93Smash
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Smash Score🔥 Hall of Smash
Houston's best smashburger according to Alison Cook (A+), Houstonia Magazine (winner), Houston Press (Best Burger '23, Best Smash Burger '24), and CultureMap (Best Burger '23). Fully halal. Open until 3am on weekends.
Photos via Facebook.
Burger Bodega started as a pop-up in September 2021, born from Houston food influencer Abbas Dhanani's obsession with smashburgers he'd found in New York and Los Angeles. After sold-out appearances at the Southern Smoke Festival, Dhanani opened the first brick-and-mortar on November 3, 2022 - inside a converted 1930s fire station on Washington Avenue in Rice Military. Within weeks, Houston Chronicle critic Alison Cook gave it an A+ and said the double cheeseburger 'made my eyes roll back in my head.'
The Smash Burger Double presses two thin patties to caramelized, fractal-edged perfection - what Alison Cook called 'magnificently frizzled patty edges that cascade in delicate scallops.' American cheese, griddled onions, housemade pickles, and the house Bodega Sauce on a Martin's potato bun. The beef is halal. The restaurant itself is a full sensory experience: art from Donkeeboy and graffiti artist Noke 713, a rooftop patio, and a soundtrack rooted in Houston hip-hop.
It's been a long time since I've been so transported by the textures and overall sandwich swagger of a new burger in town. The regulation double-double cheeseburger here made my eyes roll back in my head, and I am not exaggerating.
I've never encountered such magnificently frizzled patty edges, with such an evanescent crunch to them. They cascade from the patty circumference in delicate scallops that look almost fractal.
We're crowning Burger Bodega's smashburger as the best in Houston. The space's atmosphere and the crispiness of the patty was a winning combination for us.
The smash burgers are surrounded by a caramelized lace of beef and smothered in house aioli, or bodega sauce. The edges of each patty are wafer thin and crispy with a hint of griddle smoke.
Burger Bodega's smashburger leaves Shake Shack in the dust. The clear beef flavor, the sticky cheese, the sharp kick of the pickles, the mellow tone of the grilled onions and the gentle bind of the secret sauce work together in gorgeous harmony.
They're so good you're willing to turn in your Astros jersey for Yankee pinstripes, at least for as long as it takes to chow down on a smash-double with crispy edges doused in bodega sauce and Harlem aioli.
The patties were dry and overcooked, and tasted completely unseasoned, like ground beef without even a hint of salt or any other flavor. This is a restaurant that I could not possibly grant my recommendation.
My first try and I fell in love! Them burgers and that Bodega sauce OMG - I also tried the Screwed Up Fries and they were still crispy and soft in the middle.