Smashburger

Compared to burger 21 there is no comparison.
Chicken tenders were dry and totally overcooked.
The burger buns seemed tough. Shake was pretty good and the fries. The main course, no not so much. Burger 21 is fresh and delish!

Pricey but delicious! My husband loved it. His new favorite burger joint. I had the New Yorker-​YUM!

Fantastic veggie burger (black bean) with avocodas and options to customize your own veggies. Shakes are unbelievable. Perfect place for a quick bite

Health inspector would have a field day here! Dirty floor, buckets of water next to utensils with employees dipping cloths in and out carelessly. Employees look disheveled and not very friendly. One employee had her hands in her mouth and did not wash them after! YUCK.
Food was mediocre, fries were decent but burger was nothing special.
If I was not with others I would have walked in and right out due to the look of things right off the bat.
I’ll choose making my own delicious burger at home over going back to this place.

Good burger, quick service.
Fries not my favorite.
I’ve been twice
Would go again.

My wife and I went here for dinner because «the owl» across the street was busy. SO glad we did! This place has the best burgers I’ve ever tasted from fast food. So many options for custom burgers. My wife and I have never been to one before, but now we’re hooked!

The New Yorker burger was just okay. The patty itself was just a glorified Burger King patty. The aioli didn’t have much flavor. Honestly, Red Robin has better burgers.
The smash fries were great! Crispy with lots of flavor.
We got a chocolate shake that was really disappointing. They advertise that they use Haagen-​Dazs ice cream which is great, but they don’t use chocolate ice cream! It was just vanilla ice cream with lots of chocolate syrup. No thanks. Won’t be back.

Went here for some work colleges after a long day at training meetings. We were looking for something close by too our hotel because we were all pretty exhausted. I had never heard of Smash Burger and didn’t know it was a chain restaurant.
Browsing through their menu it was a fairly standard burger joint with their signature sandwiches and and option to create your own. I opted for a no frills bacon cheese burger and it was alright. Wasn’t great, but didn’t disgust me by any means. I was allowed a per diem for food and don’t feel the need to max it out at this place, even though I could have. Their just wasn’t enough there to entice me.
All in all I would say this place is something you’ll drive by from time to time and stop there on one of those «Haven’t been there in a while» feelings. If I lived in the Albany Area I don’t feel I would say «Let’s go to Smash Burger!» To many times.

Tried for the first time last night when I was hungry for a quick bite. I had been holding off visiting due to the overwhelming amount of negative reviews. I was actually pleasantly surprised…
It was pretty late when we attended, probably about a half hour before closing time, and it was dead. I think there was one other party in the restaurant. The young man working seemed pretty aloof, but was friendly nonetheless. We waited probably 5 minutes for our food to arrive which was not bad. One thing to note was that the restaurant was pretty dirty. Leftover food and trays on multiple tables, garbage on the floors. For being dead, someone should have been actively cleaning while we were there.
Ordered the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger and the fries with rosemary and olive oil. The burger was tasty and juicy, but not very big. I tasted the bacon and fried onions moreso than the burger itself. The fries were tasty, but a little bit too thin for my liking.
Overall, I left feeling satisfied, but not amazed. I would go back if I’m in need of a burger fix. Next time I’ll try the larger burger and buffalo fries :)

Smashburger is a fast, casual burger spot that also offers salads, fries, and shakes. After placing and paying for the order, you’ll receive a number to place upon your table when dining in so that staff can deliver your food. During a busy lunch hour, I was surprised to find the wait time wasn’t long at all… maybe 6−8mins total. We ordered the BBQ, Bacon + Cheddar burger, Bacon Cheeseburger, a side of Smash fries (olive oil + rosemary), and a side of Haystack Onions.
The burgers were very juicy and cooked to our liking. I usually order my beef to be between medium rare and medium. At some locations this expectation is hard to meet but fortunately not an issue here. They offer a few kinds of buns– I chose to keep the egg bun the menu recommended and it was great. The rosemary and olive oil fries really hit the spot! Although some might say it is too rich or too greasy, I loved it and it is well worth the calories! You really can’t go wrong with rosemary and olive oil. The Haystack onions were simply shoestring onion straws with a lightly fried batter. I am the kind of person that likes the haystack onions on the side more than atop a burger. and will end up picking out them onions before eating my burger if that is the case.
Overall a nice and quick burger spot that can satisfy one’s burger craving. Will be back to try other burgers and the «veggie fries».

