Savor Scout › Food guides › Smash burgers
How to find a good smash burger
A smash burger is a ball of beef pressed flat on a very hot griddle, which gives it a deeply browned, lacy crust. Two thin patties with melted American cheese on a soft bun is the classic form.
What separates a good one from a bad one
- A deep crust — Browned, crispy, lacy edges. Grey patties mean the griddle was not hot enough or the press was timid.
- Fresh-ground beef, well fatted — 80/20 beef gives the crust flavour.
- American cheese — Melts perfectly over thin patties.
- A soft, squishy bun — Potato or Martin's-style buns toasted on the griddle.
- Simple toppings — Pickles, onions, a sauce. Extra toppings hide the crust.
What to order
- Double smash with cheese — The standard.
- Oklahoma onion burger — Thin onions smashed into the patty.
- Fries or tots — Fresh-cut if available.
- A shake — If they make them.
- Single, for lunch — Lighter.
Where to find Smash burgers
Smash burgers is mostly found at burger joints, so that is where to look. Open listings put 27,504 of them across the US, and these are the cities and campuses with the most.
Cities with the most
New York, NY 382 Los Angeles, CA 297 Houston, TX 229 Chicago, IL 215 Las Vegas, NV 197 San Antonio, TX 168 Dallas, TX 147 Austin, TX 145
Campuses with the most within a mile
The Graduate Center 104 Touro University 101 NYU 101 FIT 100 New School University 90 Baruch 88
A few to start with
- Black Burger — New York, NY
362 Broadway, New York - For The Win — Los Angeles, CA
317 S Broadway, Los Angeles - Eats Mesquite Grill — Houston, TX
804 Milam St, Houston - Hamburger Stan — Chicago, IL
125 S Clark St, Chicago - Heart Attack Grill — Las Vegas, NV
450 Fremont St Ste 130, Las Vegas - Candy's Old Fashion Burgers — San Antonio, TX
115 Plaza de Armas #107, San Antonio
Counts are listings in Overture Maps open data (September 2026), counted by the town in each address. Independent places only in the examples above, and they are a starting point rather than a ranking.
How Savor Scout looks for it
The search reads for smash, crispy edges, griddle and double, and favours specialist burger stands over sit-down restaurants offering a smash option.
Looking in a particular city?
Each of these opens Savor Scout with the location already set, so you can say what you want and it searches from there. It covers 1,000 US cities in total — these are simply the largest.
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Houston, TX
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Dallas, TX
- San Jose, CA
- Austin, TX
- Indianapolis, IN
- Jacksonville, FL
- San Francisco, CA
- Columbus, OH
- Charlotte, NC
- Fort Worth, TX
- Detroit, MI
- El Paso, TX
- Memphis, TN
- Seattle, WA
- Denver, CO
- Washington, DC
- Boston, MA
- Nashville, TN
- Baltimore, MD
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Louisville, KY
- Portland, OR
- Las Vegas, NV
- Milwaukee, WI
- Albuquerque, NM
- Tucson, AZ
- Fresno, CA
- Sacramento, CA
- Long Beach, CA
- Kansas City, MO
- Mesa, AZ
- Virginia Beach, VA
- Atlanta, GA
- Colorado Springs, CO
- Omaha, NE
- Raleigh, NC
- Miami, FL
- Oakland, CA
- Minneapolis, MN
- Tulsa, OK
- Cleveland, OH
- Wichita, KS
- Arlington, TX
- New Orleans, LA
- Bakersfield, CA
- Tampa, FL
- Honolulu, HI
- Aurora, CO
- Anaheim, CA
- Santa Ana, CA
- St. Louis, MO
- Riverside, CA
- Corpus Christi, TX