Smashburger — Restaurant in New York

I ordered my burger and fries. They handed me a table number. I sat in front of the register with the number displayed towards them. 20 minutes later, nothing. I knew that no one was coming because no one cared.

I asked them "what happened to my order?" and they said "they're making it now." I asked what happened again, and they said again "they're making it now." They literally forgot my order despite having computer systems to track it. I checked later, and yes, they did charge me. So, that part of the system definitely worked.

How could they mess up this badly? Did the computer glitch? Did someone steal it? Did they give it to the wrong person? Did they eat my order?

Exhausted, I told them that "I'm going home" and to "donate it" and left. After an 11 hour shift at work, I was really looking forward to this, but I'm not going to waste another 20 minutes for another nothing burger.

I've only ever been to two restaurants that completely forgot about my order with no explanation and this is one of them.

After work, I used to enjoy going here over the years. The workers were fast, courteous, kind, caring, and professional. Now, they're... something else.

This place used to be really good! I particularly enjoy the "truffle mushroom swiss burger" with the crispy shoe-string fries that have the rosemary and salt and fixings. You know, they use beef tallow? It gives it that extra flavor.

That is why it is especially heartbreaking knowing that this place has changed for the worst. It is like coming back to an old friend and you find out that they're addicted to meth. Horrified, you try to make it work, until they try to push their meth (poor service) on to you. From that point, you know that you have to cut your losses, accept the death of the person you once knew and move on.

I complained to corporate asking "what happened?" but they gave some ChatGPT-automated slop apology. They didn't even read my letter! I don't want any compensation, I just wanted to find out what happened. After the slop note, I know no one cares and that this place isn't going to be fixed.

Lastly, I don't like writing negative reviews, in fact, I've written over 200+ reviews of places around the world. This is my first negative review of anything because I am truly disturbed by this great place's fall from grace.

If you don't care about your people, your people won't care...

New Review as of 7/26/23- I don't usually write long reviews but the service at this location deserved it. I ordered a toasted gluten free bun with my turkey burger. Alexis handling take out gave me the order I checked the bun it was not toasted. I asked him if he could have them toast it. I was explaining why I wanted it toasted, he cuts me off as if he is so busy and he said what do you want to do I'm trying to get the burger from you. Very rude! So I asked to speak to the manager. I get Jackie if that's even her name, proceeds to tell me we don't toast the bun. I explain to her I've been to this location several times prior before her time and it's been done with no problem. Again trying to explain why gluten free buns taste better that way to me. She asks me how did I pay then tries to process a refund, I said I want my food just want it toasted. Now she is being short with me so I ask her why is she being so rude. She gives me a look no reply. She goes to the back to correct the order then I realize my train is coming- location is by Penn Station- I may not have time to wait again and honestly now I'm nervous they may tamper with my food so now I ask for the refund. Alexis volunteers himself back in the conversation to say to me don't miss your train! when heard me ask for the manager and cashier their name. So now I had to ask for his too. He proudly shows me his badge as I took a picture and gave me the peace sign with his hands and continues to say don't miss your train as I walk out the door. This new team of employees are incredibly unpleasant and unprofessional. I will never go back to this location because it's clear they are learning and being rewarded for rude behavior from management. I can pay 13.00 for a burger somewhere else that treats me with respect and act like they appreciate my hard earned dollars. It was a very disappointing and humilating experience. I hope they are trained better in the future and made known of...

It's such a shame we get 1-2 of these locations in nyc and they're built to rot. I'll start with the food. My wife ordered a chicken sandwich and tots I ordered a burger with bacon, cheese and fries. My wife sandwich comes out with no side my burger comes out piled with pickles, mayo and sauces that I didn't want or order. I go back To the counter to ask for a new bun that isn't sopping in mayo and pickle juice (I'd like to take the person who started the trend of putting mayo on burgers out back behind the shed) it takes 10 minutes for them to bring me a new bun in an empty restaurant. My wife never saw her side. The other massive issue with this location is: They need a bouncer. Each time we come here we are harassed by homeless men. They go around to all the tables while customers dine asking for money, food or a receipt bathroom code for the locked bathroom, presumably for paying customers only. Well we were asked for all 3 by 2 different homeless men (1 of home sat right next to us) within seconds of finally taking my 1st bite. When we politely asked if we could be left alone while we eat the 2nd man flew of the handle starts walking away cursing at us etc at that point we were done. As soon as I was done chewing my 1 bite, I gave my food to the man who sat at the table next to us and had the restaurant refund my cold, late order. The teenagers that run this location didn't seem to care very much. We asked for a manager and the girl at the register said it was her. When we told her we wanted a refund and she realized she didn't actually know how to do that then went to get a real manager so also seems like she was tryna lie about her position as well

I understand it's difficult to deal with these situations but this location will not be open for long if customers don't feel safe eating here. This area is crawling with drug users and mentally ill and it's very inappropriate to allow them to harass your patrons while they're in your...