83Smash
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Smash Score✅ Certified Smash
Essex County's original smash burger since 2014 - twice named to NJ's definitive best-burger lists, featuring the Holypeño: jalapeños, aged cheddar, caramelized onions, and chipotle mayo.
Photos courtesy of Diesel & Duke via Facebook.
Representative photography. Actual appearance may vary.
Diesel & Duke was founded in 2014 by David Cusumano, a Montclair native and Rutgers alumni who wanted to bring a serious smash burger to the New Brunswick college market. The concept grew into Essex County's defining smash burger brand - Cusumano grew up around hospitality (his mother owned the Diva Lounge in Montclair in the early 2000s) and built Diesel & Duke around one obsession: handcrafted, never-frozen smash burgers with hand-cut fries made daily. After more than a decade on Glenridge Avenue, the Montclair location moved to 20 Church Street in August 2024.
The Duke Smash Burger is the foundation - a thin patty pressed hard on a flat-top to create the lacy, caramelized edge that defines the technique, topped with raw shaved onions, American cheese, pickles, ketchup, and house aioli on a soft toasted bun at $8.50. The Holypeño - bacon, aged cheddar, jalapeños, caramelized onions, and chipotle mayo - is the press favorite, the burger that BoozyBurbs and Eat This Not That called the best in New Jersey in 2021 and NJ Monthly and NJ.com have included on their definitive state-wide best burger lists.
Famous for its never-frozen smashburgers and hand-cut fries.
This tasted like a true smash burger! Outstanding and packed with flavor from the meat, bun, onions, and sauces.
The best burger in Jersey is served in North Jersey.
Spicy and flavorful without being overwhelming.
Stick to the burgers and fries and you should be both safe and satisfied.
The Holypeño burger: bacon, aged cheddar, jalapeños, caramelized onions and chipotle mayo - remarkable depth of flavor.