THE GREAT SMASHBURGER BOOM
THE GREAT SMASHBURGER BOOM
How one comfort-food classic became the ultimate culinary sensation.
By now, you’ve likely had one. A patty of juicy beef, smashed on a piping hot grill, topped with a gooey ooze of melted American cheese, and griddled to crisp perfection. That’s then tucked into a buttery bun, perhaps with a slather of sauce, perhaps with a leaf of lettuce or few slices of pickle. Which sounds quite simple, sure. But that’s part of why smash burgers have quickly become one of the most popular sandwiches in America.
The smash burger is everywhere these days, including right here at Silver Diner. For the last year, we’ve been slinging this comfort-food phenomenon, and like elsewhere, they’re a menu best-seller—selling nearly 2,000 of them a month at our Rockville location alone—now neck in neck in terms of orders with our bigger, bistro-style burgers. Says Chris Hiller of Silver Diner’s recipe development team, “It looks like smash burgers are here to stay.”
“A smash burger is just a cheeseburger with more melt and crunch,” wrote Eater in 2024. Somehow, though, those two tweaks transformed this All-American staple into something even more decadent and delectable, while also being fast and cheap.
But how did we arrive at this moment? Well, the origins of the cheeseburger are a bit murky. Humans have been eating minced meat since ancient civilization, with the modern iteration of burgers likely dating back to the late 1800s, when menus started offering beef patties named after the first-rate German cows from which they came—via Hamburg, of course. Often, they were served straight on plate with a side of bread, so you can guess what happened next. Hamburger “steaks” became hamburger sandwiches.
“It looks like smash burgers are here to stay.”
Usually, these were everyman spaces like late-night saloons and, more importantly, lunch carts—the precursor of the diner, as you might recall. So as diners proliferated across the country into the 20th century, so too did burgers, and both soon became quintessential symbols of the U.S.A., with their everyone-is-welcome or anyone-can-afford-it ethos a perfect alignment with the American Dream.
And those patties grew in more ways than one, over time becoming supersized—from single, double, triple patties to half-pound behemoths—and seriously customizable—from different levels of doneness, all kinds of cheeses, and fancy condiments to a feast of accoutrements like bacon, avocado, fried eggs, and onion rings.
But into the early aughts, a comeback was brewing for old-school burgers. In-N-Out started expanding outside of California. Five Guys started gaining a cult following in Washington, D.C. Lines at Shake Shack stretched down the streets of New York City. Then a few blocks away in 2019, Korean-American chef Jae Lee popped up in Manhattan—a moment that many say set the modern craze in motion. He served a Pavlov’s-dog inducing throwback burger, its pressed patties surrounded by extra crispy edges and slathered in a Big Mac-style sauce infused with a special touch: kimchi. It went Internet viral, reinventing a nostalgic flavor of American youth, but in a way that was anything but ordinary. Andwe’ve been insatiable ever since.
Today, you can’t fling a French fry without finding a smash burger, from the eponymous take-out chains to the trendiest restaurants where Michelin starred chefs are using them as canvases for creativity.
Creekstone Farms Beef, Koch’s Farm Turkey & Avocado and Vegan Beyond Meat Smash Burgers
At Silver Diner, we combine tradition with a modern touch. It all starts with a quarter pound of grass-fed Black Angus beef from Creekstone Farms. That’s thrown onto a flat-top grill over high heat and smashed down with a heavy weight. Given the thickness of the patty, it’s cooked a mere two minutes per side, letting the fat sizzle and sear every surface of the meat into a perfect, well-done crust. (This is what makes them so good—ever inch of the burger touched by heat and transforming the meat’s taste into a complexity of flavor.)
After that, our smash burgers are topped with American cheese, caramelized onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and Thousand Island dressing, served on a toasted brioche bun. Our vegetarian customers can even get in on the trend, thanks to a version made with Beyond Meat, served on ciabatta.
It’s not too big, not too small, with plenty of satisfying flavor for the whole family.
“It’s nostalgia, but better,” says Hiller.
No wonder smash burgers have taken over the nation.
Three Smash Burgers. Two days. One great $10 deal.
Now’s the perfect time to see what all the smash burger buzz is about. This Thursday and Friday only, enjoy a Silver Diner Smash Burger with crispy fries for just $10 when you dine in. Go classic with our grass-fed Creekstone Farms Beef Smash Burger, switch it up with the Turkey & Avocado Smash Burger, or go plant-based with Beyond Meat.
Three ways to smash your craving, crispy fries included—and just two days to get it all for $10.
Offer valid for dine-in only on 8/27/26 and 8/28/26. No purchase necessary. Limit one Smash Burger with crispy fries for $10 offer per person. Excludes Benedict Smash Burger. Not valid for To-Go, online ordering at SilverDiner.com, or third-party delivery. Cannot be combined with any other offer, discount or promotion.