Smashburger — Restaurant in Westerville

This was my first time eating Smashburger. I’m on Keto (low carb), so no buns or fries. The double brisket burger was AMAZING. I love that online ordering makes it so easy to customize your order. I added sautéed onions, which were plentiful. The brisket was tender, smokey and juicy even without the BBQ sauce (left off the BBQ sauce because too many carbs). My husband had the grilled chicken, which he loved too. Staff were great. They even brought the order out to our car. The only reason I can’t give 5 stars, was due to the way my burger was packaged. Since mine was bunless, it came in a takeout container. The container was great, but the receipt was put INSIDE the container, sitting on top of the top layer of lettuce (with a small part of the receipt sticking outside the container). I was shocked, especially during the pandemic, that someone would put a dirty receipt in a container directly on top of and touching the food. Covid-19 aside, I think the ink from those receipts can be dangerous to ingest. I took the top layer of lettuce off and trashed it. I don’t know if this receipt placement was an error, or this is standard practice. As I stated, the staff here were excellent, and so kind, and I certainly don’t want to get anyone in trouble. I just want management to be aware of this, and instruct the staff not to place the receipt directly on top of and touching the food. Hopefully next time, 5 stars!

**This is an update to my original review. We ordered pickup from the Westerville Smashburger today. Unfortunately I had to change my rating from 4 stars to 3. Just like last time, the food was great, as was the staff. But still, like last time, there was a receipt inside my food container touching the food. So now that I know this unclean practice is standard at this restaurant, unfortunately, I will no longer be able to patronize this location. It makes one wonder what their cleanliness is like in other areas. Too risky for me. But so sad because the...

So this used to be my favorite quick burger place to go to with my best friend. They aren’t all that anymore. I actually boycotted them since January 2023 because they messed up bad. I did an order for delivery, clearly stated NO PORK on a particular sandwich that comes with bacon (never had an issue with this before.) I selected the “no bacon” option AND added a note, but they sent it out the door with a ton of bacon on it. Fries were super soggy. I reached out to the supervisor (1/11/23) named Scott. He took all my info and said I would either get points in my Smashburger app or that corporate or whoever would send something for me in the mail. Never got anything. I actually emailed and followed up with corporate and re-explained the entire incident. I got ignored twice, and asked for “more help” from customer service in the app. Nothing came of it. I boycotted them for 7 months for extremely poor service until today, I got a craving and wanted something fast. Today (7/24/23) I asked for my burger well done, and it was still pink in various spots. I’m pregnant. So I just cut that part off. Fries were AWESOME and crispy and fresh. I tried a milkshake for the first time, which was a joke. Their website shows the peanut butter milkshake with whipped cream and candy pieces on top. What I got was just vanilla ice cream mixed with a hint of peanut butter, no toppings or candy pieces and NOT filled up!!! It’s pretty funny actually, I attached a picture next to the full container of fries right when I got my order to show what it looks like so they don’t try to say I drank half of it. I can definitely say this isn’t my favorite restaurant anymore and my best friend and I will probably not be back for our lunch dates anymore. They are just not as good as they used to be,...

The reason this place gets any stars at all is the food itself. Do you really expect people to wait over 30 minutes for a TO-GO order?!? I even waited at the register for over 5 minutes before the 3rd employee passing by acknowledged me, but said I would have to wait for the 4th to come take my order. Literally my receipt says 7:43pm (figure +5 minutes standing there waiting + a few more to get my order taken down)...my name wasn't called until 8:10 on the dot. I probably could have driven all the way across town to Grove City and STILL be eating delicious food from Canes or Wendy's by the same time on the clock.

If you read nothing else from this review here's the summary. Was it busy? Yes, there was nowhere to stand let alone sit unless you went into the dining room and grabbed a table. Also, it seems like the franchise may have done a poor job timing/integrating DoorDash order pickups. However, did the operation feel efficient or service-oriented in any way? HECK NO! If I didn't know better I could swear the cook only had 1 patty on the grill at a time. Also, on the service side of things I may as well have been a numbered ticket at the deli counter.

If the place was truly that busy that they physically couldn't cook any faster, they could have at least had some sense of urgency to get my order in the system as soon as I stepped up to the counter. I would not be nearly as upset...

Alternatively, if someone could have given me a heads up on the currently estimated wait time (preferably before taking my money) that would have drastically improved my experience because, had I still waited, it would have been my...