Smash Guys - Burger Kitchen — Restaurant in Bengaluru

I'm an idiot for buying into the hype - 5/5 stars for the marketing though, hands down.

But focus on the food a little more instead? I'll break it down into points for easy reading:

I love grease; but every burger we'd ordered were just way too oily, and didn't settle well after eating them. The jus that comes with the Wellington? Tasted funky - I couldn't put a finger on why - that went to waste since no one on our table could have it either; a friend had visited earlier and mentioned that it was much better the last time though, so I just hope that it was a temporary slip up. We'd asked for seating for 6, but 45 minutes later we were given one of the booths that was clearly meant for 4 - I was on the outer seat and half my posterior was out - at least get us a couple of extra chairs? The others had ordered a Juicy Lucy, Flintstone, Foster Chicken - portioning was definitely smaller than other places in Bangalore, while being unneccesarily expensive. I definitely do not mind paying extra - good food can always deserve top dollar - but at least have the quality speak for the extra premium? The Wellington was bigger than the other burgers, but I'd only say it was regular sized (priced at 790, btw) Also, don't forget to order fries separately - there's nothing that comes with these burgers. Except for that jus. And a bone marrow side on some items, which was also underwhelming. Deep fried Oreos - anyone remember SWAT Food Truck from a few years ago? Doesn't come anywhere close to that - also leaves a weird, sticky but oily feeling on the roof of your mouth Staff seem a bit overwhelmed and confused - some of the items were missed, and some items were extra in number too. I think the folks just need more time though, they were kind and helpful. [Pro #1] Homemade Ginger Ale Salted Lime was pretty nice though - I have to admit that [Pro #2] Also a fan of the queueing system where you can track your queue position online - helps for a place with relatively high footfall [Pro #3] Great ambience, good music too

I don't generally like dropping negative reviews on new businesses, but this is what really grinds my gears: excessively aggressive marketing - I bought into it, and the experience we had definitely doesn't back that. I don't want anyone else falling for that either - it's misleading and unfair.

All that said, I do definitely hope though that there comes a day when I'd walk back into Smash Guys.

Good luck! 😊

I've also attached our...

Sadly, another overhyped place with too much focus on marketing and not enough focus on food and service. Came on a Monday lunch at start of service, restaurant was near empty.

Truffle fries arrived quickly but we’d finished the entire bowl before our two burgers were to be seen. The cheese (meant to be Parmesan?) was almost translucent - bit flavourless. The mayo sauce was drizzled all over the chips but also on the side - would have preferred just on the side so customer could choose how much to have/not.

Nashville Fried Chicken burger: the chicken sat under the hot lamp for ages…chef didn’t seem to know what he was doing and burnt the bun under the grill (it was start of service and he didn’t seem to be paying attention - he wasn’t making other orders even). Burger finally gets made, and then just sits under the hot lamp… while four chefs have a discussion. By the time it finally gets brought to us, of course, the chicken (quite a thin fillet so wouldn’t retain heat for that long) barely warm. Sent back. Fresh one comes which is better but we both felt underwhelmed. Much better fried chicken burgers at burger chain places. Chicken fillet too thin and not juicy. Couldn’t taste the blue cheese sauce. Chef then seems to be literally standing holding burgers under the hot lamp before serving (not sure if this is SOP or was in response to our feedback that the burger was cold? I’ve never seen this/ it shouldn’t be necessary). Chef did this for two others also so maybe it is?

Chilli cheese buff smash: good flavour but way too much sauce. Completely disintegrated in a sloppy mess by the last bites. Bun going pasty.

Side of brisket: Meat tasty and melty but we didn’t like the sauce at all - found it too sweet. And again - it had sat under the hot lamp for an eternity…

We only ordered three things (chips and two burgers) and all arrived at very different times (bar the brisket side which did arrive with the burger)…despite it probably being the quietest their kitchen could possibly be?

Both of us left disappointed unfortunately.

Atmosphere nice but music way too loud (for a Monday...

Tl;dr : Not worth the hype unless you want to eat some mediocre and greasy food.

Came here on a Friday night at around 9:00 PM. Besides the walk to the place, nothing about being here was enjoyable.

We had a wait of around 30 odd minutes to be seated and was finally seated at around 9:30 pm. Sure it’s a Friday and this seems to be the hottest new joint in town so thought hey, might be worth the wait. Finally got seated at the “Bar counter” and then we had another wait of around 20 minutes to have someone take our order although we had decided even before walking in what to order and had requested the staff to take our order.

We had to wait another half hour or so for the food to arrive and staff asking multiple times if we had ordered and confirming our order again and again - kinda making it seem like our order was lost somewhere amongst the bustle as other tables who were seated much after us and placed the order later seemed to be getting theirs. Hence the service being - 1/5

Finally the food arrived - We had ordered the OG Smash and the Wellington Burger. Both burgers were extremely greasy and the buns seemed to be smeared with what tasted like reused oil and the patties - unseasoned. The Wellington came with a “jus” I had to put it in quotes as it tasted strongly of Worcestershire sauce and was highly acidic that it makes it quite pointless as an accompaniment as it would drown the taste of an already mediocre burger. The og smash too had a similar fate with the greasiness and the bad aftertaste from the fats. The bill came out to be around 1500 for the two which would’ve been fine if the food was excellent. Hence the food and the pricing being - 1/5

Ambience was okay. The menu was designed and planned well, branding on point but the food sadly doesn’t live up to the hype. Hence the ambience being - 4/5

Honestly if you’re looking for some really good Smash burgers, you’re better off hitting the other joints that’s “Beyond” Smash guys if you guys get the drift....