Smashburger
Smashburger.com
Locations in Del Mar, Downtown, Kearny Mesa, La Jolla, Mission Valley, Rancho Peñasquitos and Oceanside
My husband, John, sons Roy, 11, Leo, 9, and I reunited after work on Friday at Smashburger. We were curious—Smashburger’s name describes its proprietary method of smashing and searing the fresh, never frozen 100-percent certified Angus beef on the grill. The atmosphere was inviting, with friendly greetings, slick red décor, peppy—but not hyper—music and high-backed, cushioned booths. Shaded, outdoor seating is available.
We wavered between tried-and-true combinations and bolder flavor options. Our burgers and salad were delivered to our booth in about 15 minutes and the hot fries arrived minutes later—impressive, considering the quantity of our order.
Leo ordered the Create Your Own Burger ($4.29) with BBQ sauce, grilled onions (no extra charge) and Swiss cheese (extra $.75). Roy ordered the Classic burger ($4.99). Both boys declared their burgers among the best they’d had and after they shared a bite with me, I agreed. The patties and tomatoes were juicy and flavorful, the lettuce crisp, the butter-toasted egg buns super fresh. We used lots of napkins; these are whole-face-messy, generous-toppings-falling-on-plate burgers.
I had the Black Bean Veggie Burger ($5.29), and can vouch for the superiority of this handcrafted patty seared on the grill compared with the prepackaged frozen variety. The veggie burger can be ordered as any of the burger or chicken recipes. I chose the San Diego with fresh avocado, cilantro and onions, pepper jack, sour cream and spicy chipotle mayo on a torta roll. Yum!
John ordered the Sunset Salad ($5.99; add chicken for $2.00), and was pleased with the mix of fresh greens, tomatoes, raisins, dried cranberries, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and blue cheese with balsamic vinaigrette. John and I shared the veggie burger and salad, enough for a satisfying meal. My only complaint was that the salad was overdressed for my taste. The abundant blue cheese, though, was a plus.
My nitpick about the salad was more than forgiven during our delectable feast of fries. We ordered the signature Smashfries and sweet potato Smashfries (both tossed with rosemary, olive oil and garlic), classic French fries (sea salt seasoned, shoestring-cut russet potatoes) and Haystack Onions (served with spicy chipotle mayo), all devoured with abandon to the very last. The Haystack Onions were the biggest hit—super-thin-sliced and crispy—they are a different animal from standard onion rings.
Good news! All menu items are low in trans-fats, and the fries, dipping sauces and dressings have (gasp) zero grams of trans fats. The haystack onions have one gram of trans fat.
For dessert we shared two shakes—Chocolate with Oreo topping and Strawberry—and a root beer float, served with a bottle of IBC root beer. We were most impressed with the frosty mug root beer float. The milkshakes were pretty good, but the taste was puzzlingly reminiscent of powdered breakfast drinks.
Smashburger has gourmet-quality food and superb customer service without feeling pretentious or breaking the budget. Our total for four came to about $45, and we feasted; we could have eaten very well here for less. Smashburger was the perfect place to reconnect and relax. When the burger urge strikes again, we’ll be back.
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Ondine Brooks Kuraoka writes from her home in San Carlos. Her family enjoys culinary adventures of all kinds.