Welcome back to the Great Burger Battle semifinals! Yesterday Five Guys attempted to take on Holy Cow, but the herd mentality was clear: the Del Rey joint beat the homegrown chain with nearly 72 percent of the votes. We’ll see the Divine Bovine again in the next round.
Today we have two very different teams: Smashburger, a Denver-based chain with 11 Washington locations, and Burger Tap & Shake, a Foggy Bottom eatery from chef Jeff Tunks. The former likes to smash its patties thin on the griddle for crispy char, the latter leans plumper on its buttered brioche bun. Both go strong on toppings, from Smash’s avocado and ranch-sauced club to the Benton’s bacon, buttermilk blue, and ‘shrooms crowning BTS’s Big Daddy.
So who packs a better patty? Show us in the polls.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
