05/21/2026
Home team!!!
New Indy Smash Burger Joint Opens Inside Historic Ritz Lounge — And It’s Bigger Than Burgers
Indianapolis has a new smash burger spot making noise on the west side, but this one comes with a story much deeper than crispy edges and fresh-cut fries.
A Proper Smash Burgers & Potatoes is now operating inside the historic Ritz Lounge, located at 2628 N. Harding St., bringing a new food concept into a building with real Indianapolis history attached to it.
The Ritz Lounge’s story goes back decades. Newspaper clippings from The Indianapolis Recorder show that in October 1957, entrepreneur Nina Kaufman opened the Ritz Lounge at 2648 Harding, promoting it as a stylish new lounge with live entertainment, food, mixed drinks, beers, wines, and a welcoming atmosphere. The grand opening featured Jimmie Cole’s Combo, and the articles described the lounge as packed with people, music, food, and energy.
That history matters.
Today, A Proper Smash is stepping into that same spirit — food, community, culture, and a place where people can gather.
Founded by Dewayne Boyd, the new burger concept grew from the same hustle and community energy behind Jumbo Jive Turkey Legs. After building a name with smoked and stuffed turkey legs, late-night food service, pop-ups, and community-centered food events, Boyd is now bringing that same drive into a new lane: real smash burgers, loaded potatoes, and fresh-cut fries.
And according to early customers, the burgers are already speaking for themselves.
A Proper Smash has been getting strong feedback for its crispy-edged smash burgers, bold flavor, and simple-but-serious approach to doing burgers the right way. This is not a frozen-patty shortcut. The goal is thin, hot, crispy, seasoned, and made fresh — the kind of burger that makes people come back and tell somebody else.
But Boyd says the mission is bigger than just selling burgers.
The Ritz Lounge building may not look perfect from the outside right now, and that’s part of the story. This is a historical building that has seen different chapters, different owners, and different eras. Now, the new ownership team at The Ritz Lounge, along with A Proper Smash, is working to bring new life back into the space.
The bigger vision includes more than food and nightlife. Plans include creating a community-centered space with shared workspace, business opportunities, room for kids to do homework, and a place where people in the neighborhood can gather, build, and feel proud of what is happening in their own community.
This is revitalization from the inside out.
A Proper Smash is not trying to erase the past. It is trying to stand on it.
From Nina Kaufman’s Ritz Lounge in the 1950s to the new energy being built today, the building represents Black entrepreneurship, entertainment, food, fellowship, and survival. Now, a new generation is working to preserve that story while creating something fresh for Indianapolis.
So when people ride by and see the building, Boyd wants them to understand: this is a work in progress. It may not look like the full vision yet, but the work has already started.
The grill is on.
The burgers are moving.
The community is being invited in.
A Proper Smash Burgers & Potatoes is now open inside the historic Ritz Lounge at 2628 N. Harding St.
Come for the burger. Stay for the history. Be part of the rebuild