Zena, Goddess of Fire, and Pony, did a 20-​napkin burger lunch at Smashburger yesterday.
I did a 2040 calorie superhero attack on a Classic Smashburger (the big one), a side of sweet potato fries and a chocolate shake. The shake was at least 12 ounces of awesome — an easy fight to put that one away. I liked that it was served in a frosted glass. The sweet potato fries were nice and crispy and not at all greasy or salty — some of the best I’ve had.
But that burger wasn’t what I expected, and I almost lost the fight. Stuff was squirting out in all directions. The bun got soggy and fell apart. Pickles plopped out creating panic. And honestly, though tender, it just tasted like ketchup and onions and pickles. Lots of ketchup. WAY too much ketchup. Next time I’ll ask them NOT to put ketchup on my burger and I’ll do that at the table.
Pony did 1540 calories in her good fight: Bacon Cheeseburger, fries, fried pickles, and a Sprite. The pickles were a really really salty but good — the coating was actually stuck to the pickle, which isn’t something you see too often. The fries were good, shoestrings, crispy, OK. But that burger??? It tasted like ketchup and onions. Yep, not bacon (two little pieces) or cheese (Uh-​merican and flavorless). Again, the toppings took over, sort of like the forces of evil if you let them. The beef may be better quality than «drive-​thru» but you’d hardly know it.
I like the build your own option and will try that next time.
No onions.
No ketchup.
Love, Zena

On occasion, you’ll find a restaurant on Unilocal that has a 4 or 4 ½ star rating and the food is crap. It’s one of the problems with Unilocal.It’s unavoidable. Sometimes Unilocal lets you down.
Smashburger has the opposite problem.
A burger chain that serves great burgers and chicken, with high quality, fresh ingredients and Unilocalers don’t like it. And for the life of me I don’t get it. I’m perplexed and saddened that I have to – yet again – update my review in defense of Smashburger and set the record straight.
Maybe I’ve been lucky. Maybe every time I’ve been it’s been a fluke (6 visits now). I’ve not experienced any of the service or cleanliness issues other reviews complain about. The staff has always been just fine, and our food has always come out quickly and without issue.
And what’s the the lack of love for the burgers? Look, Smashburger is a different style to Five Guys (which many reviews compare it to). Admittedly I love Five Guys, but the two are not comparable. They are not serving the same product. Smashburger is about quality, fresh ingredients. Five Guys is about greasy, flavorful beef. The toppings are secondary and not of nearly as high quality as Smashburger.
The New Yorker burger is great. Caramelized onions, fresh baby spinach and NY State cheddar.
My wife loves the spinach, cucumber & goat cheese chicken sandwich. It’s fantastic. Again, the veggies are always fresh and it comes with a generous amount of goat cheese, and a large, thin, tender, chicken filet.
Go ahead, go to Five Guys, and ask for baby spinach and goat cheese on your burger, or, ask for a good quality NY State cheddar, and a brioche bun. Oh, and while you’re at it, request rosemary on your fries.
Let me know how that works out for you.
By the way, rosemary and potatoes are a match made in heaven.
Look, my point is not to denigrate Five Guys or other burger joints. My intention is to point out what Smashburger is, and why it’s good. And it is good. It’s very good.
Don’t come to Smashburger expecting a big greasy burger. Come expecting a quality burger with high quality toppings.
Did I mention they use Häagen-​Dazs ice cream in their shakes? You do realize Häagen-​Dazs is a super-​premium brand of ice cream don’t you? And is arguably the best national brand of ice cream you can buy? Smashburger has that going for it too.

Not a huge fan — staff seemed ambivalent, floors were sticky (HUGE pet-​peeve of mine at restaurants), and food was mediocre. The bun was dry and the hamburger patty was unevenly cooked — well done in some spots and very pink in others.
The fries were okay. I liked the idea of rosemary on the fries, but the execution wasn’t as good as the idea.

This place is pretty good. The burger wasn’t as flavorful as I hoped. The portion of avocado was hardly visible — such tiny slices!
After going to Burger21, where they take a temperature and have such huge slabs of good cheese and avocado, Smashburger was disappointing.
I think I’d pick that or Five Guys over Smashburger, but I am happy to have another boutique burger joint in the Albany area. Keep em coming!

Oh MY!!! What an explosion of flavour!
The spinach, cucumber, and goat cheese on Grilled chicken was AMAZInG!!!
Not sure the secret on the grilled chicken, but it alone is fantastic!
I sure hope I find another one of these Smashburgers on my next journey!!!
Excellent flavors, great local choice menus…
A new favorite on the list!!!
Excellent service from the staff as well!

It’s okay, but not quite right. I’m still a fan of juicy burger and five guys. The hamburger is fresh and the have a good choice of semi non red meat choices, but the price you pay here should the meat be buffalo or bison, Angus beef.

