Smashing Burgers

If you live on the east side of Columbia, you know about all the buzz and excitement surrounding the new Whole Foods and all the change and growth around that corner of Jackson Blvd and Devine Street.  You may have noticed the facelift that even Applebee's gave itself.  And, you probably also noticed the new building going up next door with a sign for both Moe's and something called Smashburger. I've been watching that building being built and wondering what in the world Smashburger is.  Well, now I know.

Along with other local bloggers, I attended a preview yesterday of the new restaurant, which opened today.  We were invited in to try out the menu, learn about the restaurant's concept and give the staff & kitchen a run-through.  The founder of the company, Tom Ryan, was there to talk to us, explain how he came up with this idea and then to demonstrate the true burger smashing technique for us in the kitchen.  It was fascinating to learn how they make these delicious burgers so delicious and of course, being able to order a gazillion items off the menu to try was quite fun indeed.

Tom Ryan is a super cool guy who was a genuine host and spent a lot of time with all of us asking for our opinions.  You should see this man's bio...I don't think I've ever met someone with so many degrees in food science.  You can read about it here.

Me and founder Tom Ryan

I was the first to arrive and was able to have about 10 minutes with Tom; he showed me around the restaurant and then took me up to the front counter to go over the menu with me.  

 

 Now you guys know all about my coupon addiction and thrifty nature.  It was really tough for me to actually follow his instructions and order multiple items from the menu.  He told me several times not to worry about wasting, order anything that sounded interesting and try it all.  That's what we were there for.  It was still hard as hell to order all that food, but I did it.  My buddies TheAprilBlake & TheHungryLady experienced the same hesitation, but together, we made it through and got over it.

Laura, April & Me

So, let's cut to the chase, shall we?  In a nutshell, I love this place.  It's characterized as "fast casual" which means you order & pay at the counter but your order is delivered to your table.  The decor is clean, crisp, hip and conducive to a date, dinner with the girls, family supper or just hanging out with friends.  Smashburger franchisees feature classic Smashburger menu items, but include a "regional" item to appeal to its market.  For instance, here in the glorious South (especially Columbia), our Smashburger features the "Carolina Chili" burger: American cheese, beef chili, chopped onion, coleslaw and Duke's mayo on a pretzel bun.  You see, nobody in Seattle, Newark or Chicago knows what Duke's is. I chose to try the "Classic" because I wanted to make sure I could really appreciate the burger and not just the toppings.  Then, I ordered the "Spicy Baja" to preview it for Neil and the "Buffalo Smashchicken."  As sides, I chose the "Smash Fries", fried pickles and fried onions.  

I tried the Classic first and with the first bite, I just looked at April and Laura and exclaimed something like 'oh my God, that's a good hamburger."  The meat was simply delicious.  

Holy Classic Smashburger, Batman! And Smashfries too.

Too often I think hamburgers really only taste like whatever is put on them.  This was a juicy, well-seasoned and high quality tasting burger. The fact that it's seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic reminds me of how my dad's steaks and burgers always taste, which is perfect.  The smashfries are madness:  rosemary, garlic, olive oil.  It's like the nectar of the gods, it is. Next, I tried out the Baja.  

Spicy Baja Burger with fried pickles

Neil will love this one, for sure!  Pepper jack, guac, lettuce, tomato, onion, fresh jalapeno (fresh, not pickled is a biggie for Mr. Jalapeno Connoisseur), spicy chipotle mayo and a chipotle bun.  Nice and spicy indeed.  I also really liked the Buffalo chicken sandwich.  I order this type of sandwich pretty frequently in casual restaurants.  

Buffalo chicken with haystack onions & yummy dipping sauce

At Smashburger, you can get your chicken fried or grilled.  At Tom's suggestion, I got it fried.  It was very crispy & light, despite being fried, and the chicken was an even thickness and therefore, well cooked and juicy.  The haystack onions are a great side order...thinly sliced onion rings with a spicy/horseradishy sauce.  I'm a sucker for fried pickles and theirs are excellent.  I also tried April's "Veggie Frites" which are non-battered flash-fried carrots & green beans.  They end up kind of blistered, like when you saute them and get them just this side of charred.  Excellent choice of side!  

