Yeah, that's right. Smashburger -- the little Colorado meat-candy chain that could -- has moved up to the bigs and (on the back of a recent pick as "Hot Concept" in Nation's Restaurant News) has started signing franchise agreements with fire-sale speed. Not long ago, the chain -- which started out as a single location on South Colorado Boulevard just two years ago -- inked a deal with a couple of Dallas Cowboys to open thirty locations in and around Dallas. As of a couple weeks ago, Smashburger had 23 stores up and running in Colorado, Texas, Kansas and Minnesota; the Chicago deal will involve another eleven. According to NRN, that plan puts Smashburger on track to having two hundred stores operational in five years.
I told the Trib food guy that he ought to be very excited. NRN had it just right--Smashburger is a great concept and, at least here in Denver, it makes a damn fine cheeseburger. The trick now, though, will be to keep the same kind of quality I experienced back when I wrote about the first Smashburger in 2007, and extend it across the entire country.
No small trick, that. And here's to hoping that Smashburger is up to the task.
