Smashburger

I would like to write a positive review but sadly I can not. I went to this restaurant location about 7:00 pm last night (it was a Saturday night). There were very few customers so I expected my meal to be just as good as any other time I’ve eaten here.
I always order the Windy City Burger and I’m very sad to say it wasn’t up to my previous experiences. My burger was a nasty soggy mess, my bun was smashed flat and super soggy. When I picked it up it would start falling apart like some McDonalds burger. My cheese was a very small tiny piece of cheese concentrated on the edge of m burger so it just fell off in clumps. I eventually had to take off this huge piece of lettuce because the edges around the leaves are all brown and old. My boyfriends burger was just as a nasty soggy mess as mine was. If we had the time, we would have asked for new burgers but we needed to be somewhere. Overall, I will not be returning to this location any time soon.

My husband and I officially announce this as our favorite burger joint! We came here again this morning before our movie, and this time tried their salad. Seriously delicious and you can tell it’s made with care– look at the way they displayed all the ingredients! Also– you have to try their smash fries! I could eat two buckets of them!
On top of all the great food, the customer service is excellent! Every time we have gone, the manager greets us with a smile and he is the one taking our order. Also the workers and chefs are all so friendly.
Thank you smash burger!

Burgers are pretty good, but $ 7 for one patty is a ripoff. I can excuse that once in a while, but the slow service is unacceptable.
Last time in, got our burgers, but fries 5 min later. Asst Mgr dropped them off and said they take longer than burgers. Well gee, shouldn’t you time them to come out together. Even season 1 on Hells Kitchen taught me that. It doesn’t help that the staff likes to chit chat while «working».
I would avoid this location.

Visited several times and always leave happy. The burgers are good as well as the fries. Had a milkshake for the first time and it was a good consistency but could have been a bit thicker. The order takers are fairly nice. Will always visit when in the area.

This place has the best burger in town and I agree with what people were saying about the smash fries are super thin but they surely are super delicious with is so much more important. You can really taste the olive oil and rosemary leaves on it. Oh, and their milkshake is something that you’ve got to try.
Overall rating: if you are in one of those days that you simply don’t care about how many calories you will intake, just go for it and have it all

Solid burger place, clearly going for being the «Chipotle of Burgers’. Good variety of toppings, sides, and sandwiches.

Black Bean Burger is amazing! The staff is really nice. Katherine is great! She goes above and beyond to ensure your order is correct. Great place!

I was delighted by my low-​carb option of Chicken Caesar salad. It came in a futuristic bowl and the avocado made it feel luxurious for a mall meal before the movies!

We stopped at SmashBurger before a date night movie. The Burgers were great. We did the signature Windy City Burger. The service was great and fast. It wasn’t just fast you could definitely tell it was fresh. We also tried a Haag-​Daz Shake that was a great. I love ice cream so it was a great addition. We tried the smash fries but it just wasn’t for us. It a a lower salt item but the flavors weren’t something we liked.

It was just perfect timing for me. I had just finished some Xmas shopping and while I was leaving, I caught the odor of something catchy! I knew about Smashburger from previous events but had yet to try it.
The location: Not too big and pretty good for smaller groups
The ambiance: Absolutely clean and a decent lunch crowd
The food: I ordered what I usually do from any locale — SPICY! I ordered the Spicy Jalapeño Baja with fresh jalapenos, guacamole, pepper jack cheese, and a side of Haystack Onions which weren’t easy to eat but absolutely tasty nonetheless.
The service: The staff here was top notch and very friendly. Obviously customer service is a priority here.
This was a great experience for lunch and I will definitely be back for a perfect meal and service.

First time I ate here, food was AMAZING! Second time, I ordered the exact same thing, and the food was less than mediocre. Definitely need to work on their consistency. I also think they may want to look into better quality staff, I feel like half of the people come into work stoned … Sorry, not sorry. They’re completely out of it, you have to repeat your order multiple times, and even after I placed the water bottle DIRECTLY NEXT to the milk I was purchasing, the guy still missed it and had to ring me up AGAIN, which is highly annoying considering I was with a toddler, and their patience level is next to zero.
Very neutral on this place, will have to try one more time to make my final decision.