OK, it’s Halloween night and you don’t want to go home because you don’t have any candy to hand out to trick or treaters. You’re not up for doing the Monster Mash, so where you going to go? Smash Burger!
They now have had plenty of time to get their act together since their mid-​August opening so it seemed like a good time for our first visit.
First surprise? The place is not busy at 7:20 pm. There are customers at only one other table and another customer is picking up an order to go.
First disappointment? You can’t see in the kitchen to know if your burger actually got smashed. How do you know you’re getting what you paid for.
I ordered the New Yorker Smash regular ($ 6.39). It seems that they create various regional burgers to emphasize unique «local» preferences or flavors. Someone at Corporate apparently believes that New Yorkers prefer their burgers with NY cheddar, garlic grilled onions, spinach, tomato and peppercorn garlic aioli on a brioche bun. What they don’t realize is that New Yorkers, at least this one, would also like to taste the beef in the burger. Maybe if I had ordered the «BIG BURGER» version for $ 1 more I would have tasted the beef. But so it goes with my second disappointment.
My wife ordered the Truffle Mushroom Swiss Smash regular ($ 6.39). This burger is topped with truffle mayo, sautéed crimini mushrooms, and aged Swiss on an egg bun. Comparing the two burgers we noticed how much more salty mine tasted vs. my wife’s. Disappointment number three was that both burgers had a fair amount of oil dripping from them. This is not to be confused with a juicy burger. When you cook your burgers this well done you cannot rely upon the natural juices of the meat to provide both the moisture and flavor that are a prerequisite of a good burger.
Surprise number two was how quickly our burgers were brought to our table. Others might consider this a plus for the restaurant. But I have to identify this as contributing to disappointment number four since there was only enough time between our ordering and receiving our food for the staff to assemble pre-​cooked meat patties with the appropriate toppings.
Finally, we tried both the Sweet Potato Fries ($ 2.49) and the Smash Fries ($ 2.29). Surprise number three was that the Rosemary on the Smash Fries was not over powering, and the olive oil and garlic seemed just about right. The sweet potato fries were OK, no surprises or disappointments. We also shared a large fountain drink ($ 2.49).
While the restaurant was clean, including the restroom, I don’t see us rushing back. If we don’t choose to eat at a locally run establishment and decide again to visit a burger chain, it’s likely to be that one founded by a handful of guys.

Update now that we have, as promised, tried the kids and vegetable parts of the menu.
The burgers are as in our previous review: still a cut below Five Guys (not a fan of the egg bun), and the fries, without the rosemary, are stringy and not to our taste (with the rosemary, they’re moderately tasty but still have a funny texture).
That said, the side options off burgers and fries have propelled this up a star. The salads are made with actual green stuff — real spinach in the spinach salad — and the crispy beans and carrots dish, as the sole veggie side, is excellent and quite solid (reminiscent of a sort of spice-​free Chinese-​style green beans done on a hot wok). The milk shakes are *real* shakes — tasting noticeably like the only ingredients are milk and ice cream. The kids meals also proved decent — good grilled cheese.
Bonus features I didn’t notice before: they have Cholula as a condiment; and they have beers, actual beers, for sale, not something you find at the usual fast food burger joint.
We also tested them on a super busy night, and after waiting a bit in line, they made up for it by having extremely fast service out of the kitchen, and as ever prompt and friendly food delivery and bus service to the tables. It is an excellent halfway point between a Red Robin-​style sit-​down (with the need for tips, etc.) and typical fast food. Yeah, so what, we had to wait in line again to order shakes. It was still faster than waiting for a server and then waiting on the kitchen.

Summary–
Pretty darn good burger but nothing out of this world. I still prefer Five Guys for a chain burger, mostly due to the juiciness of their smaller patties and their fries, which I prefer the style of.
Love that they have cholula hot sauce and honest tea. I also like that they clear the tables for you.
Food– 3 Stars
Got a avocado club burger.
Decent not great burger. Patty was cooked through they don’t give you option, it was OK if not a touch flavorless. Too much mayo on the bun.
Great shoestring fries but they are a bit greasy for sure.
Service– 4 Stars
Super fast when I was there, and friendly enough.
Drinks– 2 Stars
Everything pales in comparison to the mega coke machines that give you 40 million options.
Atmosphere– 3 Stars
Not bad inside, kinda typical fast casual place. Clean, but its new so that’s hard to gauge.

I was eager to try this place out despite its chain status. I got the NY chicken burger, which was piled with greasy onions. A mistake on my part since I’m not a huge onion fan to begin with. The chicken party was a little strange, flat and irregularly shaped. It tasted good though. My husbands jalapeño burger was much better.
They also had salads on the menu that looked good.
Highlights: the fries were fantastic, skinny seasoned fries with garlic and herbs. We got a salted caramel shake that was to die for!!! Service is quick, you order then they bring it to your table. We got our meal within about 10 min.
Low points: burger wasn’t really anything special. Ambience was a little hectic and loud.