Update August 18, 2014:
Since the last review, we’ve been back to Smashburger a few times. I must say that Smashburger has definitely grown on me during these visits. The burgers are definitely delicious, more of an upscale fast-food class than a true sit-in burger restaurant. My final score is 3.5 from an initial 3.0 experience and is definitely worth the short drive to get to.
I was pretty excited to check out Smashburger after browsing their web site to visually satisfy my burger craving for the week. Because of wedding, road trips and other commitments, our burger adventure took a three week hiatus. Smashburger’s claim to fame is their unique cooking style: just like their namesake, smashing fresh 100% certified Angus ground beef balls into burger patties and cooking them until they are well done. Basically doing everything against text book burger grilling. They seemed pretty confident on their web site and photos of their burger looked pretty delectable. We decided to pay Smashburger a visit for lunch before trekking down south to the Angel Stadium of Anaheim to watch the Los Angeles Angels play against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the preseason Freeway Series exhibition game. Smashburger is located inside the Redondo Shores shopping plaza in Redondo Beach, CA along Pacific Coast Highway.
So was a better burger born? Quite honestly, I had higher expectations and felt let down. I ordered the Classic Smash while the wife had the Truffle Mushroom Swiss. The burgers are available in two sizes, regular and Big. The default bun is Smashburger’s egg bun, which is basically a brioche bun. Substitutions include multi-grain bun, chipotle bun or lettuce wrap. Burgers arrived in a wire tray, top bun separated from the rest of the stack. Service was average, but quick and attentive. Nothing more to note beyond that.
Burgers arrive with the buns and veggies separated
Classic Size Classic Smash
So here I go, ordering the regular size (aka classic size) Classic Smash, $5.39. It’s just your typical classic all American cheeseburger: certified 100% Angus beef, lettuce, red onion, tomatoes, dill pickle chips, green leaf lettuce, ketchup, yellow mustard, American cheese all between an egg bun. When the burger arrived, I was amazed. Amazed at how small the “regular” size is, I mean if you’ve ever had a cheeseburger from McDonalds, it’s about roughly the same size, maybe just a tad bigger. I was also amazed at how incredibly greasy this little bad boy was when it was delivered. The whole bun was just slathered in grease and the burger patty itself was just totally greasy and oozing oil and burger juice, or perhaps just only oil?
For a burger that was prepared by smashing and cooked to well done, I am surprise that it didn’t tastes as dry as it should’ve been, unlike Five Guys Burgers and Fries. No, it actually tasted pretty decent for a quick burger bite. What about the fluffy egg bun brioche wannabe bun depicted on their web site, you ask? The following photo speaks for itself:
Classic Smash cheeseburger
I mean, what the heck is that?! The egg bun doesn’t even look like a fraction of the gorgeous fluffy brioche bun they show on their web site. Now way in Hades. Just look at the photo, both the top and bottom buns barely compare to the thickness of the smashed out patty! I mean when I said it looked like a souped-up McDonald’s cheeseburger, I wasn’t kidding! No wonder it’s called Smashburger, the burger’s all smashed up, buns and patty! And it didn’t take long to finish either, my wife finished her Truffle Mushroom Swiss burger in less than 4 minutes while I took my time and came in at 6 minutes. My burger chaser was a bottle of Ballast Point Pale Ale. My verdict is while the cheeseburger was neither great nor bad, it’s definitely not worth driving back to, even if it’s only a few miles away and in the nicer area of the South Bay.
Truffle Mushroom Swiss
The Truffle Mushroom Swiss burger swings in at $6.39, is prepared just like the Classic Smash and delivered in the exact fashion, except the main ingredients are a bit different. The ingredient line-up include Truffle mayo, a pinch of sautéed baby portabella mushrooms and aged swiss all also on an egg bun. Wait, what? A pinch of portabella mushrooms? Yes. If I’d had to guess, they probably just sliced up one plump baby portabello mushroom with a mandolin slicer. Just look at the photo:
Truffle Mushroom Swiss burger
The verdict for the Truffle Mushroom Swiss burger is, it’s a downer. Just a thin smashed meat patty covered with a thin slice of Swiss cheese over a pinch of sliced portabella mushrooms and a squirt of truffle flavored mayo.
Smashburger is far from smashing.
Smashburger
http://www.smashburger.com
409 N Pacific Coast Hwy, Ste. 110
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
310-347-4656
Hours
Daily: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM