77Smash
Score
Score
Smash Score👍 Solid Smash
A lakefront restaurant that takes smashburgers seriously. The Cowboy Smashburger delivers real crust, real melt, and a pretzel bun that earns its place on the plate.
Photos: Drift on Pine / Facebook; Antifoodie.com.
Drift on Pine opened in October 2023 in a converted 7,792-square-foot Thunderbird Lanes bowling alley on the shores of Pine Lake in La Porte, Indiana. Local couple Brandon and Ashley built the two-story lakefront restaurant as a community destination - rooftop bar, waterfront patio, and food executed with the same attention they'd want for their own town. The Cowboy Smashburger quickly emerged as the anchor of the menu.
The Cowboy Smashburger is the one to order. The kitchen properly smashes the beef onto a hot surface, producing the lacy browned crust that's the defining marker of a serious smashburger. The cheese is melted into the crust - not plopped on top - and the pretzel bun holds the whole stack together without competing with it. Our reviewer rated it 8/10, noting the technique is right and the execution follows through.
Drift on Pine operates as part of a broader dining concept. This assessment focuses specifically on the featured smashburger.
The patties had a real crust on them, the kind of lacy browned edge you only get when someone actually smashes the beef onto a hot surface.
The cheese was properly melted into the crust instead of sitting on top like a hat.
The pretzel bun held the whole thing together without fighting back. The move here is the Cowboy Smashburger.
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