Foodie Review: Smashburger in Radnor, PA

Smashburger
550 East Lancaster Ave
Radnor, PA

As a rule, I love a good burger place.  And in the past few years there have been a number of good burger places popping up all over the place.  They seem to sit nicely in one of three categories... you've got your Fast Food (McDonald's, Burger King etc), your Gourmet Burgers (Red Robin, Burgery) and finally your Fresh and Fast (Five Guys, Jake's Wayback, Elevation Burger) -- and in the end, Smashburger lines up in the Fresh and Fast arena.  They create a fresh burger with tasty ingredients that is fast an tasty.  This is where Smashburger stands out from their competitors.

I went in for lunch and the place was more-or-less empty.  I ordered the Big Bacon BBQ Cheeseburger with fries and a soda. The total was a little over $12.  I sat down and the food was delivered by a very friendly gentlemen a few minutes later.  My first impression of the meal was that it was a little bit small for $12.  The burger wasn't very thick and the overall look of it was closer to a Big Mac sized patty then a Quarter Pounder.  The burger was cooked just fine and it was very tasty.  The french fries were very thin -- what you'd consider matchstick fries.  They were decent.

Overall, I liked Smashburger.  I put it in the same category as Five Guys, but it just doesn't quite measure up to Five Guys.  If I had to choose, I'd do a Five Guys -- but that's not a knock on Smashburger.  And perhaps I'm making too much of the value for the money, but I really feel like for $8 I should have gotten more burger.  At Five Guys the burgers are bigger and cost less.  If I'm in the area again for lunch, I'll certainly consider making a return to Smashburger.  They don't disappoint.

Overall:
Atmosphere: 4/5 - It's a burger place.  Nice, but not fancy.
Service: 5/5
Food: 4/5
Price: 2/5
Overall: 3.5/5


Bruce is the author of five books: Sands of Time, Towering Pines Volume One:Room 509, The Star of Christmas, Philadelphia Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel and The Insider's Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel.  He also has a new novel coming out in June 2014, The Kill Commission.  Follow Bruce's Novel releases by subscribing to his FREE newsletter!