Smashburger

Wow. Fast service, food arrives fast, hot, fresh, tastes great. Bonus points! Fried egg was nice and runny.

It was great that they offered a VIP event/​soft opening for the new location! Booking time slots was a good way to get folks in a steady wave for the staff.
I was a little surprised by the lady behind the counter (I think she may have been from corporate USA) when I mentioned I was celiac and needed gluten free care of my food asking me «What’s Celiac?». I had an «oh-​dear» moment at that point, but forged ahead.
I didn’t see any mention of gluten free buns or allergy awareness on the signage — it was a soft opening, so I wasn’t going to expect everything would be done and finished. She did mark my salad order as an Allergy. Speaking with the owner, I’ll send them some info later on so they can educate their staff.
I heard later from friends in a later time slot that there was mention of Udi’s gluten free buns on the menu, but I never did see the menu, (they’re posted just inside the door on the wall), I only saw the board behind the order counter. I see from Jenna K’s Aug 2015 review — the gluten free bun is fluffy — so I have another reason to revisit!
The salad I had was the spinach, cucumber & goat cheese, large, and really flavourful. I would definitely order it again. Did I say large? I had supper AND a lunch from my take-​home.
Just a note, I started my review in August 2014, and I’m happy to say they’ve succeeded in surpassing their 1 year anniversary! Must revisit and update my review!

Only two stars for the fries. What a bad burger got the Albertan tasted dry and something you could get at burger King on the dollar menu.

Great fast food place!
I was impressed by the high quality of food for fast food!
They have various options for burgers: chicken, beef, veggie and options for buns, gluten free!
I made my own burger, choosing my toppings and had the black bean veggie burger. It was very tasty. The gluten free bun was very fluffy which is hard to come by with gluten free.
We also enjoyed the smash fries which were really good! They have some spices and oils on it to make them extra crispy and flavorful.
The service was good, food was prompt and tasty.

Smashburger is located in a new shopping complex on St. Albert Trail.
The parking can sometimes be tight, but there is ample spots.
This location is the newest one in Edmonton and area.
Management is very kind and welcoming and so are the staff. Everyone is very eager to please. Food is brought to your table and taken away for you.
There are set burger options and the ability to customize. The egg bun option is remarkable. I always get the BBQ bacon cheeseburger. You have the option to make the burger an even larger size patty! The smashfries with rosemary oil are divine and the Saskatoon berry milkshakes are very tasty.
I always have a great time at Smashburger and it makes the trip out to St. Albert well worth it. Prices are perfect and the service exceptional.
They also make amazing salads. By far my favorite burgers in Edmonton and I dare say even in the world!

I have eaten here a couple of times. I didn’t like the veggie burger a whole bunch. They are a quick fix if you are needing a burger.

It’s a burger. Not much to say. Overpriced for what you get. Avoid the guacamole, it was not fresh.

The staff is very friendly and the restaurant itself is very clean and welcoming, but the food is just not that great. The chicken is incredibly salty and greasy, but at least the veggies are nice and fresh! The fries are very thin (thinner than say, McDonalds fries) and overwhelmingly salty as well. My husband got a smashed beef burger, which you can tell is not Alberta beef and is kind of hard to enjoy when you’re so use to local meat. My husband and I also tried the fried pickles, which kind of loses its tanginess that friend pickles are known for as a result of too much grease. All in all, I would say for the price you are better off going to Deluxe or Fat Burger.

Love it fresh prepared meat. and done to order fast excellent customer service! Its a must for a quick stop for families and pick up if needed

It is awesome here! Great service! Their food is absolutely delicious. Me and my friend go here all the time and we love it. If you are on the line of weather or not to go here… GO!

Smash burger is fantastic. We decided to stop in later on a Sunday evening. I was so impressed by the service. The younger boy at the front counter was very professional, and kitchen staff smiling as you walked in. The food was great! juicy burgers, smash fries were a hit– think gourmet shoestring fries! Milkshakes look great too! We will be returning! Best burger in a long time!

I love the flavor and freshness of this restaurant. It might be premium priced, but you get what you pay for.
Thick juicy patties topped with your fav toppings on an egg white bun. Service is ok for a fast casual place, but I can’t knock the actual food at all.
When my kids would rather eat here then some of the other fast food places it says a lot.

Loved the fries. Hamburger was thin and greasy. Won’t go again.

