Hot Bunz, a family-owned smash burger restaurant, is opening its third location at 730 K St. in Downtown Sacramento, with an opening expected in early 2027. Co-owner Diana Mkhitaryan confirmed to What Now Sacramento that the restaurant is a few months from opening and that the exact date will be shared on its social media accounts.
The restaurant specializes in smash burgers, in which fresh ground beef is pressed onto a very hot grill to create a caramelized crust. “It has crispy edges, but also it’s juicy because we do give up quite a lot of meat per burger,” Mkhitaryan said. The burgers use 100% grass-fed beef from New Zealand, and the vegetables are fresh, diced and made to order.
The new location is larger than the other two restaurants and will have indoor and outdoor seating. “That’s one of the main reasons why we were waiting for the perfect location to open up,” she said. “We don’t really rush into locations.”
The extra space will allow for a bigger menu. The owners are considering calling it the Hot Bunz Social Club, with grilled chicken, chicken wings and more salads added to the burgers, in a place where customers can stay and hang out instead of grabbing food to go. The restaurant is also working on switching its fryers to avocado oil by the time the new location opens.
Mkhitaryan and her husband, Sam Ayvazyan, opened the first Hot Bunz in Rancho Cordova four years ago this month, followed by a second in Elk Grove a year later. They have worked in the restaurant industry for about eight years, and Diana holds a degree in food and nutrition from Sacramento State.
The restaurant will fill about 5,730 square feet in the Hardin building, in the space previously occupied by Chando’s Cantina Zazon Del Mar and, before that, Solomon’s Vinyl Diner, which was themed around the building’s longtime use as a Tower Records.
“We just can’t wait to continue serving our community. It’s something we’ve been doing for four years now, and we really want to bring them the authentic experience of good local food from a small family ownership that really cares about the people who walk through those doors, and also the quality of the food that we serve,” Mkhitaryan told What Now Sacramento.