April's Spicy Baja black bean burger, fried pickles & "veggie frites"

Laura's friend "R" (as we'll call him) went crazy over the black bean burger. (He's a carnivore but loved the black bean nonetheless.)  In fact, he said he just couldn't put it down.  Now I have to try that one next time! "R" also got the "Carolina Chili" and was diggin' that one too! Then, Tom came over with the Cobb salad.  Wow!  What a beautiful salad...classic Cobb ingredients, beautifully grilled chicken and instead of icky hard boiled egg, this one comes with a fried egg. 

Tom says: Try this beautiful salad, you'll like it!  He's right.

The smashing is really interesting.  They use chopped Angus beef, as opposed to ground, and it's shaped into a loose 5 oz. meatball.  The meat is placed on a buttered spot on the flat top and pressed (smashed) with a patented press that sears the meat without allowing the juices to escape the burger by running willy-nilly all over the grill. Once flipped, the burger has a nice crisp crust and that seared steak flavor.  We all tried it right off the grill and I swear it tasted like a fresh steak. 

What I think is going to make this restaurant a success here is that it's not just a burger joint.  It's a better quality product than what we're used to here in Columbia as far as casual dining is concerned.  Yes, we have burger restaurants that we all love, and you know who I mean, but on a recent visit, I was startled to learn that one of these favorite hangouts has hit a minimum of $10 for a hamburger. And, it's not as flavorful as this new place, folks.  Promise. And, if you want to take your kids out for burgers, this is about the only place I know of where you can get a real salad that isn't a rip off...

Check out the menu, stop by 4601 Devine St. and give it a try.  I can't wait to take Neil and Vivian to see what they think!

The Burger Challenge Continues

The hamburger is distinctly and uniquely American.  We all make them at home, we grab them from a window and eat them at 80 mph, we order them in bars, restaurants, at cookouts, birthday parties, even fine dining restaurants have gotten in on the action.  It seems to be the one food we Americans can't live without.  Proof?  Even the vegetarians still wants burgers, thus the invention of the veggie, or veggie-substance, burger.  

The funny thing is that in the burger restaurant world, there is this constant, on-going battle to be the best burger on the planet.  After 44 years on Earth, years of watching Guy Fieri travel the country, experimenting with a gazillion types of burger at home, I've come to the conclusion that WE WILL NEVER CROWN A WINNER. It's just that simple.  For the most part, all burgers are good.  Now, some have their time and place.  For instance, I'd never find myself craving a fast food burger, but if I'm traveling through Beavistown with nothing else in sight, all of a sudden, the Golden Arches seem to have just earned a Michelin star.  As far as real restaurants go, I've decided to quit trying to determine who has the best because there's another factor at play here:  the cook.  One day it may be the best hamburger you've had all year, then next time, someone else is manning the grill, and it's just a whole different burger.  From now one, I keep a list of where my favorite burgers reside, but I won't even make myself crazy by trying to name one as the king-daddy burger master.

Many of you are aware of the new restaurant called Burger Tavern 77 on Devine Street. It's located in the old Yo Burrito building.  This past weekend, I met Neil and the Vivver there for lunch.  We had yet to make it over there, so this was our maiden voyage.  Their menu can be viewed here. One thing to note, that section on the right that says "Build your Burger" isn't attached to the menus that you are given in the restaurant.  Turns out they are in a little rack on the table, but our server didn't point that out.  Neil was pretty disappointed to realize what they were after we ordered, because he would have preferred to go this route.  That would be a good thing for the servers to be in the habit of mentioning.  One other note about the menus.  They were beat up, bent and dirty.  If a 6 year old points that out, your menus need help, people.

Okay, on to the food.  I ordered "the Charleston." I asked for it to be cooked medium-rare and explained to the waitress that I like it just on the "medium side of medium-rare."  She nodded her understanding and told me that they tend to cook on the rare side, so if she put it in as medium, it would be pink and juicy inside.  Well, I guess someone else was in the kitchen that day, because this was one friggin' well done hamburger.  You can tell just by looking at the picture of it.  

But, I will admit that it was still a flavorful burger.  The pimento cheese was pretty tasty and melded well with the good quality bacon they use.  I chose the fries which were presented in a cup lined with a newsprint look paper.  Very cute and they were well cooked.

