A Preview of Smashburger

 

San Jose gets excited about new places opening, even if it's a chain restaurant. Say what you want about us but we are very welcoming, unless you want to open a bikini bar, then maybe the neighbors won't bring over a home made pie for you. Luckily Smashburger is a Denver based, family oriented fast casual dining restaurant so we gladly rolled out the welcome mats.

The new San Jose location on Coleman is Smashburger's first store in the Bay Area. Potrero Hill, San Francisco is opening up in a few weeks and that will be the second Bay Area location. The company runs on a mixed franchise and corporate owned model. The San Jose location will be owned by corporate and not by a franchisee. The burgers are made from fresh Certified Angus Beef patties, never frozen, and smashed on a 400 degree grill to lock in the juices. To explain this, I created this brief but informative collage with a special guest appearance by the hands of David Prokupek, CEO of Smashburger.

I hope that sufficiently explains why it's called a Smashburger. Smashburger developed different burgers for different regions. The Bay Burger is our little baby and here's what's in it.

Here's the real deal in all it's mushroomy goodness. Baby arugula and truffle mayo at a fast casual burger restaurant? Fancy. This was really good. You can also ask for chicken in any of your burgers here.

In the interest of brevity and because I forgot the names and details of many of these burgers, here are a series of photos that do little justice to the deliciousness of the burgers. I also want to dismiss you early to go wipe the drool from your mouth.

(Left) Spicy Baja burger with veggie frites

(Right) Classic Smashburger with smash fries

The classic Smashburger is actually very good. One of my favorites

Something with bacon and onion rings

Something with bacon and avocado

The same sandwich from above but now replaced with smashed chicken. Yes, chicken breast is also smashed. It's nice not biting into stringy dried chicken breast even if it's this awkward looking large flat shape. Taste > Appearances, except when you're reading a food blog where all you have are words and photos. Just trust me, it's good.

It's peanut butter jelly time! PB&J smoothie that is. When I first posted this on Instagram, I called it a PB&J shake. Then I thought no way is there jelly in here. Well I was wrong again. The jelly comes from a combination of the strawberry smoothie in a peanut butter smoothie. Hella good but oreo smoothie is still better.

My healthy friends, good news for you. You also have to option to order any of the above burgers on a salad instead. Want a vegetarian blackbean patty burger on a salad? You got it. For the lo-carb folks.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
A complete meal at Smashburger will cost you about $8-10. The burgers are around $5.99 and you can order a larger size for $1 more. The sides are about $3 each. They have a wide selection of sides which is nice for those of us who don't like fries. A few unique offerings were fried pickles, sweet potato fries (a media preview crowd favorite), and my personal favorite - the veggie frites because they taste the least like fries and the most like vegetables. The plaza on Coleman is already a great destination for families and Smashburger will fit perfectly.

I had the chance to chat with David Prokupek, the CEO of Smashburger and asked him why he chose San Jose for the first Bay Area location? In a nutshell, we fit their demographic. Smashburger is a place for the hardworking family with little time, varying taste buds, and who are conscious of the healthier options. There are options for vegetarians, beef lovers, beef haters, and carbohydrate haters. They also serve Gordon Biersh beer, a nod to the South Bay brewery, for all you stressed out dads taking your family there for dinner on a Friday night. You can take the edge off without going to a bar. *wink*

David Prokupek also viewed Smashburger's competition as places other than just burger restaurants. First, you have to entice people to want burgers instead of something else. The South Bay is a perfect place for Smashburger. Plenty of hardworking families with little time here.

Learn more about Smashburger