Monday, January 24, 2011

Restaurant Review-SmashBurger, West Chester, Ohio

So did we really need another restaurant in West Chester, Ohio?
Classic SmashBurger
The answer is...YES, especially when the place serves a great burger! 

SmashBurger opened this past December (2010) in West Chester. I have been there three times and have enjoyed my my experience every time.

The chain originated in Denver, Colorado. I had not heard of SmashBurger until the day I saw a "Coming Soon" sign on the door of the empty space in a strip mall on Cox Road a quarter mile North of Tylersville.

My wife Tammy and I visited on opening day, and were very impressed. Usually restaurant openings can be challenging for the staff, but that visit, and our two additional visits have been very good! 

Food at SmashBurger is made to order. They take your order at the front counter, give you a number, and the food gets delivered to your table within 5 minutes or so. The menu has quite a variety of items. They serve grilled and crispy chicken sandwiches, salads and hot dogs. They also have a nice variety of side items, including haystack onions, fried pepper rings, fried pickles, and sweet potato fries. Of course they serve french fries and their house specialty, SmashFries, are tossed with rosemary, olive oil and garlic. Pretty original. And very good!

I should add that they also have milk shakes, malts and floats, all made with Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

The highlight of the menu, is of course, the burgers! SmashBurger serves 6 specialty burgers, and usually have a couple of special burgers on the menu also. They give you a choice of a 1/3 pound or 1/2 pound patty, and true to the restaurant's name, they literally smash the burger on the grill as they cook it.

My favorite burger (so far) is the Classic SmashBurger. 1/3 pound is plenty for me. It comes with American Cheese, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, onion and pickles. The toppings are crisp and very fresh. The burger is delicious, and rates two-napkins (you need two napkins nearby, as it is very juicy). In addition, they add their special SmashSauce to this particular burger. The SmashSauce is a tangy combination of mustard and mayonnaise and is a nice addition.

Be prepared for a crowd if you eat at peak dinner hours. My last visit was with two of my children (Mallory and Michael) and my wife Tammy this past Friday, January 21, 2010. The line was to the door, but ended up only being a 5 minute wait until we placed our order. Usually with this type of service you will see people send one person to the register while the rest of the party grabs a table. This can cause problems for people who have already ordered and need a table. The staff at the West Chester SmashBurger do a nice job of managing the dining room so that the people who have ordered their food get seated, thus alleviating the problem.

Sin City Burger!
One last note. I tried one of the burger specials this past Friday, the Sin City Burger, pictured above. Bacon, cheese, onion straws and SmashSauce. Oh, and a fried egg! Excellent!

SmashBurger
7598 Cox Lane
West Chester, Ohio 45069
(513) 847-4840
http://www.smashburger.com/

Smashburger on Urbanspoon

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