What: Smashers Burgers
Where: 1551 Premium Outlets Blvd ste 270, Norfolk, VA 23502
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
Menu: https://smashers.com/menu
At 21, most people are polishing up résumés and sitting through campus recruiting fairs. Henry Smith is running a restaurant. He opened Smashers Burgers in September 2024, near Norfolk Premium Outlets, just three years after launching a food truck in Cape Charles. Now, he’s not only an entrepreneur but also a local employer, building a business before most of his peers have finished college.
“We started in Cape Charles, Virginia, about three years ago,” Smith says. “We would just only really open on the beachfront seven days a week, depending on the summer. And we had a good local crowd.”
Relocation to Norfolk eventually came due to the desire for a year-round operation.
“It’s so seasonal that we had to come down here,” Smith says. “The restaurant industry is very risky as it is and opening on the Eastern Shore, I’ve just seen so many well, and go down very quickly.”
He found the Norfolk spot almost by luck. “I reached out to a bunch of realtors and one just took me under a wing. This was on the market for maybe two days. Got in here, signed a lease, and it was a fantastic decision. It keeps us steady in the cold season because of Christmas shopping.”
The Smashers Style
The menu is simple by design. “Ironically, I am a picky eater,” Smith says. “That’s why my menu is so simple. We’re just trying to focus on what I like and try to become the best at it.”
The best-seller is the Original Smasher, a double-patty cheeseburger. “I think it has the perfect meat, cheese and bun ratio,” Smith says.
And the sauce? “It’s dairy based. I like to say it’s in Cane’s sauce and Chick-fil-A sauce. It’s really good.”
Smith swears by the smashed style. “I’m not a fan of a big pink in the middle burger. I think a smashed burger, once you try a smashed burger, it’s hard. It’s the same all the way through. And it’s very difficult to go back to a regular burger.”
He’s already planning the next upgrade. “We’re about to launch a new French fry campaign. We’re going to start with cooking with beef tallow and (purchase) better fryers.”
The business began with support from home. “I started with a $40,000 personal [loan] from my parents. They’re both entrepreneurs. Nobody in my family’s in the restaurant space.”
First-Timer’s Guide
Smith has a clear recommendation for newcomers: “I would say, Original Smash, and keep it simple, Original Smash. Small, large fry, depending how hungry they are. Can’t get wrong with the cookies and cream milkshake.”
The shakes are made with “frozen custard,” he notes.
A single restaurant in Norfolk isn’t the end goal. “We’re actually on the hunt for the next—Virginia Beach or Chesapeake. Probably a second one for proof to concept, but the third one will probably be a flagship, and then we plan to either franchise or take on an investor two, really grow this thing.”
