not presented to you in a oil-soaked, half ripped brown paper bag as you tread across a floor full of discarded nut shells? And for what its worth, Five Guys is hardly any more “across the street” than Flip is from the new Farm Burger.
If you’re comparing Smashburger to Flip, you probably shouldnt get much credibility. I dont see anyone comparing Moe’s and La Fonda… Big difference between a full-service restaurant and a fast casual concept.
As for your analysis of the food, I’d love to know what about the burger makes it original. Their burgers are cooked and spiced differently than their competitors- this is readily available information as well- so I’d love to know what you guys actually thought was “wrong” with the food.
What makes the Krispy Kreme milkshake at Flip memorable and the Oreo milkshake at Smashburger pedestrian?
What makes the Grindhouse Burger, or the Five Guys Classic or the Farm Burger so different from the Atlanta Burger at Smashburger? I’m not here to say you’re right or wrong, but make an argument one way or the other with something that shows you know something about what you’re talking about.
There are 100,000 food blogs in Atlanta. I find yours to be, in your words, “not exactly memorable”. I can tell you that the reason for that is of most of the food blogs I’ve written, yours lacks perspective, insight or any clue or expertise that shows that you are qualified to be discussing the topic.
….and for the record, the “written” in the last sentence should be replace with “read” which, along with some of my other typos, shows why Im not a writer at all.. π
Just looking for some fair commentary and would like to see you present more of a review rather than just mentioning the fact that you personally were not overwhelmed.
I dropped by Smashburger on the way home from work because i had read this review and wanted to see if the burgers were mediocre. They were. I don’t know how else to describe them. They weren’t good or bad just a middle of the road hamburger.
It was juicy, seasoning was okay, bun was blah. Fried pickles are disgusting, by the way, and while the fries were interesting with the rosemary and garlic, give me Miss Ann’s secret seasoning at Ann’s Snack Bar any day. I’m not sure what you wanted these reviewers to say = reviewing a burger is not like reviewing a wine. Mediocre is mediocre.
And the last time I checked Five Guys IS across the street — it’s over in Lindbergh. Go and taste for yourself if you don’t like the review. That’s what I did. This might have been a little snarky but it hit the mark.