Finally a fast food hamburger chain that I can eat at! Great food and excellent customer service. Gluten and Dairy free options. Very impressed!

Sorry forgot to take a few pics but here is my warning anyway.
First impression from the outside is okay, new brightly lit, nice bright coloured signs. You walk in, a long narrow corridor channeling you towards the tills to order, a little uncomfortable as everyone stands there beside two tables with families eating. The families were noticeably uncomfortable with a dozen people standing in close proximity to them eating and I am sure, so is everyone standing in line. My advice, avoid those two tables by the tills.
Ordered the Avacado Club burger, Smash Fries and some Iced water. The cashier made a big fuzz over my iced water request because he has to go to the back to get me a cup and bring it out to my table. Most places would have just given you an empty cup to fill up at the drink fountain’s water tab but nope that is not allowed here. Very uncomfortable, felt like I caused a great issue for the restaurant and everyone else in line is looking at me saying «what the heck did this guy ordered to slow down the line even more?»
Then there was the fries confusion, I asked what is the difference between Smash Fries and regular French Fries, the cashier couldn’t answer me. With a little bit of a language barrier, I vaguely understood that it is fries with some spices on it, oh well, ordered it anyway. As it turned out, it was the only good thing I ordered. it came fresh, crispy and tasty; no idea what spices were on it but it was good.
The Avocado Club was a disaster, for a $ 8 burger, it looked like hell. The patty looked «smashed», literally, it has been smashed into 3 pieces with zero juice left in it. The bacon strips were cold, hard and chewy; yum… cold chewy bacon. The avocado looked fresh but was served to me in a hard solid unripen wedge, even a six year old can tell you, a wedge shaped condiment does not fit well on a flat round burger well. The lettuce/​tomato/​top had fallen off sitting on top of my fries. Basically, what I received was a mess of burger pieces in a basket.
Portion wise, the patty was small, much thinner than expected for a $ 8 burger. I also don’t understand the concept of smashing the patty so all the juices run out of the patty. The meat was dry but the fresh veggie toppings did make it better.
Taste wise, it was average at best and definitely not good for the price. IMHO, Jack’s down the road, way better; Fatburder down the road, better; Wendy’s down the road, better; McDonalds down the road, hmmm…, okay I won’t go that far. Great concept but execution was poor. I really regretted not taking a picture for you but any smart person can tell the difference between the publicity pictures and the real reviewers’ pictures here.
Service wise, the servers need to be better trained and they really need to watch how they communicate. I don’t look Asian but I understood every word that was shouted out. The one lady cashier really need to watch how she communicates with her staffs. Although nothing rude was said, the tone used made everyone uncomfortable.
Me and my companion were going to share each other’s sandwiches half & half, but we were both afraid to go up to ask for a knife, lol. Her Spicy Baja Chicken sandwich looked way better than my burger.
May be it was because of the lunch rush, but service was poor, food was at best average and definitely not worth the price. Would I return, not likely, there are better burgers out there.

Gave smash burger a try. Good service the staff was friendly. Found the hamburger was tasty but also found it a bit pricy. A hamburger small dies and a drink for two of us was just over $ 30.00. At that value I would prefer 5 guy burger just as tasty and a lot bigger. I also found they like put a lot of mustard on it. I feel that should be the individual choice.

My SO and I were invited to a Grand Opening VIP Event for a soft launch of this location in St. Albert.
My only experience with Smashburger is trying it once before in Calgary late at night and I did enjoy their burgers and fries that time so I looked forward to this VIP event. The VIP event wasn’t too crowded but it was a busy place keeping the employees hopping and giving them a good test at running a busy fast food restaurant.
The ordering went fine but my SO did have a bit of challenge explaining being celiac and finding out what she could order. A tough test for rookie employees for sure. A Manager ended up helping her and in the end she ordered a salad which she said was fantastic. She will be writing a review from her POV dealing with the gluten free options and how the food was.
Back to my experience… I ordered an Albertan Burger with a side of fries with their signature spice blend. I love the fries there! I’m not a huge fan of shoestring fries usually but these ones are great and I think it has a lot to do with their rosemary spice blend. They are fantastic fries. I haven’t tried their sweet potato fries yet but look forward to that. Their milkshakes also look great and something I want to try on a future visit.
The Albertan Burger had cheddar, grilled onions, and a fried egg on top of their smashed burger patty with smash sauce. Their patties are delicious for sure and I really liked this burger and would rank it pretty high among other fast casual restaurant burgers.

