Smashburger

I almost forgot how chill a typical Sunday morning was in Columbia.
We were waiting for our folks to get outta church to have our last meal together before Rosa J. and hubby’s flight back to our home sweet home, the Windy City Chicago.
Smashburger wasn’t our first choice. However, the «Yummmm» restaurant attached to the Columbiana Centre had a four-​five (45) minute wait and wouldn’t let us sit in the patio. It was strange even though we didn’t bother to contest.
Smashburger was a solid choice, even though I believe the burgers and other entrees are on the pricier side. Hubby and I had a order of avocado black bean burger and a order of Carolina chili burger, a order of veggie frites, along with two (2) fountain pops featuring the Coca-​Cola freestyle machine. The total was almost $ 20.
The veggie frites were decent, but the color palette was less inspirational in my opinion. With only carrots and green beans, I was anticipating a wider variety of vegetables to spruce up the dish.
I don’t know if the «Carolina chili» burger or sandwich was a regional special. I guess I shall find out the answer to the question if I ever walk into a Smashburger location in Chicagoland.
Smashburger isn’t a particularly exciting choice of restaurant for me, yet it’s a family-​friendly joint without having to spend a fortune. For the Columbia standard, I am glad to render four (4) stars at this time.

I do love a good burger, and have come close to finding a good burger within the past 18 months or so… the kind of burger that one writes lyric odes dedicated to Helen about, the kind of burger that causes me to jump in the bitchin’ van and drive ½way across the state for, so when we were on the way out of Columbia after a day visiting the State Fair, we came across the Smashburger. Since we, surely, had completely blown our calorie allotments for the weekend, well, why not, right?
The sweet tea was fabulous, not too sweet, not too bland, nicely colored… add this to the 100+ selection cola machine and we’re off to a good start. We had two milkshakes, smash fries, standard fries, a Carolina Chili Burger, and a Spinach and Goat Cheese Burger.
The milkshakes were really good, creamy, sweet, very well balanced. The smash fries were favored over the others, and they were both pretty nice… not earthshakers, but not frozen dreck either. The burgers: I didn’t try my wife’s Spinach and Goatcheese as I do not care for goatcheese. She indicated that it was good, but thought that combination would probably be better on a chicken sandwich instead of a hamburger. My Carolina Chili Burger was good, but I’ve got to say that there was so much «stuff» on it, I could barely taste the beef, but I do have a soft spot for a pretzel bun. When I was able to start eating, though, a lot of the heat from my meal had left. Plainly put, my food was lukewarm, at best, when I got it. Big Strike against.
Finally, with a restaurant of this size, the restroom supply is NOT adequate. One single for males, one single for females? Are you serious?

Amazing burgers, reminds me of Chipotle with hamburgers. Fresh, fun, and delicious. Try the Carolina Burger my favorite so far.

Gave it a try 1^st time. Not impressed. I had the windy city burger. The burger didn’t look like the picture in the advertisement. The pretzel bread wasn’t that good but the Chipotle sause was good. The fries were small but tasty. The staff were friendly and helpfull. I think it 8s over priced for what you get. Sorry won’t be back. To many other great burger places that are cheaper.

The employee’s are absolutely rude and horrible BUT the food is always great. I recommend trying it out but just be aware you will receive horrible customer service.

Another burger chain variation has hit Columbia. One of the pluses is that you walk in and can pick up a menu at the door (as you order at the counter) and can choose what you want prior to ordering, so you’re not standing at the register trying to decide what you want to eat and tie up those behind you. Food was OK, I had ordered their grilled chicken sandwich. Only complaint was that the chicken breast was bigger than the bun. Pricing was on the expensive side. In addition to the sandwhich, I had ordered a fountain drink, and my bill came to just over $ 9 — and I did not even order fries!
Size of the location could be bigger, as this is by a busy area of town (the mall), but then again it’s part of a strip mall, so I’m sure space is limited. Parking could be tricky as well (even though I believe there’s parking behind the restaurant), but being part of one of the two strip malls, things could be busy, especially on the weekends (even though my visit was around 6:30 on a Saturday Night).

Went in to get 2 shakes and was not pleased. Paid 4.29 for each shake and they were small and only filled ²⁄₃ of the way up. The rest was whipped cream. They were not thick at all. They were like drinking milk that was a little bit thick. Won’t be getting a shake there again.

I went to Smashburger a few days ago and the food was good. I really like the fries but the service sucks and that was what put me off. I had to go back and I tell them what I was missing. The employee I asked told the cooks and she went back talking to her friend in which was not an employee after she told the cook. I gave it time because I did work in the food service years ago but I had to get the manager to help me after he took care of all the customers in the line. The employee I asked for help continue to talk her friend not caring. It I wanted to be treated like this I would have went to Mc D’s.

Yum! I don’t have time to write a long review but it was so worth the stop in Columbia. They had a huge selection and serve beer which is a plus! Will stop in again! The fries were delicious!

Burgers are good, it is overpriced though. Feels like a chain… that’s probably because it is

The food is good and they have Gluten Free buns with a dedicated fryer for GF fries. Both times I have been there, the food was good. However, the last time I was there, I was told that I should call before coming to see if they can clean the grill. Apparently the seasoning they use isn’t gluten free so they have to clean the grill to do a gluten free burger and they can’t do it if they’re busy. I was excited about GF hamburgers on this side of town but we probably won’t go often since we can’t go when it’s busy and have to call ahead to see if they can accommodate us.

