Popular U.S. “better burger” chain Smashburger opens its doors July 3, 2013 in Sherwood Park at #530, 5000 Emerald Drive. This this will be Smashburger’s 3rd location in Alberta to go along with the 2 locations in Calgary.

Smashburger gets its name from the “smash” method of cooking, whereby the burgers are smashed onto the flat-top which created a delicious crust on the outside of the patty. Incidentally, this is my own preferred method of cooking burgers, so that’s a wink and a nudge in Smashbuger’s favour before even the first bite.

Smashburger has a common thread throughout all their locations, and that is their commitment to customizing their menu to reflect each location’s food culture. For example, the menu in South Carolina features the Carolina Chili burger and fried pickles, the New Orleans location features the NOLA burger plus Debris fries* (Debris is a Louisiana specialty of shredded beef and gravy)  and Nutterbutter shakes. What a smart way to endear themselves to each local market.

You could waste away an afternoon reading all the different concoctions at various U.S locations (don’t ask me how I know that).

So how is Smashburger going to win you over, Sherwood Park, Edmonton, and area?

How about the Edmonton burger, for starters. Beef or chicken, grilled onions, cheddar, bbq sauce, and a fried egg served on a kaiser roll. Sounds good, right? There are a number of other “Edmonton Specific” tweaks to the menu, such as the availability of Poutine, a Truffle Mushroom Swiss burger, and perhaps the biggest virtual butt-kiss, the Haagen-Dazs Saskatoon Berry shake!

Now that we’ve waded through the hype and propaganda, why don’t we get down to what’s really important here…. the food.

Skipping the build your own burger option, I tried the aforementioned Edmonton Burger, with a side of poutine. The poutine was pretty typical fast food poutine, which is to say it was ok. You’re probably not going to get crazy midnight cravings for the stuff, but for a fast food side it’s pretty good.

Smashburger Poutine

On your burger you can get the big patty, or a smaller one. As you might expect, I got the big one. The bun was nice and soft, and the burger looked like a sombrero the way it dwarfed the bun. With all that melted cheese, bbq sauce, and runny egg yolk, this was a glorious, run-down-your-arm kind of burger.

Needless to day, I loved it.

The Edmonton Burger at Smashburger

My wife, Robyn, went for the Avocado Club burger with the Smash Fries. This burger is served on a Multigrain bun, and is topped with avocado, applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, ranch and mayo. This one wasn’t as big of a hit as mine, mostly due to it’s lack of sauciness. With it having no cheese, and being quite light on the ranch/ mayo, I found it a bit dry and since multigrain buns tend to be a little on the dry side typically as well, it wasn’t helping.

I did talk to someone else who order the chicken version and she seemed to enjoy it, so perhaps Robyn just got a bit short-changed on the sauce for hers.

Avocado Club

Robyn’s Smash Fries were  a split decision at our table. A couple people thought they were good, and a couple weren’t a fan of the shoestring size. The flavour was good, and I like the addition of a hint of rosemary to spice them up a bit. If you’ve had the fries at Earls and like them, you’ll like these. I found them very similar.

Our pig-out partners for the evening, Owen and Bronwyn, both got the Smash Fries as well, but different burgers. Owen really enjoyed his Spicy Baja, with fresh jalapenos, guacamole, pepper jack, lettuce, tomato, onion, and chipotle mayo on a spicy chipotle bun. Bronwyn also  really enjoyed her Truffle Mushroom Swiss burger, which is truffle mayo, sauteed baby portobello mushrooms, and aged swiss on an egg bun.

I have to say, this burger was just oozing cheese and sauce, and I was drooling from across the table.

Did Owen like his Spicy Baja? Hmmm, kind of hard to tell.

Smashburger inspires love!

In an effort to provide a full report on Smashburger (and totally not just to be a greedy glutton) I decided to try a couple of the chicken offerings. I was pretty confident I’d be able to solicit some help eating them, and I was not wrong.

Top: Chicken Truffle Mushroom
Bottom: Beef Truffle Mushroom

We got the BBQ Bacon and Cheddar with Haystack Onion Rings on an egg bun, and the chicken version of the Truffle Mushroom Swiss. The egg bun, by the way, was judged our favourite bun of the night at our table. The chicken was pounded thin, and was noticeably smaller than it’s beefy cousin. The flavours were all there, but unless you have some weird aversion to red meat, I’d stick with the traditional burger. It was just flat out more satisfying.

Bacon Cheddar Chicken Burger

The last menu item we got to sample was the Veggie Frites. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have ordered them if not for the glowing recommendation they received from our friend Karlynn, the Kitchen Magpie.

Essentially, the veggie frites are raw carrots and green beans, flash fried, and sprinkled with seasonings. They were really quite tasty, and we found ourselves unable to stop snacking on them. I actually enjoyed them more than the normal fries. I did hear one other diner complain of too much salt on his batch, but a little more consistency in the seasoning will probably come with more services under their belts.

Veggie Frites

Samples of milkshakes were making their rounds and I got to try the Saskatoon berry shake. To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan. It all comes down to the fact there are big chunks of berry in it, and if it’s served with a straw, I don’t want chunks in it that don’t go through the straw. Also, the sample size was far to small to be able to get a good read on the flavour. I’m definitely going to have to try another flavour of the full sized shake when we go back.

Smashburger seems poised to give Five-Guys a run for their money when it comes to the burger market in Sherwood Park, and with possible Edmonton locations on the horizon, we can all have another option to satisfy our burger cravings.

* Note to self: get to New Orleans, stat. The Debris Fries sound awesome.

~~~~~

Want to try out Smashburger for yourself? I’ve got $20 in gift certificates to give away***  and to be eligible you just have to follow 2 incredibly simple steps.

1- Like “Baconhound” on Facebook. Use this handy link! CLICK HERE

2- “Share” this post from the Baconhound page onto your own facebook page. You must do BOTH to qualify.

Boom! You’re in!

*** Winner will be drawn Friday afternoon, so you can use your new-found loot this weekend! If you already “like”  the facebook page, you need only share the post and you’re in.