Bad Daddy's Burger Bar — Restaurant in Smyrna

The signs of social conditioning were subtle, like walking into Bad Daddy's to find the hostess station abandoned and having a staff address us as "buds" in letting us know a hostess would be with us momentarily; and then when the hostess did appear (an enthusiastic black girl) and led us to our seats, she stopped to address the concerns of another guest—a Becky.

There we are acting as "trained" people, as trained dogs, waiting for the hostess playing "dog walker" to tend to the needs of a Becky. As I know and, having experience in the restaurant industry, my son knew and had confirmed, the hostess was to have taken us to our table first since we were paying guests that just arrived. (I now know that when I see this situation to proceed forward and seat myself.)

When we were seated in the upstairs bar area, because I did ask for seating there, I couldn't really complain about the loudness of the music. Understandably so; I got what I asked for. I eventually had to return to my son's car (hiding behind some white pickup from North Carolina) to retrieve my phone and earbuds, which I used to dampen the music of the restaurant, when I returned to the bar of Bad Daddy's. (It was raining when I did so.)

Suffice it to say, it was about fifteen minutes before our order was taken and another fifteen minutes before we were served our food—after the children of a family of four (non-white) which were seated after us were served their food ahead of us, while a white couple were being waited on hand and foot the entire time. Judging by this multicultural couple who had been sitting when my son and I were seated and were in between the white couple and the family, before the family arrived, the multicultural couple had been waiting some time for their order. There were black women at the bar who were present by the time we sat, as well; they were getting a lot of attention, too. This prompted me to complain about the service.

My son told me that our server was either new or poorly trained as to be slow. (i.e. bad at her job.) Thus her assignment to the bar, more than likely. It was obvious she was good with the drinks. She couldn't have been so slow in serving guests on the main level. Even so, it was forty-five minutes before another server (white guy) brought us our food. (The multicultural couple had been served their food a little before us.)

I was less than impressed with Greek salad; it was more the elements of a Greek salad made into a chopped salad. Something a dog wouldn't care about if it were hungry, which I wasn't because I opted to forego the protein—chicken. My son requested medium rare, but it was undercooked even for that. (I don't think he knew the difference, or maybe he was simply conditioned to accept whatever was given to him, which is part of the indoctrination process. Compliance.) We shared a large order of sweet potato fries, which were good.

At some point the adults of the family were served their food, the multicultural couple had finished and left—before a second white couple entered, the man in an oversized pink polo and looking sourpuss. By then, my son and I were finished eating. Refills of our drinks, lemonade and strawberry lemonade were taken on the go, and my son left a generous tip for service that was ho hum and food that was subpar. (Conditionally so, in my opinion.)

I suppose no one ever considers the significance of really eating out, except those needing bodies to serve as cogs in the restaurant industry, and then as cogs in the dysfunctional healthcare system of this country.

We left Big Daddy's, and I know for myself I was with an unmemorable experience—except for what was recalled and expressed here. Least it be said, I am not a fan of eating out. At least not just anywhere, but Big Daddy's was...

This was my 1st time visiting Big Daddy’s Burger Bar 🍔 and it is more than likely my last. I visited late Saturday night 10/7/2023. I decided to treat my college students (21 & 18) to dinner after a week of midterms. I’d driven by this spot time after time and always wanted to visit. I read reviews and looked at pictures, etc and it seemed like a good burger spot. The atmosphere is chill, quaint burger/sports bar grill, not fancy very relaxed 😎. On Saturday they close at 10p, we got there approx 8:50p. We waited about 6 minutes to be seated and our server took our order fairly promptly. We ordered three (3) different burgers with sides and soft drinks. It took about 35-40 minutes to get our food and it was served not cold, but certainly not hot or warm, maybe room temperature. The burgers were overcooked (we ask for medium) and dry. My daughter had tater tots, she said they were warm, nicely seasoned and not over cooked. My son and I ordered onion rings. My son didn’t receive his and my were over cooked, not burnt but just before burnt. I advised the server we were missing an order of onion rings. When she brought those out they were cooked perfectly. I’m not sure if the room temp food was on our server or the kitchen. The over cooked onion rings…the kitchen, over cooked burgers…kitchen or server, missing onion rings…server (she acknowledged she didn’t put in 2 orders). Just a note…our beverages were never refilled, due to waiting a while for our food we had consumed most of our drinks and the glasses were visible low, but server never asked if we wanted refills. To be fair we didn’t ask until right before we left. We left feeling very disappointed ☹️. I really don’t believe I received I fair value for the time price…$60! I have eaten better burgers at Cheeseburger Bobby’s and Fi Guy’s….honestly Applebees and Chili’s as well! This is my first ever Google review. I don’t normally give reviews, especially not negative reviews but I really feel the value was not there. This establishment has received numerous rave reviews and a couple not so good reviews, it may just have not been my night but I don’t think I will spend my...

Daddy might be bad, but he serves up some seriously good burgers. Bad Daddy's is currently our favorite spot for burgers, and it's wild that we stumbled upon it purely by accident while we were headed someplace else.

Burgers are clearly the name of the game here, and they're done well. We always go for the make-your-own burgers, which can be ordered by penciling in all our preferences - proteins, bun choice, meat doneness, cheeses, sauces, and other burger accoutrements. Premium toppings like avocado or bacon come with an unsurprising upcharge, and the gluten-free bun is an extra $2. But it's a nominal price to pay for the comfort of ordering a burger that's exactly what you want. Speaking of the gluten-free bun, I tried it today, and it was one of the better ones I've tried, with a sturdy and slightly crumbly bread texture. Meat burgers are excellent here, but there are also black bean burgers for vegetarians. In short, there's something for everyone here. To wit, the other side of the make-your-own burger form is the make-your-own-salad form with more dizzying arrays of customizability.

If we had any qualms, it would be with the fries. The serving size has always been a little smaller than we would have liked, and we've ordered both the 'single' and 'double' serving. Every time we've ordered it, our fries have always been ever so slightly soggy, which makes me think they might be leftovers from a batch cook rather than made to order.

Fries notwithstanding, the food has never let us down and it's important to note that Bad Daddy's hits all the other high notes of a great dining experience. The wait time for our meals has never been more than fifteen minutes and the servers are friendly to boot. There's a well-stocked bar off to the side for those needing a little something extra with their meals, and the cool garage look is perfect for creating a welcoming and relaxed restaurant vibe.

There's plentiful seating both indoors and al fresco under umbrellas, but I'd personally recommend sitting inside after watching a couple fight a losing battle with a few bees this afternoon (apparently they love the...