I discovered Five Guys many years ago when I had too much time to spend in IAD. Wow! We now go often when in the US, and the kids love it. Funny, in the UK the meat tastes greasy and (understandably) less flavourful.

The only place I've been to recently that beats 5G (by a mile) is The Company Burger in New Orleans. That place is in my top three of all time.

Tried it for the first time yesterday. Loved the burger and the fries, but the regular cheeseburger is huge (and I'm a pretty big guy) and the price is a bit much... like CAD $16 for cheesburger, fries and Coke. Next time I'll just do the burger since I threw most of the fries away anyway. Or maybe I'll just get the little cheeseburger and little fries... we'll see :)

It was certainly a delicious burger though... top notch. In contrast to what others have said, mine was a bit on the medium-rare side as compared to well done.

FG burger's are fine, albeit pricy, but not a fan of the regularly undercooked fries. In-and-Out generally good. Counter is very good, and pretty reliable.

RE: the lingering aroma, was on a non-stop flight from IAD-LAX in the row ahead of a guy with a FG takeout order. Yes, the aroma does linger...all 5 hours.

Exactly. Burgers are good, fries are not.

I really like the Five Guys cajun fries. The couple of times I've had In-N-Out the fries had a texture that I can't quite describe but I didn't really like them.

I've heard they are inconsistent. I've only had them twice and they were very good both times. Best I've had at any burger chain. I noticed both times that they were cooking them properly, that is frying them until about halfway done then hanging the basket for several minutes before finishing them off. Maybe when they are really busy they don't have time for this crucial step?

They actually have a three step process for their fries.

Well now, you just made me do an extensive google search and I'll be darned if I can find the 3rd step.:D

Help us out here please.

Is it this?

French fries must be shaken 15 times exactly.

http://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/...rillist-nation (#12)

I'm not especially fond of the fries at either, but definitely prefer Five Guys. They're at least not insubstantial shoestring-thin.

Yeah the In-N-Out fries seem to have a tough cardboard texture to them. Someone had told me it is because they don't soak the fries to remove starch like most places.

They're too thin, but the bigger problem is that they don't double fry them. I accidentally duplicated them every time I made homemade fries for years until I finally figured it out.

So my daughters are now into hamburgers, after hating them for the first several years of their lives (now 7 and 9).

Daughter 1's burger place rankings:
1-t: Red Robin and Five Guys
2: Smashburger
3: Wendy's
4: Tom & Eddie's
5: McDonald's

Daughter 2:
1: Smashburger
2: Red Robin
3: Five Guys
4: Tom & Eddie's
5: Wendy's
6: McDonald's

In the french fry rankings, they both agree that five guys is best, followed by McD's!

For me, in order to make it worth it, I pretty regularly put quite a bit on them - lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, mayo, and mustard. Pretty pricey. Oftentimes, I even get the small :)

IMO, Red Robin has been extremely disappointing starting about two years ago. The burgers have become very bland. Their fries are still great, though.

Is that when they started attempting to make their experience all upscale and everything?

The only thing I ever order at RR is the Bleu Ribbon burger, and they haven't seemed to screw that up yet, so I'm happy. I tried the garlic herb fries last time I was there and I don't regret ordering them, though I wasn't as impressed as I was hoping to be. I'm happy with the regular Red Robin fries with a healthy dash of their seasoning salt sprinkled over them.

I opt for the A1 Peppercorn burger, but swap out the Pepper-Jack for Bleu Cheese.

The single burger I had I really enjoyed but thought it was overpriced

I've been getting hot dogs there recently. They're really good, but very expensive. I would normally grill my own, but I don't have a grill at the moment.

I think the fries are cloyingly salty, and the burgers are sloppy. The smell of it at the early hours of the morning on the IAD A terminal turns me green after a Red-Eye.

I like the fries with cajun spice. Burger is fine though overpriced IMO. I also strongly dislike American cheese and wish they had other options (cheddar would suffice).

Definitely prefer Smashburger though I put Five Guys much higher than In N Out (never been a fan, too greasy and small)

Sloppily made or drippy sloppy? It took me 3 times before I got my 5 guys burger the way I wanted it. They certainly have different ideas about quantities of items on the burger than most places. Now that I know how to order it, they are pretty good. I still prefer In-n-Out for burgers, and 5 guys for fries. Better yet, my local drive-in joint (formally an A&W) for both, or best ever, http://www.galaxyhamburgers.com/ especially for their Pastrami Burger. Perfection.

About a year ago, I went into one in Chantilly with a colleague for lunch. It was his favorite lunch place. I could hear my arteries clogging just walking into the place and smelling the grease. I bought a diet coke and watched him eat the greasy burger and fries.

I have for a while wondered what the fuss was, but I've never got past the door because the smell and all the plastic is just repulsive.

Where have you been? Fat good, carbs bad these days! ;)

Since I have been losing a lot of weight the past couple of years (I've dropped over 120 pounds, from around 290 to just under 170), I haven't had a Five Guys burger in that time. But I do eat their veggie sandwich, which I love. It's basically exactly the way I used to order my burgers there, but without the actual burger patty. It's basically a sauteed onions and mushroom sandwich with cheese.

thought it was ok, but overpriced. rather go to a local place and get better food for cheaper. I don't need peanuts.

It's better than McDonald's or Burger King.

For 2x the cost (or more), it had better be!

OTOH, I don't think it really competes with them (except for their occasional and rather comical attempts at "premium burgers"), and I think it only competes with In'n'Out in that they're regional brands which (prior to 5 Guys trying to expand everywhere, it seems) people seem to go out of their way for.

If you look at 5 Guys as a chain version of a local burger joint serving something more like a diner burger, it's pretty good, but many of us are lucky enough to have better local options.

If you look at 5 Guys as a hipster-friendly "nicer fast food," it's pretty darn good, but compared to actual fast food it's really expensive.

Not a fan of the fries at Five Guys, but I am a huge fan of being able to pick my toppings at no extra charge. Onions? NO THANKS. Mushrooms? YES PLEASE.

I do find it strange though that the refill policy changes from store to store. Some allow free refills only on the largest sized cup, but others allow it on any size.

I wonder if some of that is a matter of proximity to schools or other places kids or teenagers hang out; from what I've seen (in general; never seen this at 5 guys), sensitivity to abuse of refills goes hand in hand with a lot of kids/teenagers around.

I thought that it was standard to allow refills while still in the store as long as there's a drink dispenser accessible to customers. (The ones here have touchscreen Coke machines; perhaps there are some locations with machines behind the counter instead?)

I actually like their fries. Every location I've been to (except IAD airport and mall food courts) has had free refills on any size.

Five Guys isn't exactly *superb* but it's pretty good as far as chains go. The funny thing is that basically all American burger places, from your local diner to chains like Carls Jr., are better than the one chain that is globally available, McDonald's.

Not a fast food fan but better than Maccy Dees -aka McDonalds or BK

5 Guys Rocks, their employees are Happy, and treat you Well.

You can always order a single, any way you like it,

I take extra peanuts and give them to the squirrels at home, in the yard....

I can not eat them every day, 2 times a week works for me.

INDY has 5 locations, the workers are always happy, and they serve a great product...