I have been here twice since smash burger opened the first time was pretty good, I had the buffalo fries and avocado club burger… the fries were fantastic tossed in franks red hot seasonings and served with a side of ranch and the burger was tasty though they had run out of the multi grain buns it’s normally served on.
Second time we went the service was super fast despite the line up. My burger wasn’t what I ordered (buffalo bleu cheese burger) and when I asked the girl if it was supposed to have chipotle sauce on it she said she didn’t know. I ate it anyway, it was alight. I had the fried pickles, they were underwhelming but the vanilla milkshake was super yummy!
Not sure I would go back again. The cost was high and not on par with other higher end burger joints.

I do appreciate that Smashburger let’s you customize your burger just the way you want and offers up trendy side items but that’s where they lose me.
The concept is good — smashing fresh ground beef on the grill searing in the juicy goodness and cooked hot and fresh to order but it’s what they’re serving me that loses me. They fly their beef in from the United States. Yep, that’s right — you cannot get less local than this. They also fly their bread in from the United States as well.
I’d much rather frequent a burger joint that is supportive of local food — locally sourced beef (Alberta beef at a minimum) and locally made bread if not made in house.
If you do stop by, be sure to give their sides a try as they offer more than the usual fare with not only french fries but also smash fries, sweet potato fries, haystack onions and veggie frites.
Props for serving Udi’s Gluten Free bread for anyone looking for GF. Their menu varies from region to region so if you’d like to see what’s being served up at a particular location just google them but here’s the link for St. Albert:
As noted on their website, this location features the Albertan Burger & Chicken topped with Montréal seasoned grilled onions, cheddar cheese, 40 Creek Whiskey BBQ Sauce, and fried egg on a Kaiser roll. But how is it Albertan if the burger is not made from Alberta beef?
The value is certainly good for a casual family dinner out but next time, I’d stop at Jack’s Burger Shack instead who uses locally sourced ingredients.
If I was reviewing Smashburger on the burger alone, it would be an easy 2 stars with flown in — non local — meat and bread from the United States BUT with trendy sides, a bright and clean restaurant, and Udi’s GF bread options — I’ll bump them up to 3 stars. Still won’t be visiting again when I could get locally sourced burgers from other competitors in St. Albert that are Mom & Pop owned.

Great fast food. Fresh ingredients with menu options ussually offered in restaurants. Great rosemary fries or sweet potato fries. Cheap and fast!
Smashburger I first discovered in san diego… it was fresh and had a huge line so I figured id try it out. But two locations have opened up near edmonton and this one is close to home and work… so yay!
Located near the sturgeon hospital in between servus bank/​east side marios and good life fitness on the trail. This place is conveinent although its on a little side strip mall and can only be accessed if driving north on the trail or from the back.
Coming in it was clean and layout is similar to other smashburgers ive gone too. There was a line but it moved reletively quickly and It was so busy I thought I wouldnt get a seat. But we did and it didnt even take 5 minutes for our food!!! Thats service! Especially when I ordered a custom made burger! I ordered a avocado chicken smash with a poutine and my son ordered the custom made smash burger with sweet potato fries. You pay and take a number and they bring your food to the table. Luckily it was the grand opening and the meals were on the house!!! Score!
Anyways the food comes in red baskets. Portions are pretty good. Not huge but satisfying. The toppings were all fresh and crisp. No sign of wilting or anything. This is one thing that ive noticed about all smashburgers… fresh ingredients. I enjoy the chicken club… I order it everytime and it doesnt disappoint. It is a tad greasy but thats better than being deep fried like other fast food joints. The fries are flavoured with rosemary and salt and are deliciously crisp. The poutine in my opinon was overly salted. But it was still good. Drinks are unlimited fountain pop and I like how they have fanta as an option. (My son got hooked on this in europe and its actually quite hard to find in canadian restaurants).
Service was super fast and very friendly. They went above and beyond to make me comfortable and to ensure I had everything I needed. They even offered me a takeout box when we were done and gave it to me so I didnt even have to stand up. Thats better service than some chinese restaurants.lol.
Im glad there is now a better option for fast food in st albert. Cheap and fast ill come here often. Food is tastier healthier and better qualitt than all other fast food joints. Its like eating gourmet fast food. These burgers could easily rival some burgers in restaurants and Its significantly cheaper. Lets hope they can keep it up!