If you like a good burger, our Food Guy says consider its cousin, the smashburger.
Popular on the West Coast and downstate, these thinner versions look smaller, but still pack a lot of flavor. Steve Dolinsky joining us tonight with the details on five of his favorites.
Nothing thick and juicy about these… but it’s the technique of literally smashing the burger on the flat top, resulting in a crispy, lacey edge, which adds wonderful texture but maintains that optimal bite ratio I’m always looking for in a sandwich.
Since 1932, Miner Dunn has been a major smashburger destination for the folks in Highland, Indiana. Measured scoops of fresh ground beef, perfectly toasted thin buns and some nice smashing technique, resulting in crisp edges and softer middles. American cheese; your choice of mayo, ketchup, mustard and pickles and a side of handcut fries. This is Midwest nirvana, and don’t forget the soft serve!
Schoop’s has locations all over Northwest Indiana, and ironically, Curtis Rund worked there as a teen. He brought that experience to Roscoe Village several years ago, at The Region, where he makes some of the flattest and widest smashburgers around.
“Really thin and lacey and crispy on the edges, and as you work your way in, it gets a little thicker and more juicy,” said Rund.
He starts with a seven-ounce ball of freshly-ground beef.
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“Then I use a bricklayer’s trowel to press it down and then kind of work the edges,” he said.
Not only does he work the edges, he scrapes and flips at just the right time. A slice of American, plus secret sauce, relish and onions is all it needs. Good luck keeping it all together.
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Decadence is the name of the game at The Drop In, a West Town bar with a seriously delicious smashburger made from two, three-ounce patties of fattier Wagyu beef.
Toasted buns get a shmear of housemade sauce containing relish, chili sauce, mayo and mustard; then tart pickles on one side, spicier pickled jalapeños on the other. Meanwhile, finely shredded onions are mounded on one side of the smashed patty, which is flipped over, then topped with American cheese. The patties are stacked, then gently placed between the buns. Tons of flavor in this sandwich with good texture and a great burger-to-bun ratio.
Right next to the Kennedy, just South of Fullerton, The Leavitt Street Inn & Tavern has gained a passionate following for its smashburger. It dominates the rest of the menu.
“It’s a burger, right? So…I love it. I love burgers, so I’m glad everybody else loves burgers,” said owner Teddy Harris. “Crispy edges…I think it’s more flavor,” he said.
Two patties are smashed so thin, they need to be scraped off the flat top with what looks like a drywall spatula. Cheese and caramelized onions are layered in between, then the buttered and toasted sesame seed buns are topped with crunchy pickles and housemade sauce. Simple and yet so satisfying.
Finally, check out the technique at Taco Sublime, which runs the kitchen inside Marz Community Tavern in Bridgeport. Two, four-ounce patties are not only smashed, they’re pressed as wide as can be.
“Research went into it because we wanted to give you a smashburger that was pink in the middle,” said owner Khaled Simon.
Toasted sesame seed-jammed buns get covered in mayo, mustard, ketchup and pickles on the bottom, while both cheese-covered patties rest on top. The ratio is spot-on, and Simon is right: crispy edges, pink in the middle.
“It requires a little bit of technique; it’s just learning how to spin around the edge with the smasher.”
Here are plenty of places you can go for a smashburger:
8940 Indianapolis Blvd., Highland IN
219-923-3311
2057 W. Roscoe St.
773-857-2874
415 N. Milwaukee Ave.
2345 N. Leavitt St.
773-661-9639
Taco Sublime at Marz Community Tavern
3630 S. Iron St.
773-579-1935
Honorable mention:
1227 W. 18th St.
312-526-3851
