Smashburger - Kearny Mesa

Wow, for a while there seemed to be a Smashburger opening every week in San Diego. Heck, I know that FOY (Friend of Yoso) and fellow food blogger Kirbie seemed to be going to a sneak peek event every week for a while. Cathy also did a nice post on the place. Me???? Well, I'm not one for media events and I kinda just take my sweet old time....being kinda slow and all that. For a while it seemed like Smashburger was into full court press marketing mode and they really seemed to do a good job at it. For some reason, the more hype, the less I'm inclined to really get excited about something...it's not always true, but most of the time..... Now things have calmed down and I thought I'd really get an honest meal and see what Smashburger is all about. Hmmmm, is the bloom off the rose?

The Kearny Mesa location is fairly close, so I tohught I'd check them out.

The decor is what I now call classic "fast-casual"...it might have been the lighting, but the carpets here seemed to be kinda stained in a few places....not a bad thing. Heck, if it's burger juice flowing on those carpets...I'm all for adding that element!

Smashburger claims 100% Angus Beef, which I think is great. They also claim to "smash" the beef onto the griddle which has been brushed with butter. Perhaps not the greatest thing, since you can squeeze the juices out of the burger. And yet, I recall the rather thin pressed patties from diners and bowling alleys of my youth which made up for that short coming with a nice crisp exterior.

I really wanted to taste the burger so I went with a Classic ($4.29). I also got some Smash Fries and a drink which totaled out at $8.80.

Now, I thought this looked kinda puny for a burger, but heck it's Angus Beef, right? Never frozen, etc, etc, etc.... It's great to fall in love with an idea and all. The burger didn't really have a nice crust on it and was rather dry. The flavor was pretty weak for certified Angus. I did love the roll, which was moist, bready (in a good way), and somewhat buttery.

I also really enjoyed the fries which were still almost sizzling when the young man brought it to my table. These were seasoned with rosemary, garlic, and olive oil. I thought the flavor was nicely balanced...though I love tons of garlic, I appreciated the restrained hand of all the flavors. The crisp texture didn't hurt either.

Love the fries....the burger, well, was ok.....

I ended up returning a couple of weeks later and wasn't really paying attention when I ordered the Chicago Dog, which turned out to be the same price as my previous burger ($4.29)

In this case, the roll was much too bready for the dog, which had been split and griddled. Wrong relish, which also tasted wrong and lack of celery salt made this a Chicago Dog in name only. The dog was dense, it reminded me of a Bison Dog I had recently, though the flavor was very mild. At least the sport peppers were decent......

Since I love onions so much, I ordered the Haystack Onions ($1.99) which I might have really enjoyed if they weren't cold, greasy, and slightly burnt, which made this bitter.

Well, one out of four, not that great for me. Maybe the burger just wasn't right on my first visit...or maybe it does have to be buried in toppings? I dunno....

Smashburger - Kearny Mesa
3737 Murphy Canyon Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Comments

[TFD]

Certified Angus huh? Do they have grass-fed burger or hot dog? They serve those at Long Meadow in Napa.

[kat]

too bad about that place.

[Janfrederick]

Man, I *finally* got the burger thing down at home. I used to go crazy with seasoning the meat itself and really working the patties. The inner seasoning really dried things out and the overhandling made it too tight. So light assembly, decent seasoning on the outside, and a nice hot cast iron skillet, look out in-n-out. ;)

[kirbie]

I did a double take when I saw the title of this post and was wondering if maybe it was Cathy posting instead. Haha. My favorite part is definitely those fries. As for the burger, I think it is something that needs a lot of toppings and the patty isn't special enough on its own. The one I like the best is the San Diego Smash with avocados and cilantro mayo. It's also served on a torta roll which I really like. I've tried the other burgers but haven't liked them as much. If you like milkshakes, they are pretty good here too. Usually when FH and I come now, our order is fries, San Diego smash and milkshake. Believe it or not FH and I actually did stop going to the sneak peek dinners. I think we missed the last 3? It seems like a new one is still opening every month but we've gotten a little burgered out.

[Jess]

After going there many times for burgers at the sneakpeak or not, I have to say the patty is definitely not one of the best out there. I agree that it's not juicy at all, and at times hard, dry, and overseasoned. However, the San Diego burger saves it and it's difficult to find another fast food joint with one burger that can beat its amazing flavor+texture combination.

[Kirk]

Hi TFD - There are places that have that here in San Diego.

Hi Kat - I know, it's pretty close to work too!

Hi Jan - I do about the same thing. Heavily season the outside of the burger, treating it like a steak.

Hi Kirbie - I do like those fries...I like shakes, but they don't like me...lactose intolerance and all that! San Diego sure has reached critical mass with all those burger places......

Hi Jess - I guess I expected a bit more...loved the bun, thoguh I prefer not having too much stuff on my burger.

[foodhoe]

Mmmm, buttery roll and burger cooked in butter, and the garlic fries look delicious. but the return trip dog and fried onions certainly aren't very drool worthy...

[James]

Smashburger has inspired many arguments in our house. Something is keeping me from liking this place, and I can't figure out what. Once the location at College/El Cajon Blvd. opens later this year, I might be able to go more often and figure it out.

[Nerdswithfood.wordpress.com]

I'm not a huge fan of Smashburger. We had one open across the street from us in PQ and it's...alright. Don't ever get the chicken burger. It's pounded to death and then cooked to dryness. Half the time I've gotten fries, they were so darn oily. I also always feel ripped off whenever I eat there. You get a burger, a small pile of fries and a drink and it's usually going to set you back around $10. I definitely prefer Burger Lounge over Smashburger.

Have you done a burger showdown yet with the popular burger places in SD? I'm talking about Hodad's, Rocky's, Tioli's, etc. Then again, you would need a quadruple bypass afterwards.

[Kirk]

Hi FH - It was the fries that did the best for me......

Hi James - Well, maybe you'll find that you really love the place....or maybe not! ;o)

Hi NWF - For some reason I didn't find anything particularly great, except maybe the fries. They sure do a heck of a lot of marketing and media stuff, though. We used to do burger week, so you might wanna check out those posts with Hodad's, Rocky's, and stuff like that.....

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/burger-week/

We stopped this year, because there just seems to be a saturation of burger places now.

[Hot dog rollers]

As for the burger, I think it is something that needs a lot of toppings and the patty isn't special enough on its own. The one I like the best is the San Diego Smash with avocados and cilantro mayo.