Hood started selling this burger way back in the day. I don't know (nor care) what McDonald's was selling at the time in terms of burgers but from my perspective, this was the first smash burger you could get in Ljubljana. And it wasn't even close. The smash burgers started massively gaining on popularity here somewhere around 2025. By that point, Jake'n'Jay had been on Hood's menu for at least ten years. Probably more. These bastards (complimentary) know what they're doing.

Not only was it the first, it remains one of the best - only recently surpassed by Pop's Place's 10th Anniversary California Smash and N.Y.C. Double Smas. Both are substantially more expensive, however.

The modern smash burgers tend to ditch traditional lettuce and tomatoes and rely instead on pickles to balance things out. Which, in my opinion, is the exact wrong thing to do, as any of my long-time readers will know. Well, Jake'n'Jay doesn't care about your trendy modern bullshit. Jake'n'Jay keeps it real. Lettuce and tomatoes all the way. And have some caramelized onions while you're at it. Nice!

Between Classic Burger and Jake'n'Jay, I could not pick a winner. It honestly comes down to how I'm feeling on any given day. Jake'n'Jay packs more flavor and I'm a huge fan of caramelized onions. Classic is more simple and I slightly prefer the sauce on that burger. Plus, you can just ask them to add caramelized onions to it. Then again, Jake'n'Jay with extra cheese (my preferred way of ordering it) comes with four slices since it has two patties...

Gun to my head, I think I still pick Classic. Mostly based on nostalgia and for what it represents in Ljubljana's burger history. But it's a damn close call.

The missing score point, if you're wondering, mostly comes down to meta reasons like the competition (as already referenced above) and Hood's quality control not being what it used to be. But do not be confused: this is one of the best burgers you can get.