7 Chain Restaurants With the Best Smashburger Cheeseburgers
One of my favorite hamburger styles is a smashburger. While some people prefer thick, juicy patties, I sometimes crave a thin, perfectly seasoned, and somewhat crispy patty, smothered with melted cheese and sandwiched between buns. Where can you get the best smashburger cheeseburger? Here are 7 chain restaurants with the best cheese smashburgers.
Smashburger
The Smashburger Classic Smash features a signature crispy sear, juicy beef, and customizable toppings, including melted cheese. Megan Hageman, one of our reviewers, calls it one of “the meatiest” burgers in the genre. “Despite its smash burger nature, it displays body and depth while still maintaining that quintessential charred exterior and plenty of peppery, seasoned flavor. Add the toppings and the “buttery” bun, and you get perfection. “Buoyant yet chewy, it rounds out the sandwich, creating pure burger bliss,” she says.
Shake Shack
Shake Shack’s smashburgers are one of my favorites. The chain’s culinary director Mark Rosati explained to TastingTable that the chain uses proper cooking techniques to get the perfect smash. They place pucks of cold beef on a hot cast-iron skillet, then smash them with a metal spatula. “It’s an old Midwest/Cali technique. By smashing the meat on the griddle, it starts to caramelize instantly for a perfect sear,” he says. Add the melted cheese, and you get total perfection.
Culver’s
Culver’s ButterBurger is the perfect smash in the Midwest. “Garlicky with a smooth, pressed-together demeanor, the meat almost melts in your mouth,” says Hageman.
Freddy’s
Freddy’s is another chain that makes the perfect cheeseburger smash. The Original Double features ultra-thin, caramelized patties with signature Freddy’s seasoning and melted cheese. One Redditor maintains that they “do smash burgers pretty well. Most fast food places don’t,” while another calls it the “Best burger chain in the country, full stop.”
Wahlburgers
Wahlburgers uses e a proprietary blend of fresh Angus beef, specifically Angus chuck, brisket, and short rib, chosen for quality, marbling, and flavor, resulting in juicy, rich-tasting patties used in their classic burgers like “The Our Burger Smash,” which consists of two angus beef patties, government cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and Paul’s signature Wahl Sauce.
Five Guys
Five Guys’ “quintessential” smash patties are “flat with no pink and a crisped perimeter. They are a bit greasy but not bad, and they delight with an almost homemade taste,” says Hageman. Hand-smashed on the grill, you can load them up with fresh toppings, including sauce, cheese, tomato, and pickles.
Whataburger
Whataburger users “100% fresh, never-frozen American beef and fresh vegetables, chopped in-house daily in its smashburgers. “Whataburger is hands down top 3 fast food burgers. 70% of the time, I’ll choose Whataburger; but every once i get a craving that only in n out can crush,” one Redditor writes.