Restaurant Review #5 : 5 Guys Hamburgers

Restaurant: Five Guys Hamburgers
Address: multiple locations in GA, AL, TN, FL, SC, NC, VA, IN, OH, MD, DE, NJ, CT, and NY
Website: www.fiveguys.com
Rating: C

To be fair, this place is called Five Guys Hamburgers and admittedly hamburgers are not my favorite food. Five Guys is a hamburger chain with multiple locations through the eastern seaboard. While they aren't quite in New England yet, 5 Guys has quite a cult following throughout the upper South.

The menu offerings are very limited, which is on purpose I'm told. You can get a hamburger, cheeseburger, hot dog, or grilled cheese sandwich - that's it. Customization of those four items are available via the dozen or so free toppings which vary from your standard relish to fried onions.

Since all food is made to order, Five Guys gives out free peanuts to nosh on while you patiently (and I mean patiently - this is a southern chain) wait for your meal. Since I enjoy peanuts as much as the next elephant, I thought that this was a nice touch.

For lunch I had a hot dog with french fries and a Diet Coke (bottled water isn't available). French fries come in two sizes (regular and large) and are measured out using a styrofoam cup because apparently someone didn't get the memo about global warming. After your styrofoam cup is brimming with freshly cut french fries, the fry guy throws an extra handful of fries into the bag, just so you can be damn sure that these fries equal your weekly USDA recommended caloric itake. I thought that the 5 Guys worker gave me extra fries because I kept giving him the "why the fuck does it take 10 minutes to make a hot dog" look. When I informed him that the extra fries really weren't necessary he said that it was company policy to do this random act of kindness. So much for being special.


At $7.01, Five Guys is definitely on the lower sphere of what I would expect to pay at a quick serve joint. However, the lack of options are a real downer. 5 Guys places in the same space as Fuddrucker's, U-Burger(Boston), and Wendy's, which I would whole heartedly recommend over this place.

Five Guys has multiple locations throughout the South. If any of you have eaten at Five Guys and dispute this review, feel free to sound off. I'm honestly perplexed by the fact that people south of the Mason-Dixon actually endorse this place.