Smash Alley — Restaurant in Boise

(Update after owners reply) 11/12/25

In response: So glad you had a large order. But in your response you basically said that my "2 burgers" weren't important. So what size order is important to you? Do I need to order 10 or more? Lol if my sad little order is not worth it to you I'd reconsider your idea of customer service. If anything you should have put us small time people in front and whipped out 2 easy burgers so we didn't have to wait as long. The huge order is expecting to wait.

Also if you read most your other reviews it's the recurring theme is wait times. This is a problem that you might consider solving. I am one of many who feel your flow is off and other food places have figured it out and I have faith you can as well.

Original review: This is a hard review to give. I wanted to live this cool experience and the food. It has so much potential yet falls short.

Staff and owner, the bomb! Friendly and personal. 5 stars

Cool pop up in an alley. Way cool.

Fries. Perfectly cooked and had some great fri sauce. 5 stars

Burgers. The main event! Not bad. 7 stars. Very basic flavors and toppings. Cooked well and bun and ingredients are fresh. But it's just a good burger and for the price I have so many choices in Boise that are as good and definitely better for a lot less! Sorry?

The main issue with this setup is the wait times. We showed up with not that many people in line and waiting an hour for two burgers and one fry. So when you factor in the cost and the wait time that is a consistent complaint in almost all the reviews you must ask yourself? Why not fix the issue? A burger is not made or cooked better when it takes longer. This is purely a staffing and layout execution problem.

Thus the overall 4 star review dropped to a three.

Expect to wait 1 or two hours no matter what. I think a good plan is to order and go next door and grab a drink as you wait, because you will wait. However overall without a solid plan I wouldn't go back as food taste and price are not...

I've been to smash alley a total of 3 times. The first time I went i was impressed with the taste and quality that I could not stop thinking about it. Burger was not greasy and it was not dry, it was just right. The sauces used brought out the flavoring and was well balanced with the other toppings. The second time I went they were sold out, but this was right at the start of their popularity gain and planned for a revisit because it was just that good. 3rd visit the format expanded to increase production by adding more equipment and building a team. This was an amazing improvement to the smash alley set up. Cashier was easy to work with and happily answered any questions I had regarding the text notification of my order being ready. I was told it would be about 1-1.5hr wait and asked about how long it would be for them to text me and was told they'd text about 10 min before. This was perfect, it's boise, everything is close by. There was literally no reason for me to wait outside in the cold for that long so I left and patiently waited for my text. Got my text, showed up and bam sammy was there working on my order, just in time for me to pick up. PERFECT TIMING! I ordered two burgers that night, both for myself. Had the first one when I got back to my car and somehow this man has improved the burger even more by bringing more balance to the ingredients. PRO TIP: DO NOT SKIP OUT ON ANYTHING, ORDER IT HOW IT COMES! You messed up if you ask to leave something out. Fast forward to about 30 minutes later and I go in on the 2nd one I ordered and it was just as good as the first! Impressive quality and consistency with the food. Amazing people, unique location with experience and delicious product. This is the formula! This is literally the best burger you'll...

Getting a burger from Smash Alley was a strange experience. We waited a total of 2.5 hours (about 30 mins to order and then 2 hours to receive the burger). While the dedication of the cook/owner to his craft was clear throughout the waiting process, we were not warned of how long we would be expected to wait. It begs the question, what is the end goal of this pop-up? Are we gonna see a food truck or brick and mortar from this team? Or is this just a once in a lifetime opportunity to try these burgers at this pop-up? Because whatever direction they go, something would need to change for me to pay for another burger. When we received our burgers, they were ok. The bun dripped butter and mostly what I could taste was grease. It is clear that they use quality beef and the texture of the smash was great. I wished for a little more mustard, pickle and onion to cut through the fat. I wonder how I would have felt about this burger if I hadn’t had to wait 2...