It was one of those nights… we almost had to eat our own children.
We were so close, I mean so close to staying in and picking up chicken fried rice from Yummy Bowl and eating it in our pajamas. We were all settled, until my stepdaughter called and suggested we go to Portillos in Vernon Hills. Change of plans! We picked her up, piled in the car, and discovered it was unusually crazy busy so ended up driving around to many other places (closed or busy too), until we finally decided that if we didn’t get everyone fed pronto, we were going to have to eat our angry, hungry children before they ate us!
We ended up at Smashburger.
I remember when Smashburger first opened. I remember visiting the Schaumburg location when it was brand spanking new, and I was impressed. I expected Vernon Hills to offer up the same consistent experience. I mean they are only a year old! Not so much.
One word that comes to mind when I think of this location is *dirty*. The tables were ALL dirty. There were crumbs and leftover food on them. And, I kid you not, when we were sitting down I watched an employee go to a nearby table, set it up, stare at the crumbs, and move on. The floor was greasy, but the upside was that my kids had a blast sliding their chairs across it.
Food was okay. Not 100% like I remembered from my past experience, but the fries were my favorite part of the meal. Skinny crispy, flavorful, and consistent like the past. Hubby reported the bathroom was clean, so that was a plus!
Maybe it was an off night, but I’d have to do a thorough table inspection before coming back.

I wish I could give this place 50 stars.
I walked in at 7:30 ish and had two coupons to use on two separate transactions so I could use them both. The lady behind the register was not annoyed, but rather friendly and helpful. She provided informative answers when I had questions about items on the menu. My food was out in about 5 – 6 minutes, which is pretty fast if you ask me. I got a build your own burger with many add ons and it was delicious. I’m not a huge fan of burgers but this one was one of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten. My younger sister and her friend both got kids meals and created their own. We all got fries, which were so nicely seasoned. I highly recommend the smash fries.
AND THEN just when I was already completely satisfied, the manager came over and talked to my younger sister and her friend. The girls were wearing their soccer jerseys and he asked them how many kids were on their team. He then gave them 10 coupons for free kids meals to give to their team!!! Wow!!! It was so nice! They were so happy.
I will most definitely be going back maybe even in the next week. I have already told my friends and family about how great this place was.
Also has a nice location.
Update: I am so pleased I am going back tomorrow for lunch. :)

Honestly, you can’t really expect too much from a fast chain burger joint. I came a little late during closing hours to meet up with friends. It was around 9:45ish and I decided I wanted to get a burger and eat with them. I knew it was a little late to order, but I decided to see if I could. The cashier didn’t mind ringing me up, and got my food 3 minutes later.
All Fresh. To me, that’s the key to satisfaction.

Oh wow. That was a great burger. I got a Big Avocado Club sandwich with no tomatoes, a vanilla shake, and the smash fries. Service was great, it took a bit longer than suggested to get our food, but they were packed so it was not a big deal at all. I savored every bite of both my burger and the wonderful fries before finishing off my shake. I was very sad when I was all done.
Wow. Good stuff here, folks.

I would LOVE to write a review from experience, but can’t. I stopped by smashburger last night at 9:30pm (they close at 10pm) in the Mall Shopping Center there.
They are directly across from Dave & Buster’s, with an outside entrance (handy, as the main mall entrances close earlier).
I arrived, noticed two customers half-​way through their meal. One employee sweeping in the back, noticed me standing at the registers, and then proceeded to talk to someone else in the back (presumably), never greeted me in any way, back to the sweeping.
I waited a whole minute. Nothing. Too long.
Just more sweeping continued.
The floors might be clean, but I will NOT be back. Jon Taffer would rip this place a new floor.
I hope this review isnt too sweeping.

This smash burger location is awesome! Everyone is always super friendly and look like they actually enjoy working there (Aja and Stracy). The amount of food for the price you pay is very reasonable. The wait is about 5 minutes but that’s because everything is made to order. There is a good selection of drinks including iced tea and some alcoholic beverages. My personal favorites on the menu are the buffalo chicken sandwhich, the Baja salad and the smashfries with rosemary & olive oil.

