I was really excited when I heard they opened a Smashburger in this new casino. I'm not really into casinos, gambling, etc. so this was my only motivation for going to Ilani. When I lived in California there were quite a few Smashburgers in the area I resided, so I was looking forward to revisiting this chain.
I'm not sure if I'm just remembering incorrectly, but I think the burgers were bigger in California. Maybe I'm wrong. But they seemed so small? I got a bacon cheeseburger, as did my mom, and we split an order of smashfries. This was plenty of food despite my initial worry. The bun is not heated or toasted, just a little heads up, because I know it throws some people off. It usually does for me, and it threw my mom off at first, but it weirdly works at Smashburger. The bacon was good and not underdone or overdone. The burger patty itself was a pretty good size, I'm not sure... That might be up to preference because I don't really like a huge meat patty in my burgers. It's a pretty darn good burger, in my opinion.
The smashfries were good as well, not too oily, and had a nice flavor. I don't usually get those when I go to Smashburger, but my mom wanted them so I went with the flow. They definitely gave these in a smaller amount than in the locations in California. That was something I was 100% sure of.
I think the prices are inflated because of the location, but I honestly don't think they're TOO much more than at the other locations I'd been to. Don't expect fast food prices here, even though it kind of appears like it would be. It's more of a higher tier fast food burger, sort of in the same ballpark as Burgerville.
Now would I come back here? Yeah, I probably will. But the fact that it's in the casino is annoying to me so I probably won't rush back simply due to location. The smell in the casino is terrible, because there's a smoking section and it wafts around the entire establishment, including where you eat. I don't want to get preachy because as they say, "you do you", but as a non-smoker who has had some extremely traumatizing experiences with loved ones who smoke(d), I just really dislike that aspect of this casino in general. Not really Smashburger's fault though. read more