Smashburger Comes From Fast Food Royalty episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 24, 2026 · 45 MIN

Smashburger Comes From Fast Food Royalty

from "Fine" Dining · host Michael Ornelas

🍔🥩 Smashburger: McGriddle Meets Quizno's, The "Smash Pass," and False Advertising 🥩🍔 This week, my wonderful guest Bennett Cohen (@bennettrcohen) joins me to dive into the history of Smashburger, a burger brand created by one of the most influential minds in fast food history Tom Ryan (the guy who invented the McGriddle). From custom-forged burger presses to being named America's most promising company by Forbes, Smashburger's history is, at the very least, surpising. 🍔 Smashburger Was Founded by a Literal Fast Food Legend in Tom Ryan 📈 Forbes Named Smashburger the "Most Promising Company" in 2012 🎟️ The $54 "Smash Pass" That Offered 54 Burgers in 54 Days ⚖️ You Can't Say "Double the Beef" When It's The Same Amount of Beef 🎵 We Offer Smashburger a Jingle in the Style of Yacht Rock 🌎 Smashburger Was Acquired by Jollibee Very Slowly 🔥 The Heat Lamp: Bennett Claims Lactose Intolerance Is a State of Mind 💥 Yelp from Strangers: A Customer and Employee Are Actually Beefing (And We Get to Hear Both Sides!!) 💬 COMMENT BELOW: Would you actually use the Smash Pass? 📢 SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE COMMUNITY: 🎉 Patreon (Bonus episodes, extended Yelp segments & more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast 💬 Discord (Food talk, memes, cursed Yelp): discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4 🎥 Watch full episodes: youtube.com/channel/UCLbraNhL6KhDPkdSWt2yiuw 🔗 All links: linktree.com/finediningpodcast 🎤 Guest: Bennett Cohen | IG: @bennettrcohen Patreon Producers:Sue Ornelas, Joyce Van, & Robert McLaughlin Patreon Subscribers:David Ornelas, Kellie Baldwin, Jeremy Horwitz, Herbert Amaya, Simone Davalos, Scott Bennett, Amy Reinhart, Josef Castaneda-Liles, Travis Langley, Jewell Hermann, & Michelle Elmer Free Patreon Followers:Joe Warszalek, Lauren Cummings, Grace Krainak, Keri Estes, Robert Duran, Patrick Elliott, Dave Plummer, Nicholas Volney, Michael Gerard, Tracy Molino, Phuong Duong, Tyler Robinson, Brandon Gully, Mason Cruz, Michael Milito, Mez, Aaron Hubbard, Steff, Renae Michael, Crystal C., & NiZ

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