I tried our newest burger place, Twist And Smash'd, located at 72-06 Austin St. in Forest Hills.
Overall, I was really happy with the food. The burger I had, a double Original Smash'd Angus beef burger ($9.25) was delicious as well as perfectly cooked. I really, really liked it. My only complaint, for the price the burger should be bigger. The same goes for the chicken burger I ordered ($5.50 for a single burger.) It was excellent but should have been bigger,
The place prides itself on its unique "Twisted Potatoes"—a stack of thin fried potato slices on a stick. Again, these were delicious. Each one (for $2.50) was nice and salty and somehow didn't leave you with that stuffed feeling you get from regular french fries.
The restaurant itself, which looked still slightly unfinished when I went this weekend, has a fun vibe with numerous tables spread throughout the space. They also say they will have outdoor seating in the back in the nicer weather.
Also, they will soon be rolling out home delivery.
I was thrilled to see that they got my take-out order exactly right, despite what was a pretty big crowd and the fact that they were obviously in that typical opening phase, where they're still working out the kinks. It took about 20 minutes for me to get the food, not terrible. The place could definitely use a second cashier! But the three different employees I spoke with were very courteous and helpful.
So how would I rate the burger? Against my gold standard for a fast food burger—Shake Shack—I'd give Shake Shack a perfect 10 and the Twist & Smash'd Original Double a 9. It was definitely up there in terms of quality and taste. I just wish it was a little bit bigger to make it fully worth the $9.25 I paid for the double size. Make the burger bigger, and it's easily a 10.
I have to admit I had my doubts about what is in essence a "mom and pop" burger place opening at a time when there are already several really great burger chains in the New York City area. But Twist & Smash'd appears to me to have what it takes to go head to head with the best of them. But they need to overcome that "mom and pop" stinginess and be much more generous with the size of the burgers, especially when asking for upwards of $9 bucks for a double burger. (Just to clarify, the single burgers are $5.50.)
But all in all, I'm thrilled to see central Forest Hills finally get a modern fast burger place. For whatever reason, the other well-known chains, so prevalent in other parts of the City, haven't yet opened on or near Austin. And it's their loss. As I said, the Twist & Smash'd location was extremely busy when I went there after being open a scant 24 hours. There's obviously a huge demand for this type of place here. Why the big guys haven't noticed is beyond me. Now, when they finally do open here, they'll have to play catch-up to Twist.
I'll post the entire Twist and Smash'd menu Sunday. There are plenty of other options that I look forward to trying, including salads, a Short Rib Burger, a Crab burger and even Chicken and Waffles. This is one inventive place and we're lucky to have it! (And I'm already craving another one of their burgers!)
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| They gave me my take out order in this cool tote bag. Nice touch! |
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| Double Original Smash'd beef burger. |
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| Chicken burger (single) had a nice charcoal taste. |
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| Their unique Twisted Potatoes |
