Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Smashburger Hillcrest (Or Anywhere, Really)

Smashburger franchises are springing up all over the place in different states across the country. Texas is currently winning the race to have the most Smashburgers in it (who knew Texans were into burgers), but San Diego has nine or ten within the bounds of the county. Hence, it's pretty much impossible to ignore this chain's presence in the local dining scene.

On one recent Reader blog, it came up that there's a little ambiguity over exactly where a place like Smashburger fits on the local food chain. The burgers start at about $5, so there's some immediate distance from Jack in the Box or In n Out; but what does that distance mean?

The $4.99 Classic Smashurger is 100% Angus beef served on a brioche-like egg bun. It's topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, ketchup, and "smash sauce." Judged solely on its own merits, it's pretty good. It falls apart if you so much as look at it wrong, and it makes a righteous mess in the eating, but it's not overcooked and the toothsome bread is about as far from sawdust-textured industrial baking as it could get and still be a burger bun.

As far as this "smashing" process goes, it flies in the face of the accumulated wisdom of generations of burger cooks who would affirm that smashing the burgers is a bad idea that makes for dried out patties.

Smashburger doesn't have a problem with drying out the patties because it seems the restaurant uses ground beef with a pretty high fat ratio. What that means is that the burgers are succulent but super greasy.

For sheer tastiness, they're not much better than In n Out, either. It's cool that the meat is of good quality, but the primary flavors are still "fatty" and "salty." Despite the apparent image that the marketing department at Smashburger would like to convey, there's not a lot of elegance in the burger.

To its credit, Smashburger does offer better variety than the drive through joints. There are lots of sauces, different breads, and plenty of toppings to choose from. The side dishes have some nice touches, too. Fried pickles ($2.29) have to be awesome. The veggie frites ($2.99) are a charming alternative to french fries. They're no less deep fried, but the culinary reality is that they wouldn't be any different if they were sauteed in a pan and then tossed with salt. At least there are vitamins there.

Also, Smashburger sells beer, which is a significant difference from the fast food places, at least the ones from which Smashburger seeks to distance itself.

Maybe this is an overzealous treatment of a fast-casual burger operation. But the reality of places like Smashburger is that they control a gargantuan segment of the market and identifying just what these types of places bring to the table can reveal a lot about where restaurant culture is right now, and where it's going in the near future.

Smashburger Hillcrest
3975 Fifth Avenue
619-255-2110
Open daily 10-10

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Next Article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"

Smashburger franchises are springing up all over the place in different states across the country. Texas is currently winning the race to have the most Smashburgers in it (who knew Texans were into burgers), but San Diego has nine or ten within the bounds of the county. Hence, it's pretty much impossible to ignore this chain's presence in the local dining scene.

On one recent Reader blog, it came up that there's a little ambiguity over exactly where a place like Smashburger fits on the local food chain. The burgers start at about $5, so there's some immediate distance from Jack in the Box or In n Out; but what does that distance mean?

The $4.99 Classic Smashurger is 100% Angus beef served on a brioche-like egg bun. It's topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, ketchup, and "smash sauce." Judged solely on its own merits, it's pretty good. It falls apart if you so much as look at it wrong, and it makes a righteous mess in the eating, but it's not overcooked and the toothsome bread is about as far from sawdust-textured industrial baking as it could get and still be a burger bun.

As far as this "smashing" process goes, it flies in the face of the accumulated wisdom of generations of burger cooks who would affirm that smashing the burgers is a bad idea that makes for dried out patties.

Smashburger doesn't have a problem with drying out the patties because it seems the restaurant uses ground beef with a pretty high fat ratio. What that means is that the burgers are succulent but super greasy.

For sheer tastiness, they're not much better than In n Out, either. It's cool that the meat is of good quality, but the primary flavors are still "fatty" and "salty." Despite the apparent image that the marketing department at Smashburger would like to convey, there's not a lot of elegance in the burger.

To its credit, Smashburger does offer better variety than the drive through joints. There are lots of sauces, different breads, and plenty of toppings to choose from. The side dishes have some nice touches, too. Fried pickles ($2.29) have to be awesome. The veggie frites ($2.99) are a charming alternative to french fries. They're no less deep fried, but the culinary reality is that they wouldn't be any different if they were sauteed in a pan and then tossed with salt. At least there are vitamins there.

Also, Smashburger sells beer, which is a significant difference from the fast food places, at least the ones from which Smashburger seeks to distance itself.

Maybe this is an overzealous treatment of a fast-casual burger operation. But the reality of places like Smashburger is that they control a gargantuan segment of the market and identifying just what these types of places bring to the table can reveal a lot about where restaurant culture is right now, and where it's going in the near future.

Smashburger Hillcrest
3975 Fifth Avenue
619-255-2110
Open daily 10-10

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

I’ve eaten many fancy pants burgers

Red Door, Bankers Hill Bar, Waypoint, Juniper & Ivy, Carnitas Snack Shack, Werewolf, Raglan
Next Article

They Had Me at Maytag Blue

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader