Boo & Moo Bites: Smashingly Delectable Burgers at Smashburger

Smashburger Canadiana Decorations

This has been a burger filled week, first I had burgers for lunch at The Burg on Saturday, then burgers for dinner from Drift Food Truck, and now more burgers for dinner at the grand opening of Edmonton’s first Smashburger!

Smashburger is a franchise started in 2007 in the United States. The franchise gets its name from the way that they actually cook the burgers. All of their burger patties are made from 100% certified Angus feeb, rolled into a big meatball. They cook the patties to order, so when a burger is ordered, they butter the grill and smash the meatball onto the 400 degree grill with a special tool they developed. Cooking them in this fashion with the butter caramelizes the bottom of the burger and creates a seared exterior that helps keep the juices in. The Sherwood Park location would be their first in the Edmonton area and their third location in Alberta with the other two located in Calgary. In fact, Alberta has the only Canadian franchise of Smashburger thus far.

Boo can't hold his milkshakes

For this particular outing, I invited my new pal, Boo the Caribou along, who is an ungulate who lives with @thepolishviking. The restaurant is located in a new neighborhood of Sherwood Park called Emerald Hills, and located within a new and still growing shopping complex of big box stores. The restaurant itself is bright, clean and modern looking, with Canadiana themed pictures lining the walls.

Their menu had several premade options in both feeb and chicken, as well as a Create Your Own Burger option. In addition, there were a variety of sides and salads to choose from. Our merry band opted to try the BBQ, Bacon & Cheddar Smashburger with sweet potato fries, the Truffle Mushroom Swiss Smashburger and the Edmonton SmashChicken, along with an order of Smashfries.

BBQ, Bacon and Cheddar Smashburger

Although we were disappointed that full sized Haagen-Dazs shakes and malts weren’t available, they were bringing around small samples of various flavors around to all the diners. The shakes were all very thick, creamy and moolicious! The strawberry shake tasted natural and was not too sweet, while the Saskatoon berry shake was visibly full of Saskatoon berries, they did not skimp on the fruit! The chocolate shake was chocolaty without being overpoweringly so. The only flaw being that the straw was so thin and the milkshake so delicious that I wanted a larger straw so I could devour it faster! Boo unfortunately was unable to hold his milkshake consumption and quickly went into a milkshake coma.

Truffle Mushroom and Swiss Smashburger

The female human's BBQ, Bacon and Cheddar Smashburger arrived quickly and was cooked properly! She found the patty was mildly pink in the middle, moist and flavorful! The combination of the saltiness from the haystack onions, the BBQ sauce, the creamy melted cheddar and the smoky bacon made for the perfect union of flavors.

Avocado Club Chicken

Meanwhile @thepolishviking and Boo’s Edmonton Smashchicken consisted of grilled onions, cheddar cheese, Canadian BBQ sauce and a fried egg. The creamy yolk oozed all over the juicy chicken and toppings, complimenting all the components perfectly. The favorite burger of the night however was the male human's truffle, mushroom and swiss Smashburger. The humans could smell the distinct and unmistakable aroma of truffle, yet it didn’t overwhelm the earthy mushrooms or rich Swiss cheese. It turned out they made their truffle mayo in house daily to ensure that the truffle oil emulsifies with the mayo.

Saskatoon Berry Milkshake

The sweet potato fries were thin and super crispy, while the Smashfries which were lightly seasoned with olive oil, garlic and rosemary were the clear favorites of the night as they were quickly polished off.

Overall we really and truly enjoyed all of the offerings that Smashburger had and we look forward to visiting in the future. Even though the location is a bit far for us, we hope that they’re successful and there will be additional locations in Edmonton proper soon. But if you're out and about in Sherwood Park and looking for good eats, swing by Smashburger and give them a try!

Read @thepolishviking's review of Smashburger.

If you want to try Smashburger for yourself, I have $20 in Smashburger certificates to give away to one lucky winner! There are a few different ways to enter and to earn additional entries. Contest closes Friday, July 12, 2013! (NOW CLOSED)


UPDATED Friday, July 12, 2013: The contest is now closed! Thanks to everyone who participated! We had 89 entries! And the winner is.....  @alanadawes! Congratulations and I hope you enjoy your free meal at Smashburger!

Smashburger
530-5000 Emerald Drive
Sherwood Park, AB  T8H 0K9
780-410-0999
Twitter: @Smashburger



(Note: There was no financial compensation from Smashburger for this blog post, although they provided free food and drinks. Any review provided by me will completely reflect my thoughts and opinions – good or bad, and will not be swayed by having free drinks and food provided.)