Crispy-edged and oh-so-satisfying, smash burgers are putting the hammer down on Valley grills.
By Marilyn Hawkes | Photography by Angelina Aragon
Before we gnash our teeth over what makes a good smash burger, let’s define the crucial elements of this handheld delight: a beef hamburger patty, smashed on a well-seasoned griddle and flattened by a spatula until the meat becomes crispy and browned, causing what is known in food science circles as the Maillard reaction.
You’ll find it in spades when you bite into a double burger ($12, pictured) at Bad Jimmy’s in Downtown Phoenix (108 E. Pierce St., 480-386-0129, badjimmys.com). Slinging meat at the brick-and-mortar version of his pop-up and food truck, chef-owner James Piazza crowns a pair of griddled 5-oz. Arizona beef patties with American cheese, the melting cheese and smash-pressed meat mingling to create a delectable halo of caramelized crispness around the patty. He then piles on onions rendered in beef fat and adds sliced pickles, serving the burgers between a Martin’s potato roll that’s toasted but somehow remains gloriously fluffy, slathered with “not-so-secret sauce,” Piazza’s take on Thousand Island dressing made with creamy Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise. Piazza says the hallmark of a good smash burger is in the textural contrast of the soft bun and lacy-edged burger patty. “It’s really simple. Less is more,” he says. Biting into one of Bad Jimmy’s bad boys will evoke memories of every sauce-dripping, paper-wrapped burger that you ate as a kid, but better. Be sure to grab a fistful of napkins.
Recently, Scottsdale’s Happy’s Hamburgers (10435 N. Scottsdale Rd., 480-630-2330, happyshamburgers.com) was touted on Yelp as having the best cheeseburger in Arizona. Owner Dave Vaughan’s smash burgers come in two sizes: double signature burger ($9.95, quarter pound with cheese) and a triple signature burger ($10.95, half pound with cheese), each made with custom-ground Angus beef. “I don’t skimp on the quality of the meat,” Vaughan says. He rolls the ground beef into balls and then smashes them into onion strings on the flat-top grill, embedding the onions into the meat until the edges get “dark and crispy.” He flips the beef, adds cheese and a bun, and then covers to steam the burger. Happy’s signature burgers come with shredded lettuce and pickles on the side, and a selection of house-made sauces, including jalapeño ketchup, Thousand Island and “unhappy sauce” lit up with ghost peppers.
To round out the trio, we visited Chilte at the Egyptian Motor Hotel (765 Grand Ave., Phoenix, 602-807-5226, chiltephx.com), recently named to Esquire magazine’s top 50 new restaurants of 2023. The eatery specializes in experimental Mexican cuisine but also has a first-class Bestia Smashy-Burger ($22) on the menu. Chef-owner L.T. Smith hard-grills two Wagyu ground beef patties with onions until the edges are crunchy, then tops the lot with white American cheese and house-made pickles laced with chiltepin peppers, adding a squirt of salsa de isla, a fancy name for Chilte’s spicy house-made Thousand Island dressing. To add another level of flavor, Smith brushes the deli brioche bun with local beef tallow butter. “It has a classic greasy diner vibe, messy and saucy and rich,” he says. Not sure you want to drop $22 on a burger? Worth it.