KINKS IN THE SYSTEM
I’m not a cashier at Smash Burger but either they haven’t been trained properly or the computer screen is really confusing. On my most recent visit I was ordering my burger and the cashier told me she needed to void out my order and start over. She told me I couldn’t modify my burger and I needed to purchase a build your own. I then informed her I was only removing BBQ sauce and adding condiments from there list of free toppings.
Right before she voided my screen I informed her I wasn’t buying a Build my own burger. She then informed me that it would be cheaper for me if I did that. I found that interesting and asked her to explain how it would be cheaper for me. She had no response. I then informed her that if I indeed went with the Build My own burger it would actually cost me a dollar more then me just simply removing BBQ sauce. She looked at me and started to fight with me but then realized it was a dollar more. So she did not void my screen.
She then informed me that it wasn’t her policy but the managers. According to her she must ring up my burger as a build your own burger. I told her that makes no sense and she may want to talk to her manager and ask the manager why he’s encouraging the cashier to charge the customers more. Again she had no answer. I kind of wished I had called the manager over and maybe he could explain the up charge policy to everyone waiting in line. In fact, this stupid conversation had backed up the poor lunch crowd behind me.
I started to order my second burger and asked for no mayo and then started adding my free toppings. She then says, «Can I start over and ring up this burger as a build your own?» I looked at her and said, «No!» I was really starting to get mad not to mention the cashier was now giving me attitude. I really don’t like getting attitude when I should just be getting friendly customer service. I’m not sure if she doesn’t know how to run the computer screen when it comes to modifying a burger but this isn’t McIcky where I order by number and modify nothing.
I was really let down by the lack of customer service and professionalism at the front counter. I just wanted to order my burger my way. Is that too much to ask for?
This location is small and we decided to sit outside on the patio. Both of the burgers came out about 5 minutes apart which if you order them together really isn’t acceptable. I also noticed that toppings were missing from the burgers, which made no sense to me. I had clearly see that the toppings were added on via the screen before the order was sent. The food runner was nice enough to go and get them for me. So I have to assume the cooks don’t like following the list of toppings when making burgers.
On a side note, I decided to write up my bad experience and send it directly to Smash Burger corporate. After sending it via there website, I received an automated email response saying I would be contacted in 48 hours. The 48 hours passed and no response. In fact, as I write this review it has been 216 hours and nothing. I’m not going to hold my breath because obviously this is there policy at the front register.
I also got really bad stomach cramps about an hour after eating here. I hate sharing that but the whole experience here literally put a sour taste in my belly. I just hope the cashier didn’t do anything to my food or had the cooks do something to it. It crossed my mind but I have no evidence for that. I do know I didn’t feel good at all and it knocked me out. So if you did, then have a great laugh but don’t mess around with food cause you can kill someone. Not so funny now!
I know this location is new. I am not happy with the attitude and poor customer service I received. The cashier is the face of the restaurant and they can’t even be nice about it. The manager needs to work a little more on training the staff on how to use the register and treat the customer with great service.
I hate leaving a bad review for a new location but I know that Smash Burger will be fine. They just need to polish there skills and get going in the right direction.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with my first visit to a Smashburger, most recently opened at Hawnthorn Center in Vernon Hills. There are so many new premium burger chains from Five Guys to mburger to Tom and Eddies, how do you distinguish your business? In this case, there’s not a whole lot new here.
The interior strikes me as a pared down version of a Noodles and Company with ordering from a register with large flat screen menus behind the cashier. The interior is no nonsense and plain. You’ll get a number from the register which you take to your table to have the cooked to order burger delivered.
The beverages are serve yourself from a fountain, so that’s pretty standard as well.
I tried the most exotic thing I could on the menu which was a smashed chicken breast with truffled mushrooms and swiss (and no arugula like it showed for the same burger on the table tent) and the veggie frites instead of fries. These consisted of fresh green beans and carrot sticks flash fried as a side. As for the taste, it was very good, if not a bit salty. The sandwich smelled of truffles and the chicken was smashed with a light brown griddle finish on the meat. The veggies were just cooked as well. My biggest detraction from these were the grease dripping from the veggies and the butter dripping off the burger. I really wish they delivered the same taste minus all of the extra fat, especially with the veggies. I suspect the oil wasn’t hot enough to finish the vegetables without a glistening coating of oil. However, if you’re not bothered by this kind of stuff, I will say the taste was there.
What’s good about it: the domestic beers are cheap! The service was friendly and accomodating. The prices weren’t out of line, either. I’ve read that the best way to make a hamburger was a loosely formed ball and smashed against the grill to sear the meat. That’s how they make them here, fried in butter, so with the success of the chain, I guess America wants more burger options. This would not be mine, however.

I was able to attend my 1^st Elite event here on 6/​20, the night before opening.
We were able to sample 4 different burgers, a veggie burger, 2 chicken sandwiches, all of their sides, and 2 different milkshakes. On top of all that we were given a full presentation on the start of Smashburger and some of the «secret» menu items.
The classic Smashburger was my favorite of all the sandwiches. It was simple and delicious. They cover the grill in butter which make the burgers really buttery. The smashfries are also amazing. They take fries and toss them in olive oil, rosemary, and garlic. For dessert, we tried the Oreo milkshake and the salted caramel milkshake (both made with Haagen-​Dazs ice cream).
The service was great as would be expected for a limited event, but I look forward to going back to try a Classic Smash with smashfries and a Nutter Butter milkshake. Mmmmmmmmm…