Smash it, don't squash it
British beef hits scorching steel and gets pressed once — hard. That's where the crust comes from. Anything else is just a patty.
Our story
One burger, done properly
Jack's started with a secondhand flat-top, a tray of brioche and a stubborn idea: smash the patty, char the edges, cut no corners. Ten years on, nothing's changed but the queue.
How it started
The first smash
In 2016, Jack wheeled a secondhand flat-top into a railway arch off Market Street and taped one rule above the grill: if it isn't smashed to order, it doesn't leave the pass. British beef, pressed hard onto screaming-hot steel, seared until the edges lace up like caramel.
The bun took longer than the burger. It had to be brioche — baked that morning, toasted in beef dripping until the cut side crackles — or it didn't go out at all. The sauce is still mixed in-house every day, and no, we're not telling you what's in it.
Word got round. The queue got longer. One arch became twelve branches across the city, and the rule above the grill never moved: open flame, British beef, smashed while you watch. Same graft, bigger grill.
The receipts
Ten years of graft
2016The first smash
12Branches, one obsession
4.9★From 12,000+ reviews
100%British beef, always
House rules
How we smash
Four rules, taped above the grill since day one.
Brioche or nothing
Baked that morning, toasted in beef dripping till the cut side crackles. A burger is only as good as the thing holding it together.
Flame does the talking
Open fire, proper char, no shortcuts. Nothing leaves the pass that we wouldn't eat standing up at the grill.
Late nights, open doors
Open till late across all twelve branches, free delivery over £20 — and a free shake on your birthday if you're in the Burger Club.
Enough reading
Come eat the ending
The story tastes better than it reads. Order in, or pull up a stool and judge us at the counter.