Smashburger in Orlando, FL (Waterford Lakes)

Restaurants specializing in fancy burgers seem to be opening all over the Central Florida area lately. One of the newest gourmet burger chains to recently open is called Smashburger. They currently have two locations in the area, one in Waterford Lakes and another along Colonial Drive in Orlando. Just before they opened to the public, I was invited to come try the Waterford Lakes Smashburger for a media preview.

Tom Ryan, the founder of Smashburger, was there to guide us through the restaurant's menu.

I tried some of Smashburger's fries and sides first. I tasted their Smashfries (fries tossed with rosemary, olive oil, and garlic), Sweet Potato Fries, Spicy Buffalo Fries, Veggie Frites, and Fried Pickles. My favorites were the Buffalo Fries and the Fried Pickles.

The Classic Smash was the first burger that was tasted. This was a burger topped with American cheese, Smash Sauce, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion, all on an egg bun.

The BBQ, Bacon, and Cheddar Burger was my least favorite of all the burgers. It was topped with BBQ sauce, applewood smoked bacon, cheddar, and haystack onions. It was mentioned that this burger was a big seller, but it didn't do much for me. Even with the toppings, it didn't seem to have enough flavors happening for my liking and was too meaty.

The Truffle, Mushroom, and Swiss Burger had truffle mayo, sauteed criminini mushrooms, and aged swiss on an egg bun.

The Central Florida Burger included Wicked pimina cheese, spicy brown mustard, fried green tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and mayo on an egg bun. This was the first time I've ever had fried green tomato on a burger as well as ever hearing of wicked pimina cheese. Since this was the Central Florida Burger, specifically sold in local Smashburger stores, I suppose I'm supposed to like this stuff. This burger was tasty.

The Avocado Ranch Black Bean Burger was a vegetarian option that we sampled. It consisted of fresh avocado, pepper jack, lettuce, tomato, and ranch on a multi-grain bun. I did enjoy the black bean burger patty.

Spinach, Cucumber, and Goat Cheese Chicken. The chicken sandwich had cucumbers, spinach, goat cheese, tomato, onion, and balsamic vinaigrette on a multi-grain bun. This was my favorite sandwich of the evening.

The Buffalo & Blue Cheese Crispy Chicken consisted of fried chicken in Frank's RedHot Buffalo sauce, blue cheese crumbles, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on an egg bun.

The Spicy Jalapeno Baja Burger was the last sandwich that was sampled this evening. It had fresh jalapenos, guacamole, pepper jack, lettuce, tomato, onion & chipotle mayo on a spicy chipotle bun. The chipotle bun was interesting. I personally didn't find the bread too spicy, but it had a unique flavor. For the rest of the burger, guacamole is always a plus.

Smashburger also had various flavors of hand-spun shakes available featuring Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Their Nutter Butter shake was my personal favorite out of what I sampled.

I liked what I tasted at Smashburger. For my personal burger preferences, there should be enough flavors happening on a burger so it doesn't just taste like beef and bread. Luckily, the majority of the burgers at Smashburger had enough going on to make me remember that burgers don't have to be disappointing. I'd have a burger from Smashburger again!