Food Review: Smash in line, Smashburger is in Utah

Last week Ava, Eirn and I were invited to the opening of SmashBurger in Sugar House. Smashburger is a franchise and is located inside the same building as Pei Wei on 2100 South. The opening was a smashing success everything was on the house and the line was l-o-n-g.

I'm not a fan of crazy busy restaurants, but considering the food was free I'm not complaining. I had the mushroom swiss burger. It was yummy. My favorite part was the egg bun even though it sounded scary it was soft and delicious. I also tried out the haystack onion rings. The rings were paper thing slices briefly drudged in a batter before being quickly deep-fried. They were good, but they won't be replacing beer-battered rings for me any time soon. The aioli sauc (spicy fry sauce for Utahns) was very good. It had a nice kick and great flavor.

Erin had the spicy burger. It came with a few jalapenos and was a little too spicy for her taste buds. She also had the smashfries (shoestring fries with rosemary). She loved these little guys.

Ava also had the mushroom swiss burger and declared it good. I believe she had regular fries with salt and fry sauce. They were also very yummy. Ava and Erin also tried the chocolate shake, which I'm guessing they liked, but I don't remember hearing any comments about they level of yumminess to Smashburger's shake.

I probably won't be back to Smashburger anytime soon. As a casual-dining-meets-fast-food restaurant (think Noodles & Co. with burgers), the average burger costs about $7 along with $2 for fries, more than my beloved local Millie's across the street.

Any burger joint, you just can't get enough of?

The Soup Kitchen

The bipolar weather of April in Salt Lake City makes me want to cry. So while I wear my sundress in the snow, I enjoy a nice cup of soup. One of my favorite soup places is the Soup Kitchen. The shop is right off Highland and 2100 South. So it's super close to my house and my school.

I love going in and grabbing some soup on my way to class. It's great! But the last time I was there I made an amazing discovery, onion rings!

We all know, I love onion rings. Rings are indeed deep-fried, golden goodness. At the Soup Kitchen, they are beer battered deliciousness. So good! Hmmm...

I got a full order for about $2.50, which ended up being enough onion rings for two people. The fry sauce was okay, not the best, not the worst. The onion rings themselves were amazing. They were hand-cut onions, dipped in a beer batter with some great seasoning and fried to the perfect level of golden, brown, crispy good.

I also had a cup of broccoli and cheese soup with two free cheese bread sticks. The bread sticks were great! As always a nice fluffy homemade bread. The soup was pretty good, but after the onion rings kind of a let down. It's probably still one of my favorite soups, but not the best cup ever.

In all I spent about $7 for a drink, soup, bread sticks and onion rings. It was a fantastic on the go lunch for cheap. I will definitely be stopping by again. If nothing else for the onion rings.

Red Rock Brewery

Last weekend I found myself in dangerous need of onion rings. So where do you go when you need a deep-fried fix and are ban from all bars? Brew pubs! This was my second visit to the Red Rock Brewery and there are three things you need to understand about enjoying restaurant dining before you go.

1-Atmosphere: This seems obvious, but never underestimate the vibe of a place being what makes it so special. As Aristotle taught ethos is the big sale, and it's true of restaurants too.

2-Food: It might be the main product of a restaurant, but it's generally not the main show.

3-People: This is a fifty/fifty. The restaurant is responsible for the staff. You are responsible for your crew. Bring good people and if you find a good place they will do the rest.

Red Rock excels at one. The atmosphere of the joint is their best selling point. The place is fun and excitin' gosh darn it! Seriously, it's a cool hang out that's friendly to guys and girls. If you arrive before 10 p.m., it's family-friendly while still serving alcohol to the adults (a Utah gem). Plus, by 11 p.m. they are still open and have a good bar crowd, so it's fun for the big kids who still want to play. (Closing time is 1 a.m.)

Food is not the greatest strength at Red Rock. I imagine their beer selection is awesome. Unfortunately, I am not old enough to legally drink so this information is based on the observation of copious amounts of alcohol being downed by all the tables near us. Anything deep fried will appease your craving for yummy greasiness, but otherwise the food is a miss.

I found their barbecue pork sandwich sadly disappointing. The pork wasn't pull apart soft and I feel that is a necessary pre-requisite to great barbecue. The pocket bread was dry, stale and a mismatched flavor for the delicious smoky sauce. Pita and barbecue are a match made in the land of culinary mistakes! Their horseradish potatoes are what you would expect from any restaurant and their salads fail to amaze.

Seriously, stick to the fish and chips. Their onion rings are beer battered deliciousness, cooked to a crispy golden perfection served with a heaping serving of ketchup. If it's deep fried, it's yummy!

And how about those people? I have to say I went with two of my favorite people so I guaranteed myself a good time. The service is good, not great, but you will be impressed by the ability of one host and two servers to manage a full dining room. Our server was helpful and efficient. I would like a more friendly and outgoing server, but with everyone's usual rush that might be asking too much.

As a final note, Red Rock has a bizarre practice of automatically charging you for the tip. I don't know why they do this. I can understand the need to pay servers and hosts enough so they can survive, but an automatic tip! Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a tip in the first place? Anyway, it comes on your receipt so expect to pay the common sense decent tip of 15% regardless of what type of service you actually receive.

Red Rock is in Downtown at about 300 South and 300 West near a number of other restaurants and bars. (I hear they have a second location, but I don't know where) Expect to pay between $15 and $30 for dinner and remember you're paying for a comfortable and fun atmosphere too.