Get smashed at Burgerworx - AIR Asheville Independent Restaurant Assoc.

The classic smash burger is the #1 ticket at this popular fast casual Grove Arcade restaurant.

There are many ways to specialize your smash burger at Burgerworx – among them seven choices of cheese, fresh-sliced produce, DJ’s pickles, jalapeno peppers, bacon, grilled onions, slaw and nine different sauces. You can get a gluten-free bun or no bun at all. You can make it a double or triple.

But don’t even think about asking for your burger to be cooked rare or medium well. “Smash burgers are one way,” says general manager Rich Przybylowicz. (He jokes he learned to tie his shoes before he learned to spell his own name.) “They’re going to be thin – each patty is 3 ½ ounces of beef but still thin – crispy on the outside because we cook on a very hot grill. That seals all the juice inside, so even though it’s thin, it will be juicy. It’s a different taste experience when you bite into it.”

Burgerworx has been offering that taste experience since Carole Bowers and Melissa Lausch opened it in the Grove Arcade in 2011, next door to their restaurant Carmel’s Kitchen and Bar. (Bowers is now the sole owner of both.)

Rich brought plenty of hospitality experience with him to Burgerworx when he took the position, but admits he had lots to learn about perfecting his smash burger technique “I was not smashing them hard enough or making them flat enough or big enough. It is very different from cooking a conventional burger from a patty.”

Nearly four years later, he’s a veritable smash burger savant and is happy to explain the process that begins a couple hours before opening every day.

To get that juiciness, Burgerworx uses a particular type of fresh beef. “The blend is a little fattier,” he says. “We use an 81-19 % fine grind. The fine grind is important because the fat is really incorporated into the meat. In a rough grind, you’ll see chunks of fat. We don’t want that.”

The beef is formed into round balls, 3 ½ ounces each, and not too tightly packed. “It’s a bit of a game trying to hit that 3 ½ ounce mark on the scale each time.”

Onions and tomatoes are sliced fresh every morning, lettuce is shredded. “We use iceberg lettuce because it’s crisp and the perfect burger lettuce.” House-made sauces are replenished, stations are assumed, and everyone is ready to roll when the first customers arrive at 11am six days a week. Orders are placed online or at the counter, and every order begins with a plain patty on a bun; customers make it their way through toppings and sauces.

As the orders come in, the cook puts a ball of beef on the sizzling-hot flattop, turned up all the way. A piece of patty paper is laid on top, then smashed down with a warmed stainless-steel kitchen weight. “You have to know how to smash it down to thickness and size. The perfect smash burger is going to be a little bigger than the bun, so it hangs out a bit over the edge.”

Only one flip is involved. “Let it sit and get nice and crispy on the bottom, about 3 – 4 minutes, then flip. If it needs cheese, it goes on then. You do 75 – 80% of the cooking on the first smash, then flip and finish with 20-25% more cook time.”

While the ball ‘o beef is being transformed into a smash burger, buns are toasted and set on a table between the flattop and the counter for customizing. At Burgerworx, toppings go on the bottom. “Building from the bottom up is faster, and I want people to get their burgers as fast and fresh as possible.”

The sauce goes first on the base of the bun, then toppings. Finished buns are lined up in order so the cook can simply turn around and put the right patty on the right bun. The bun topper is the closer. If it’s to stay, it goes in a metal pie tin lined with red-and-white checkered paper. If the customer has ordered regular fries or sweet potato waffle fries, they’re piled onto the same plate.

Beef isn’t the only protein option – Burgerworx has ground turkey, gluten-free fried or grilled chicken or Beyond Meat vegan patties. Quarter-pound all beef hot dogs are dropped in the deep fryer for a crunch factor.

Daily specials include Taco Tuesday (a Southwest-seasoned smash burger with queso and pico de gallo in a corn tortilla), Waffle Wednesday (fried or grilled chicken on waffles) and Fish Friday, GF deep-fried cod filet on a toasted hot dog bun with slaw.

“We want this to be a happy place for people to eat and people to work,” Rich says. “We are serious about our food, but we have fun with each other and our customers.”

The classic smash burger is the #1 ticket at this popular fast casual Grove Arcade restaurant.

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