Smashburger - Pompton Plains

This place 's service was abysmal. The server was clearly not trained to be able to handle running the front by herself. She gave us our food without fries. No big deal I guess they weren 't ready. We stared in pure awe as she made several orders for to goeach stuffed with fries. We reminded this girl twice and both times she goes yells to the manager (prepping food) who puts a cupof fries up under the heat lamp. The fries sit as the server prepares more orders (utilizing fries). I have 5 years customerservice and the patience of a Saint but this was rediculous. I told the young lady that I wanted to just remove the fries fromthe check and go about my day (I may add in a polite fashion without raising my voice or changing my tone). The panicked serverfetches the manager from the grill. I attempted to ask him to just remove the price of the fries and he pleaded with me not to.I explained my situation and how me and my entire party had finished our meals sans fries and didn 't want to wait any longer forsome after dinner fries. The manager offers free food and other items until I finally ask him are you not allowed to refund atransaction? and he nodded a sad yes. I didn 't find out if he wasn 't allowed to or wasn 't authorized to but either way this wasa defeated soul. I asked him what is ready RIGHT NOW? and he said he has fries ready and he will get them immediately. Dudeplaces fries in a cup and says to his front end female hey give these to the guys over there. she nods and I kid you not wewatch her give out two more orders before she walks the fries over to us. In all fairness the food was excellent. I imagine thefries probably paired well with the burger. Short staff or not your employees need to be better trained before being left tofend for themselves. As an amateur complainer- err I mean Google reviewer I can say this holds the current record for worstservice I 've ever had (that I 've reviewed).

Food is great! Service great! But please invest money into better plastic cups mines broke just putting the top on.

The burger was good! You taste more of the sauce and toppings than the meat but it was good. The Pickles were awesome, staff was friendly, and they have a DAIRY FREE shake that tastes soooooo amazing. Couldn't even tell it was dairy free... seriously...soooo good. I drank it too fast to add a picture.

I had an awful experience at the smashburger in Pompton Plains earlier today, July 21st. I placed an online order at 4pm to be picked up at 4:45pm. It was just two items, a burger and a milkshake. I got inside the restaurant at 4:41pm and fullyexpected to wait a few minutes for my order. I was a little surprised the order was ready. As I was leaving, I checked theburger and noticed it was barely even warm and the receipt on on the bag said 4:29pm, which is when I assumed the burger wasmade. I walked back to the counter and told her the burger was cold and wanted it remade. She called someone in charge, Ipresume the manager and told him the same thing. I also stated that the time on the bag was 4:29pm but I wasn't picking up myorder until 4:45pm. I told him I didn't want the barely warm burger and that I wanted it remade. He told me that he could notdo that and that there was nothing wrong with this burger. I told him that I do not want a cold burger and that I would like itremade and that it should not have been made at 4:29pm and left sitting to get cold. He told me that was the policy that foodhad to be made 15 ahead of time, which I do not believe. I simply stated again that I didn't want the barely warm burger andwanted it remade. He told me, ok I can do this one time for you today but not in the future. I told him, don't worry becauseI will never order from here again with this horrible customer service and attitude that you gave me. What an awful experiencefrom such a popular food chain, making me feel like I did something wrong requesting the order at a certain time and when theyserve me a barely warm burger give ME attitude when I nicely asked them to remake it! Unreal!

The service was terrible. The server clearly wasn't trained to manage the front. She brought us our meals without fries, and I suspect they simply weren't ready. We watched in disappointment as they served several other tables with fries. We saw the server twice, and both times she went to the manager in the kitchen, who put a cup of fries under a heat lamp. The fries were left sitting there while the server continued with her other duties. I have five years of customer service experience and the patience of a saint, but this was beyond frustrating. I told the server I just wanted to remove the fries from the bill and go about my day, and I did so calmly, without raising my voice. The flustered server went to get the manager from the grill area. I tried to explain the situation to him, mentioning that my entire party had finished their meals without fries and we no longer wanted to wait for them. The manager offered us free food and other items, but I eventually asked if he was unable to refund the charge for the fries, and he sadly nodded yes. I wasn't sure if it was a policy issue or if he just felt overwhelmed, but he seemed defeated. I asked what he could get for us, and he mentioned he would have fries ready right away. He placed a cup of fries in front of me and instructed his fellow employees to take the fries over to us. She nodded and proceeded to serve two other orders before finally bringing us the fries. To be fair, the food was excellent, and I can only imagine the fries would have complemented the burger nicely. Regardless of the staffing issues, employees need better training before taking on responsibilities on their own. As someone who frequently leaves reviews on Google, I can confidently say this set the record for the worst service I've ever experienced.