Very good burger and the best fries in columbia. Also love the flavor of the grilled chicken on the avocado club. Way better than 5 guys! Will choose smash every time.

The restaurant is nice and clean, but the food is lacking. The burgers are really greasy and unseasoned. I wanted to like the burgers… I really did. Hay stack onions are likely the best item on the menu, but after a while the salt heavy batter they are coated in becomes a bit overwhelming. In the end I was wishing I would have gone to Five Guys instead. They have potential here if they would just get a chef in the kitchen to teach the crew how to make the food taste better.

Food was good and well priced. Restaurant was clean and comfy. Had burgers, shakes and fries. Would definitely go back.

Hubs and I went here on the recommendation of a friend. Both of us had a burger, and we also ordered the onion straws and their special Smash Fries.
All the food was very good. The Smash Fries are seasoned with olive oil (although it tasted like regular vegetable oil), Rosemary and garlic. They were very good, but after eating four or five of them I wanted regular fries.
They were very busy, although we did find a place to sit. The wait staff was very friendly and attentive. I would eat here again

My family and I went to Smash Burger in Irmo around 6:00 on a Wednesday.
The place was really busy but we could see that tables were available. This was our first time at SB but I made sure I knew our order before we approached the counter.
We ordered our food asking politely of the very grim looking young cashier «No mayo, please» and «No ketchup or pickles, please». We also ordered 4 drinks.
A few minutes later we realized we were not given cups for drinks. I looked at my receipt and realized the cashier didn’t add them to our order. My husband got back in line and paid for drinks. Not a cheap eat, really. Dinner totaled $ 40.
While looking at the receipt I noticed that none of our requests were printed on it. No trace of the «no mayo or ketchup or pickles». I wasn’t optimistic.
Food arrived and was covered in mayo, pickles, ketchup. However, we were also left cheese-​less! BBQ bacon cheddar burger? CHEDDAR?
The haystack onions were so incredibly salty they were inedible. Many of them were still doughy and raw in the center. (See pic)
The Smash fries were tasty but very greasy. The sweet potato fries were awesome.
The iced tea was some of the best I’ve ever had. I’m a born and bred Southern girl. I’ve consumed my weight in iced tea several times over. This is REALLY good, fresh brewed, perfectly sweetened iced tea. I would go back just to drink the tea.
They were so busy we decided to just wipe off mayo and ketchup and pickles and eat up. It wasn’t clear who the manager was. I saw another very grim looking «staff member» whose tag read «Shift Leader». She seemed to be working the ENTIRE dining room by herself. More than likely overworked and underpaid.
The employees all looked so unhappy and sad that I wondered if they all had just collectively received some horrible news right before we walked in.
I came home and wrote a note to Smash Burger telling them about our experience. I received a reply this morning written to «Janice». But my name is
Julie.
«Janice» was offered $ 20 in Smashbucks as consolation for the $ 40 disaster the night before. «Janice» was also reminded that should I not spend the entire $ 20 in Smashbucks I wouldn’t be given any cash change.
Attention to detail? Perhaps that needs to start at the management level.
Sincerely,
Julie aka JANICE
Updated review: 9÷27÷2015
Out of the four different occasions our family has ordered from Smashburger only one time did we get the correct food. It’s just too frustrating to get home with our order and find that we’ve, once again, got the wrong food.
Tonight my burger had smears of avocado all over the burger — as if avocado had first been added but then taken off. My son’s veggie burger was supposed to come with avocado. He’s a vegetarian but I’m betting that avocado went straight from my meat laden burger directly onto my sons veggie burger.
My burger was completely wrong and just gross — smears of avocado, ONE piece of mushroom, smears of ketchup, no haystack onions, no bbq sauce. It’s pretty obvious this was made incorrectly and «salvaged». I’m not sure what this is but it’s not a cheddar, bacon bbq burger.
The one time our order was correct it was great but we’re just done with Smashburger for now.

I was driving through, saw the billboard and decided to give them a try. It was a disappointment. The smash fries were an oily mess. The idea of fries in olive oil and rosemary is a good one. The taste is spot on. There was so much oil dripping from the fries that I couldn’t eat more than a few. It was a good idea ruined by poor execution. I also ordered a classic burger. It was also dripping with grease. I had high hopes. I have no plans to return.

Different and unique burger joint. I love the fries with olive oil and seasoning. I got a bacon cheeseburger. Everything was fresh and tasty. I really loved the soda machine and service. Parking was tricky due to a small parking lot shared by other businesses. They had inside and outside seating.

No. This place is the counterpart to the Smash Burger near Whole Foods downtown. The management team is the same between the both and only cares about hiring cheap labor as opposed to customer friendly workers. They (the managers) were alerted about the potential ramifications of their precarious staffing choices when the original Smash Burger downtown was bombarded with complaints… they’ve clearly learned nothing. Finished with this chain.

Went to Smash Burger in Irmo Saturday night for the first time. Parking was tricky but we found a place soon. We got burgers and fries to go and ate them when we got home. The restaurant is new and very clean and inviting but not large. There was room that we could have eaten there even tho it was the dinner hour.
Looked really good and tasted even better. I had the avocado club and was very pleased. Even better than I’d expected. The other person had the truffle mushroom swiss and I could smell the mushrooms all the way home. They were very satisfied as well. The fries are different than I’ve ever had before. Smash Fries have rosemary and olive oil. I’m not a big fan of fries but these were very good and I ate them all, which is unusual.
I will definitely be back. Everything very fresh and the meat seemed more like a good steak. Good value for the price, in my opinion.