Smashburger

Have you heard of Smashburger?
They opened their first location in Calgary back in May and their second location opens today in Royal Oak.
 
I was lucky to get an invite to a grand opening media event yesterday.
Here is the best part - it was for Mom bloggers and totally kid friendly.
Not only did they allow us to try anything we wanted on the menu, but they had a face painter and a pinata for the kids.

They also had an Stampede Burger Battle - 5 Calgary food writers / bloggers competing to make the best Stampede Smashburger. Julie Van Rosendaal (Dinner with Julie), Dan Clapson (Dan's Good Side), Gwendolyn Richards (Patent & the Pantry), Gabriel Hall (Le Voyage Gourmand) and Pierre Lamielle (Kitchen Scraps).

Pierre Lamielle

Gwendolyn Richards

Gabriel Hall

I found it entertaining, the kids not so much - they were much more interested in the face painting and running around.

All 5 contestants with their burgers (Julie's son was competing for her).

Anyway, Pierre won and I got a chance to meet some of my favourite Calgary food bloggers. It was pretty neat considering I have been following their blogs for years and stalking them all on twitter for quite some time now.

But onto the food itself:

I ordered The Calgary (beef) with a side of Smashfries, both were good, next time I would change my cheese to blue. Hmmmm, I love blue cheese and put it on a burger - yummy.

My sister Amy came along and had the BBQ Bacon & Cheddar and added on the mushrooms - she really liked her burger and ate the whole thing - her side was the fried pickels - honestly - they were only okay - I’ve had better.

Little Girl had the grilled cheese sandwich - she liked it, I didn’t try it.

Little Boy had a hot dog. This I did try and it was good, huge for a 3 year old, but good. Super bonus points for having hot dogs - lots of places don’t have them and that is the only thing he wants to eat when we go out.

The other bonus points are for the milkshakes. Made with McKay’s ice cream the kids sampled the strawberry and chocolate - although I did not try one myself - I will take their word for it - apparently they are super yummy!
　
　
We had a great time, I enjoyed spending time with some fellow Mom bloggers, the kids had a great time playing together and now I think we have to organize a big play date.
I will be back for sure, I have a few more burgers I need to try on the menu and I never got my milkshake.

Smashburger locations in Calgary:

Royal Oak Centre
#319 - 8888 Country HIlls Blvd NW

North East:
2770 32nd Avenue NE