Neil ordered "The Bleu" and added jalapenos (of course!).  His was also overcooked, but he still enjoyed it.  

For his side, he ordered the tomato/cucumber salad.  Sometimes I think he orders the most bizarre side dish possible.  It's like he worries about all the other weird sides sitting around in the kitchen, little fingers crossed, saying "pick me, pick me!" and he has to help them out.  I mean, a tomato/cucumber salad isn't a bad thing, but with a hamburger?  I just don't get it.

As I was trying to come up with an appetizer or sharing scenario for the Vivver (note that there is no children's menu here), the waitress then let me know that they do indeed have a kids menu, but it's not printed anywhere.  One question:  WHY? Apparently, you have to be "in the know" or hope that your server will casually mention this to you, or you will never know.  So, the little one got a child's plate of 2 burger sliders (I hate this term, but that's a whole other story) and fries.  She was pleased and ate them both.

The burgers were good, although I hope next time we go we can get them cooked the way we want them.  But, there was one major complaint that we had.  In fact, I'm surprised that Neil didn't want to pack up our plates and take them home.  FLIES.  Tons of flies.  There were so many flies buzzing around this place, we might as well have been sitting out in the park trying to eat our lunch.  For Pete's sake, invest in one of those fans that you install at the front door to blow all that air OUT  as people enter, then these vile creatures can't invade your restaurant.  And, the 1" crack under your back door could have something to do with it too.  Seriously, this is a problem that this restaurant must fix.  If I decide to start at $10 to build my own burger, I'm going to be royally pi$%ed off if I have to shoo flies off it the whole time, like I did the other day.  Or, as Neil said, we can only go there in the winter.  

The Juicy Lucy

I love Food Network.  I don't think we go through one single day without watching something on it.  My daughter recognizes chefs by name and just the other night proclaimed who was going to be chopped because his dish wasn't "balanced."  I swear she said that; Neil and I almost fell out!

I think it was Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives where I saw a piece about 2 restaurants in Minneapolis that battle over who serves the Original Juicy Lucy burger.  The Juicy Lucy is a burger with tons of ooey, gooey, American cheese oozing out from the inside of the patty.  Interestingly, Neil lived in the twin cities area for many years and he's never heard of this phenomenon.  Nonetheless, we have been destined to try one.

The J.L. isn't difficult to make, but there are a couple of details that I think are important.  They are as follows:

• REAL CHEESE.  I shouldn't have to put this in all caps, but the American public has been duped by marketing execs for decades.  Kraft Singles are NOT real cheese.  Real the package.  Don't buy anything that is called cheese food, cheese product, cheese thingie.  It should simply say American Cheese.
• Kosher salt and a good, healthy dose of it.  You have to season meat.  Period.  Don't believe me?  Watch Food Network.  You'll see more people get their asses handed to them because they failed to just add some salt to the meat.  
• Technique.  Practice makes perfect.  The key here is to seal the patties together really well so you don't have any cheese rupture toward the end of cooking.  You want all that gooeyness to stay inside where it belongs.
• The right meat.  You can't get a good, juicy hamburger that holds together well from 90/10 meat.  It's gotta have some fat in it to bind it and to flavor it.  If you want to make burgers for dinner, buy the meat that day and cook them fresh.  You'll notice the difference for sure.

Measuring out what we need

Divide into two thin patties, stuff and put back together

Cook 'em up old school in cast iron

Viola!  Final product

So, our Juicy Lucy's were a great success!  The little one gave it her signature "10-thumbs up."  Neil hardly said a word as he was busy devouring his and I've changed out of my jeans and into yoga pants! You know what I'm sayin'. 

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A happy burger experience

Neil and I were able to have lunch together today, a rare occasion indeed.  We decided to head down the hill to Five Points to Pawley's Front Porch.  I've never had a bad experience here, but I must admit that my mental impression has always been kind of lukewarm.  I know why too.  It's because I'm always intrigued by the crazy burger topping-combos they've come up with, but I always end up with a burger that is too tall to even fit in my mouth, or it explodes all over me when I bite it, or I end up having to carve it up with their enormous steak knives, which I hate because then I look like Costanza eating a Snickers with a knife and fork.  But I continue to go there from time to time because I love their crazy topping-combos.