Smashburger...Tonight's Winner in the Burger (and salad) Wars 12/20/17

It's 7:20 on a Wednesday evening with much going on so we decide to step out for a quick bite.  The debate...actually the question is where to go.  Running through places that are quick with reasonably good food left is heading to Minneapolis or the SE metro and for that, time was lacking.

John's suggestion was to split a veggie omelette but that, too, left the destination in question.

OK, check the coupons.  The Groupon and Living Social options are also afar.  What about Smashburger who seems to be giving food away in light of the burger competition and in consideration of consumer's move away from burgers to more healthy fare.  That's also a good comment on what to name your business when you start a new one.  We knew that Marianne's was going to be a food adventure, an exploration of food from food afar.  Marianne's Burgers, Marianne's Pizza, Marianne's Sandwich & Soup were limiting.  We settled on Marianne's Kitchen.  Along with broad food exploration it's the place in everyone's home where people gravitate, to cook together, talk, laugh, open the recent new cookbook and explore and be friends.

There were no current Smashburger coupons but they do have very reasonable and regularly acceptable salads.  Visiting the HarMar location we decided to share a Classic Smash and an Original Cobb Salad.

The Cobb Salad, by default, comes with Ranch Dressing.  We need to talk about that.  It's been America's favorite dressing, not ours, since 1992 and has been around since the early 1950s.  Starting with a mayonnaise base it's components include buttermilk, onion, paprika, garlic, chives, black pepper, parsley, dill, mustard seed, yogurt and sour cream.  We should have ordered the salad with the dressing on the side.

Mixed greens with an egg...this is Linda's frequent request for a breakfast salad.  The bacon and goat cheese were present in limited quantity but flavorful.  A bit of grated cheddar seems to appear in every salad which in this case was topped with a fried egg.  Served in a large contemporary bowl of unique design it was plenty for two.

The salads have been inconsistent in the past.  The Spinach, Goat Cheese and Cucumber Salad has been known to arrive sans craisins.

Despite the table placards claim to a 'artisan bun' John thought it tasted of preservatives (very likely) although the effort to bring oat and other mixed grains to the table is appreciated.  Smashburger has been challenged to produce a non-pink burger.  Pink ground beef is not safe unless it's reached 160 degress.  Tonight it was just fine.  Our only complaint is that the burgers are served in a rectangular metal basket with minimalist tray liners and of course the real silverware that appeared when Smashburger opened has now been replaced by fastfood plastic knives and forks.

The bill for the salad, the burger and one coke came to about $16 which was very reasonable and tonight the young man taking our order was very pleasant and a positive representation of a company in a tough, tough competitive burger-war market.