Nash & Smashed — Restaurant in Virginia

UPDATED REVIEW: Overall experience : 10/10 The place has improved tremendously since my last review pf when it first opened. And as you can see from the last review - it didn't need a lot of improvement in the first place.

This is now my go to spot for fried chicken. Still keeping my old review below so folks can see the progress.

(OLDER REVIEW FROM OPENING MONTH) Overall experience : 7.5/10

But the rating by no means makes is mid. A very good experience for a newly open place.

I've been reading alot of reviews saying slow service. This wasn't the case for us. We had a fairly sizeable order 4 burgers, 16 pc bucket, fries. Took about 15-20 mins. This may seem long. But the fact that we visited in Ramadan timing for breaking fast - the place was fairly packed. The slow service complaint is being addressed well. Despite the fairly decent order time. The front service girl was apologetic for the wait time.

As for the food: Smash burgers were pretty good. The mushroom meltdown has room for improvement. It was essentially same as smash burger with mushrooms added. Maybe mushroom sauce or sautéed mushrooms or anything to add 'mushroom' personality to the burger is needed.

Fries - personally, zero complaints. Fried to perfection. Usually in high customer volume times in fast food places - I've noted fries quality suffers. Wasn't the case here.

Fried chicken - We went for the 'hot/spicy' option. Best halal fried chicken I've had. Only critique - we received it in 2 separate buckets. One bucket was fried very well. Other for some reason - was very oily and darker shade. Consistency needs improvement.

Cleanliness - They definitely need staff to empty trash and clean tables in high volume hours. Every staff member was occupied in the kitchen. Leaving the trash bin completely full and tables with no customers that needed cleaning.

The place had letters installed that they are working on getting staff and working on quality. Hopefully the next experience is going to be better.

Will be my first choice the next time in looking for halal...

Making an edit to my original review after coming back for a second try. Food was much better--and hot--which made all the difference. Burgers and Chicken sandwiches tasted great--just enough heat on the medium spicy chicken sandwich and the burgers were juicy and delicious. I wish they had more choices in the sides category, but the fries stayed crispy and tasted way better than the first time. Never had an issue with the service, and even more pleased this time around--they made sure I was well taken care of. Have to say that I would now definitely recommend this place to anyone--having both really good Nashville chicken AND great burgers is not something other similar restaurants can claim to offer, and since I love both it is an easy choice.

Previous review: Came to try this place out since I love smashburgers and nashville hot chicken sandwiches, but left really disappointed. Went on a Wednesday night, I think about a week after it opened. I do give them some leeway for being new and having growing pains--they were apologetic--but between the 1 hour wait and the nearly cold food I was served I can't endorse them. Fries were actually cold and seemed like they had been sitting for a while--honestly the worst fries I have had in memory. Nashville chicken sandwich was decent, though also nearly cold, and the burger might have been good if it was fresh--the cheese was congealed from it also being cold. Ordered a chicken tender meal for my kid and it was supposed to be regular tenders--not spicy. Once he opened it we noticed one of the 3 tenders was noticeably darker and upon tasting it realized it was the spicy kind so he couldn't eat it. Ironically, it was much better than the regular tenders, which were almost tasteless. Anyway, hoping this place can get it together. Until then, I will focus on more proven places for this...

This place was great! It was my first time trying it, and it was lovely. The only gripe that I have is that the soda (mtn dew) seemed only half-carbonated. Other than that, it was amazing.

The chicken was moist, tender, juicy, and fell away from the bone with ease. The seasoning that was on it was very flavorful and not at all over-powering of the chicken. The meal I got was a lunch special 2-piece with 1 wing and 1 breast, with fries and drink for 7.99 - I added a piece of cornbread and the whole thing came to just over $10 after tax; Very reasonable for a lunch-time meal. The fries were waffle-cut thick slices, and had a lovely seasoning on them. The food was not spicy at all, as you might expect. It was pleasantly seasoned and the flavors of the meat and of the potatoes at their base value were allowed to shine bright, with the seasoning added to compliment it. Some places try to over-do it with the seasoning - not this place! Very tasty - Very enjoyable. The cornbread was crumbly yet delicious. Nothing spectacular, but cooked well and tasting good, just as you'd expect.

The sauces on the side bring that flavor to a whole 'nother level. I'm not usually a sauces guy, but by the time the meal was done my sauce cups were almost empty! The white sauce is a nice ranch dip, with a heavy celery flavor. The orange dip is a house-special identified as Smash Sauce, and tasted like a nice japanese Yum Yum Sauce with some fry seasoning mixed it.

This place is a definite WIN in my book, and gets a strong rating from me. I hope to see this restaurant grow, and serve the community well! I will recommend it to friends and family as somewhere to go! I look forward to visiting this...