Business & Tech

Smashburger to Break onto Mill Valley's Restaurant Scene on July 2

The restaurant is currently hiring, and the opening follows Weezy's June 4 opening, for a total of six burger joints in Mill Valley.

Mill Valley’s latest burger joint, Smashburger, is getting ready to open at 745 E. Blithedale Ave. in the former Café Oggi location on July 2. 

The Denver-based company posted on Patch that they’re “looking to hire superstars straight away with lots of opportunities to progress into junior management.” Positions include grill cooks, fry cooks and cashiers.

The new branch next to Whole Foods Market in the Alto Center comes on the heels of the June 4 opening of Weezy's Grass-Fed Shed, a popular burger joint from San Rafael known for serving sliders, fries and lemonade.

With Pearl’s Phat Burgers, Super Duper Burger, In-N-Out Burger and McDonalds, this makes a total of six restaurants in Mill Valley that cater to a patty-loving crowd. While some have said that’s a bit excessive for Mill Valley, the two new joints have deliciously different approaches to what they put on a bun.

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Weezy’s is known for it’s smaller sized $3.50 sliders loaded with unique topping combinations. The emphasis is on healthy ingredients that include natural beef from Prather Ranch, and fries cooked in rice bran oil.

Smashburger uses 100 percent certified Angus beef that's hand-rolled into a meatball, and then smashed onto a grill – hence the name. The process is designed to keep the juices of the burger in, and produces a thin patty, said spokesperson Stacie Lange.

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“We started this concept about five years ago with the intention of changing the way people thought about burgers," CEO and Chairman David Prokupek, said on the Smashburger website. "We wanted to offer food and an atmosphere that was modern, exciting and much different from the quick-service burger restaurants that consumers now find tiring."

Smashburger is also aggressively expanding in this region. They opened the first local branch at 7320 Redwood Blvd. Novato, and the company is planning for two in San Jose and five to seven in the greater Bay Area next year. Established in 2007, the franchise has about 200 locations.

"Mill Valley is one of the places in the Bay area we really focused in on," Lange said. The community is one of "foodies" that like to "live, work, and play," which fit well with Smash Burger's target demographic. And being in close proximity to Whole Foods also establishes good synergy for the business, she said.

Smashburger will be open daily from 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.


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