Bbq, Bacon & Cheddar burger – BBQ sauce, applewood smoked bacon, cheddar & haystack onions on an egg bun.
“Smashed fresh. Served delicious.” Smashburger brings its adventurous flavors to Florida and its first stop: Orlando, FL. Although Smashburger is not a recognized brand yet in Florida, founder Tom Ryan has a vision for Smashburger and he is bringing his concept to life a burger at a time, with ten developing restaurants in Florida from Jacksonville to Kissiminee to Brevard. First location on 3162 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL and the second location on 334 North Alafaya Trail, Orlando, FL. I was invited (last minute – excuse the low-quality iPhone 4s photos! Hopefully they do some justice) to attend Smashburger’s media preview at the Alafaya location, presented by founder Tom Ryan. He goes down the entire menu and tells us a story behind each burger, reminding us that food with a story is important, and regardless of the contents in the burger the three main components: burger, cheese, and bun always has to be good. He wants you to still be able to taste the burger in every bite.
Tasting menu
Fried pickles
Smashfries
Founder Tom Ryan tells us a story
Every bun at Smashburger is buttered. “In the cooking process we keep so much juice (in the burger) that we keep butter (on the bun) to hold it.” Every market has its own local burger so you can find the “Central Florida burger” in the Orlando locations. For control freaks, they have a create your own burger menu.
Grilled chicken sandwich – piccato style – beat out flat. Break out a piece of chicken and find it juicy and savory. Smashburger took it off menu and after popular demand brought it back quickly.
Truffle Mushroom Swiss Burger
What’s Ryan’s favorite? The Buffalo & Blue Cheese Crispy chicken sandwich – fried to give it a crispy coating and features Frank’s Red Hot Sauce topped with blue cheese that bites through everything. Ryan says this is the sandwich to drink an IPA with, which they also sell at all their locations.
The handspun shakes are rich and creamy contains 14% butter fat and made with Hagaan-Daz ice cream, YUM.
Those are sample sizes, of course. Smashburger is now open go check it out for yourself and tell me what you think below!
