The title says it all. The burger is made to the highest standards, it's remarkably well balanced, even the pickle is tolerable. It's the good stuff.

But you're not here for that. You're here because you came from the 10th Anniversary California Smash page to read the complaints I promised (if that's not the case, please go read that review and come back; don't make me look stupid!).

While I'm obviously amazed at the coup Pop's managed to pull off with their 10th anniversary menu refresh, they engaged in some shenanigans at which I'm very annoyed. So annoyed, in fact, I'm using screenshots in a burger review for the first time. I had to change some of the site's code to implement this functionality, by the way. And I'm not happy about it.

Look at the official California Smash ingredients list:

And the N.Y.C. Smash list:

(Ignore the prices only billionaires can afford. Think happy thoughts.)

So many differences. "Special Sauce" vs. "House Special Sauce". "Sliced Onions" vs. "Red onion" (let's not dwell on the inconsistency in capitalization). "Pickles" vs. "Homemade Pickles" (I'm assuming there's a comma missing in that last one since I "Pickles Brioche Potato Bun" is probably not a real food product). Which of these are the same? Which of these are distinct? I'm not sure. I asked my waiter and he said they're all different. I'm not convinced. But I can't really know. As I said, bottom line: annoying.

Oh, and all of this is ignoring the fact that tomato is not listed under N.Y.C. Smash's ingredients. But it was on the burger when I ordered it (hence it's on my spec sheet). So, you know: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Long story short, it's a mess. Thank fuck the burger's good, at least.