SmashCity Knoxville — Restaurant in Knoxville

My boyfriend and I tried out this place on a Monday around 12:30ish. It wasn’t busy and the atmosphere was really nice. There was great natural lighting in one of the rooms. We both built our burgers for 14.50 each and got one sweet tea which was not sweet at all. The ordering experience was pretty weird for us. The employee who took our order seemed like she did not want to be there whatsoever that she started texting while taking our order. We asked for sweet tea, got unsweet tea, got a new cup with sweet tea, so that was an easy switch up. We sat down and chatted while getting our food. I was watching the staff while we were chatting and the vibe seemed so sad. No one seemed like they wanted to be there. I didn’t see anyone smile which was super off putting because I was under the impression this was a new location and everyone has been hyping it up. Maybe we just came on an off day. Apart from that, the fries are sooooo good. We loved the spicy mayo and rad sauce. The burgers were alright. They weren’t evenly seasoned (some bites had more salt or pepper than other bites), but it is very filling. We would have been happy with getting one order of fries and sharing. Just off the customer service alone, I don’t think we’ll go here again unless our friends really want to, but I would say it’s a great alternative to Five Guys. At the end of the day, we had a...

I see all the other great reviews and do not understand.

When I pay $45 for 2 burgers, a little tray of fries with each and one drink, I don't expect the moon, but I want a burger that leaves a good impression.

Maybe an off day, but I got a truffle burger, regular with 2 patties... When I tell you there was maybe -MAYBE: a half pound of beef with the THREE patties(not sure how that happened, more on kitchen issues later) that were on the burger, listen... They were so thin and dry, it had a crunch. Flavour profile could have been there if they added some more of the truffle mayo (which was good. I will say the mayo sauces were good.) If I had wanted a Burger King value burger, I would have gone there.

They were having some problems in that kitchen too. Like I said, maybe an off day... But two burgers for me and my gal with fries took half an hour to get, the beef was room temp when it got out. 3 other customers in store on a Wednesday. So not a crazy busy time for a downtown restaurant. Top that off with two people not wearing hair covers working with the food...

SmashCity, you smashed my hopes in the worst way.

Maybe that is the business model though, charge you up front a lot so when you don't get the food and service you are expecting; it is too late.

Will not be giving this...

Had a mixed experience visiting smash City last week. The burger I had was one of the best in town, however the service was awful. Argumentative, sarcastic, and irritated would be the best way to describe the person who took our order. Later. We got to have more of that when they came outside to clean. Instead of giving lots of details. I'll just say that I've never seen anyone walk around and complain and say negative things about the business where they work. It was unusual and unnecessary and it was a big turn off. Others that were there seemed to recognize this was happening also. Sometimes we just work at a place too long and do a job too long and need to find other work. Whatever the case may be, I'm going to go back for the cheeseburger but if I experience something similar it will be my last time visiting. There's not a lot of room in this place so if it's busy it's going to be uncomfortable. And it's going to be busy because like I said before, it's one of the best burgers in town. The fries are pretty darn good too. Still, figuring out how to treat customers is going to be a challenge...