Thoughts on Five Guys (the hamburger place)
 

There have been a multitude on threads on In and Out... but now Five Guys is trying to make a Mark so to speak on the East Coast.

I tried it shortly after they opened one in Hoboken.

The pluses:

*The varieties of sauces/toppings. Sometimes I don't want so much greenery on my burger.
*Cajun fries (like my food spicy)
*It's clean (but In and Out is too.)

The drawbacks:

*Even wtih BBQ Sauce, Bacon and mushrooms my burger tasted a little bland. The bun was sweet but a little squished.
*My fries at times were a little undercooked.
*The overload of "We are number one" articles all over the place. It seems like overkill. I don't see many if any "We Rock" articles at In and Out.
*Serving in a paper bag that looked like something I took to High School (and had my lunch stolen on occasion.) the Bag looked greacy and tacky.
*The staff was efficient but not that friendly.

One final thought: My whole time in Five Guys I was waiting for the "WOW" factor (like I get at In and Out whether it's a friendly crew person or the burger made just right - need to do animal style - or the company or the purrfectly grilled fries.) I walked out and said "What's the big deal?"

I walk out of In and Out and say "Yummy."

Overall: Superior to most Fast Food burgers but I still crave In and Out. If I must have a burger I would go back to Five Guys.

So, if you want a get together here post something on COmmunity (but it has to be HOboken or NYC.)

Ok friends... you thoughts...

I first tried the Five Guys that opened near my office in Hackensack, NJ

We ordered lunch to go, and like you I was less than impressed... it wasn't bad, but there was NO wow factor either... it was just plain old fast food.


Now the last time I had Five Guys at the Washington Dulles airport on my way back from Detroit (with only 50 minutes between flights, lol) the burger, even with the squished bun... tasted absolutely delishious. I ordered the bacon burger with shrooms and bbq sauce an dit was great! But it was completely different from my last In-N-Out experience which I'll repeat this November.


So to answer your question... YES! I'm down for a Hoboken or NYC Five Guys DO... but its more for the sake of meeting new people from FT than for the food, heh


--Russ :)

The beauty of that greasy bag is that you can rip off most of the top (leaving the bottom of the bag and about 4" of sides) and then share your fries with your tablemates. There's no way all those fries will realistically fit in that little styrofoam cup and there's no way I'd put those fries on the less-than-clean tables.

Even a regular size serving is enough to feed 3 or more people.

That said, I love Five Guys.

Oh, and you forgot a plus: free peanuts!

An FT regular took me to one in Dulles once, and I really enjoyed it. Good tasting burgers, and a pretty cool atmosphere.

Note to them: open one in Chicago.

Yep, pretty much sums it up. Had it twice, didn't know what the big deal was the first time and gave it another chance. Does nothing for me and I love burgers.

Well, there are a couple of locations not far from my apartment. If I'm in that hood, I'll check them out.

Hi. I'm a long time lurker that registered today just so I could chime in on this thread. I live in Northern Virginia, where Five Guys originated and I eat at one of the early Five Guys locations at least once a week. Sadly, I think the quality of their food is beginning to slip. I don't know if they're expanding too fast or what, but the past few months have been really hit or miss experiences. I was thinking about giving up on them until last week, when I had the best french fries of my life. Seriously, they were so good I traded my husband my burger for his part of the fries. They normally tend to be on the soggy side of greasy, but they were absolute perfection that day. I'll give them another chance, just because of the fries. Hopefully they'll get their act back together.

Ima Sue

Welcome to FT, Ima Sue DiNym. :) :-:

I am intrigued even more now. I've been searching for the perfect fries for a while now...

Tried it once a couple years ago. Sign said well done burgers only. Sorry, not for me. Medium rare, rare or not at all.

With me (from my previous east coast life), it was the peanuts while waiting, the fries, and the Fanta ginger ale . . .

I tried one in the DC area a couple months ago, and was pretty impressed! Great, tasty burgers and humongous orders of fries. A little too pricey, though, even for the quality and portion size.

Definitely get a regular order of fries and split it with someone. Three of us were in my group (two adults and a 5-year old). We ordered two small orders of fries and a large one. One small order would have been plenty. The cajun fries were great. The selections of toppings for the burger is unmatched.

Take note, though, that if you ask for "everything" on the burger, you don't get everything - just the items they mark as standard. Fortunately, thanks to the long line, I had plenty of time to catch that on the menu that lists the available toppings.

The one that opened in the Galleria here in the past year did not impress me at all. Never went back. Thought the Cajun fries were brutal, too.

I finally tried one when I saw a Five Guys at an airport. I was not impressed at all. The bun was squished and everything tasted the same, mushed together. I love In and Out because I can taste the toasted bun, the fresh lettuce, tomato, cheese and the burger individually when I take a bite.

We can get In & Out close to home, but while in Nashville in July, decided to give 5 Guys a try. Went to the one across from Vanderbilt.

We were not impressed - but not all of the problem was their fault; it was in the middle of the Great Tomato Scare of 2008 and all tomatoes had been removed from their menu. But even the addition of a tomato slice to the burger would not've improved it enough to win us over.

And the service was sluggish, the seating area is too small with too many tables and chairs crammed in, and the restaurant didn't seem to have the cleanliness that I & O does.