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# Deluxe Smash Burger at Headlands Brewing Berkeley
- URL: https://onesandwich.com/berkeley-headlands-brewing-berkeley-deluxe-smash-burger/
- Published: 2026-10-03T05:23:33.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-03T05:23:33.000Z
- Description: Beef patty, grilled onions, american cheese, sliced pickles, secret sriracha sauce, mixed greens, tomato on potato bun. Sandwich Score 89, outstanding. At Headlands Brewing Berkeley, Berkeley.
- Author: Andrew Lekashman
- Tags: USA, California, #shop-sandwich, #auto-imported

A burger at [Headlands Brewing Berkeley](https://onesandwich.com/berkeley-headlands-brewing-berkeley/), a restaurant in Berkeley, California.

Burger BunTomatoPickle (cucumber)American CheeseOnionBeefBurger Bun

**89**

Sandwich Score  
out of 100 · outstanding

Outstanding, and the road to 90 is open.

A cheesesteak with layers outside the form; five of six roles, most layers have a partner.

Balance

96

Harmony

89

Contrast

100

Structure

100

Focus

100

Composition

96

Quality

90

Envelope

99

More salt than 90% of the catalog.

Each bar is one pillar of the score, 0 to 100\. The tick marks what a sandwich at the summit needs; an amber bar is the one holding this sandwich back.

**potato bun**, toasted: beef patty; grilled onions; american cheese (low tier); sliced pickles; secret sriracha sauce; mixed greens; tomato.

## Balance

salt2.1 · 90thacid1.5 · 89thfat1.8 · 37thsweet1.0 · 90thumami1.5 · 51stheat0.1 · 50thbitter0.1 · 40th

__Flavor axes__
| Axis   | Value | Catalog percentile |
| ------ | ----- | ------------------ |
| salt   | 2.1   | 90th               |
| acid   | 1.5   | 89th               |
| fat    | 1.8   | 37th               |
| sweet  | 1.0   | 90th               |
| umami  | 1.5   | 51st               |
| heat   | 0.1   | 50th               |
| bitter | 0.1   | 40th               |

**96** Balance, out of 100

The seven flavor axes of the whole sandwich, each summed across its layers. The shaded ring is the catalog's middle 80%; the small number under each axis is where this sandwich falls in the catalog. A shape that sits inside the ring is in the range most sandwiches live in; a spike past it is where this one stands apart.

## What each layer brings

| Layer                                     | Role    | Flavor and texture                      | Points     |
| ----------------------------------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------- | ---------- |
| potato bunscored as Burger Bun            | bread   | sweet 2 soft springy                    | the frame  |
| beef pattyscored as Beef                  | protein | fat 3 umami 3 juicy chewy tender        | **+15**    |
| grilled onionsscored as Onion             | texture | sweet 2 crunchy juicy fresh             | **+3**     |
| american cheese (low tier)                | protein | fat 4 salt 3 umami 2 gooey creamy melty | **+11**    |
| sliced picklesscored as Pickle (cucumber) | acid    | acid 5 salt 4 crunchy juicy pickled     | **+6**     |
| secret sriracha sauce                     |         |                                         | not scored |
| mixed greens                              |         |                                         | not scored |
| tomato                                    | texture | acid 3 umami 3 sweet 2 juicy soft fresh | **0**      |

Points: what the Sandwich Score would lose if that one layer were left out, everything else the same. A negative number means the sandwich scores higher without it. Flavor runs 0 to 5 on each axis.

## Pairings

- **Beef + Onion**: onions sweeten seared beef, philly style
- **Beef + American Cheese**: cheesesteak law: melted american on beef
- **Beef + Pickle (cucumber)**: pickle brine against rich beef

[All the sandwiches at Headlands Brewing Berkeley](https://onesandwich.com/berkeley-headlands-brewing-berkeley/) · [The menu this was read from](https://www.headlandsbrewing.com/s/Headlands%5FBerkeley%5FFoodMenu-58rr.pdf?ref=onesandwich.com) · [Build your own in the Sandwich Builder](https://onesandwich.com/builder/)

Menu read 2026-09; items and prices change. The score is the site's opinion of the recipe as listed, not a review of the shop; tiers and house-made marks follow the menu's own wording.