Originally Posted by
gleff
There's a FTer who is or was the largest Five Guys franchisee. Hosted many a FTer for burgers and booze.
Was, but still actively involved.
I do like the burgers a lot for what they are, this is not a gourmet kobe beef burger but the best local fast food burger in the DC area. I do wish the fries were crispier, though.
As usual, gleff is spot on. Five Guys should neither be judged as fast food or upscale casual dining. It's by definition fast-casual, in that the burgers are cooked to order, so it can never be truly fast. Just my opinion, but In N Out is the king of fast food burgers. Five Guys rules fast-casual.
I like In N Out. There's even times I'm in the mood for a thin-patty style burger, and there's no question they do this best. They also have a great milkshake.
Five Guys has lots more topping choices, and bigger burgers. As others have mentioned, we fill the value proposition with gigantic portions, both burgers and fries.
For those that have commented that the burger wasn't great, I would ask of you one favor. Go back, once, tell the manager what you didn't enjoy, and try us again. Five Guys is, by nature, a community of entrepreneurs. They are industrious business men and women trying to get it right. We don't have buzzers, timers, or pre-cooked anything, so sometimes the food comes out wrong when we open a store, or go through a training period. It's probably something that will always plague us, but it's also one of our pluses. Everything is as fresh as can be. No freezers, no can openers, no microwaves. Ever.
If they screw your meal up again, I can live with you walking away. But I really do think we make a great burger, for who we are. Which, as gleff pointed out, isn't McDonalds or the Palm.
Oh, and I like my fries a bit crispier, too.
