More smashburger restaurants are coming to Fresno. Here’s what we know

Bethany Clough
·2 min read

The smashburger trend has officially hit Fresno.

Several restaurants serving the hamburger patties smashed til they’re thin and crispy are about to open in Fresno and Clovis.

Earlier this month, The Bee told you about Hammy’s Smash Burgers planning two new locations. One will open any day now in Clovis, near Peach and Shaw avenues in front of Walmart.

Early in 2024, a third Hammy’s is scheduled to open in the recently closed Pita Grill spot near Fashion Fair at First Street and Shaw Avenue.

Its original location is on West Shaw Avenue near Costco remains open.

They join a food truck, which recently upgraded from a food tent, Gator’s Smash Burgers. You can find them at Copper Avenue and Friant Road, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

But two more newbies are planning to open restaurants in town also.

An original smashburger, prepared with grilled onions, cheese and special sauce, sizzles on the grill with others at Hammy’s Smash Burgers on West Shaw Avenue in Fresno. The restaurant will add two new locations. Two other businesses serving smashburgers plan to open restaurants in Fresno in the coming months.
An original smashburger, prepared with grilled onions, cheese and special sauce, sizzles on the grill with others at Hammy’s Smash Burgers on West Shaw Avenue in Fresno. The restaurant will add two new locations. Two other businesses serving smashburgers plan to open restaurants in Fresno in the coming months.

Smash’N Burgers

Smash’N Burgers is planning to open in the next few weeks at Shields Avenue and First Street, in the same shopping center as Foods Co.

It will be a takeout restaurant.

In keeping with the smashburger trend, the burgers are pressed with a metal tool until the edges are thin and crispy. SmashN’ Burgers are served with a secret housemade sauce.

The menu will feature a regular smashburger for $5 and six combos running about $11 for a burger, plus fries and a drink.

Customers can get a single, double, or triple smashburger, or a smashburger with bacon, piled high with pastrami, or swiss cheese and jalapeños.

The kids menu includes chicken nuggets or grilled cheese for $3.

Milkshakes are also available and the restaurant will use delivery apps.

Owner Waseem Alhomed spent seven years learning hamburgers at Triangle Drive In Burgers and wanted to open his own place focused on the trendy new smashburgers.

“There’s a big demand with this, from L.A. to San Francisco,” he said. “(It’s a) new trend, but it’s a great food.”

Smash Bros

Smash Bros Bistro got the keys for its new location last week, in the former Doy Grill spot at northeast corner of Bullard Avenue and Fresno Street.

The owners hope to open in February.

It will specialize in smashburgers — but have a lot more on the menu. That includes a fried chicken sandwich, soups, salads, maybe some truffle fries.

They plan to serve pancakes on weekend mornings, and have applied for a license to serve beer and wine.

The duo behind it are locals. Matt Simons was the executive chef at The Point Patio Bar & Bistro and Jonathan Aviles was his sous chef. Aviles is now a sous chef at Mad Duck Craft Brewing Co. at Marks and Herndon avenues.

“We’re going to be different,” Simons said. “We’re not just a hamburger spot. We’re going to be a little bistro.”