Five Guys Burgers report-NYC (no pics)

Hey, not sure if this should be here or in the FF thread. I just went to the newest burger place in Manhattan, Five Guys Burgers. The D.C. based chain just opened up a shop on 55th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues in NYC. I had conducted some reconaissance a few weeks back and popped in to check it out. It looked promising and didn't disappoint tonight.
First, they have a pretty small menu on burgers are the main focus. They do offer hot dogs, grilled cheese and a veggie (dog?). They have two sizes of fries and a variety of Coke products. There are a couple of wooden barrels with salted peanuts in the shell and metal buckets to scoop with and bring back to your table. A dry erase board on the wall said that the potatoes for the fries were from F(?), Idaho today. I couldn't make out the name of the town, but it began with the letter F.
They have a sign that says they cook the burgers well done unless requested otherwise. I took a chance and let them do it their way. I ordered a cheeseburger with sauteed mushrooms and a small fry. The burger took a few minutes on the flat top and a cheeseburger is actually what most places would consider a double cheeseburger: two patties and two slices of cheese. I got it to go and ate it back at my desk at work. The counter man gave me a large fry by mistake which I happily consumed. They also had malt vinegar with which I filled a couple of plastic to go containers.
This burger worked for me on a number of levels. I was worried about how walking through the cold city night would affect the flavor and/or texture, but I had nothing to worry about. For starters, the bun was a sturdy sesame seeded beauty that was soft, yet held up nicely. The meat itself was very juicy and when I went to fork a piece of it, some juice squirted out. I was very happy. Yes, I ate it and the fries with a fork and knife. The cheese and mushrooms added some gooey and earthy flavor, respectively, without masking the flavor of the beef. No ketchup required on this burger at all.
The fries were very good, with the skins on. They're served in a styrofoam cup, but I would recommend getting them out of there ASAP as it only serves to steam them and takes away from the crispiness. They were nice and browned and still had some of their crispy texture. The malt vinegar was a nice change from ketchup. I was very impressed with this meal and would definitely go back again and again. Most times when I eat a burger, I'm either unimpressed or I like it, but don't feel the need to run back anytime soon. From the first bite, I knew I'd be craving this again.

Billyboy,

I suspect what you thought was a large fry was really a regular order!

See what Five Guys does when the serve up the frys is fill the styrofoam cup up once, dump it into the bag, and then they fill it up again and place the cup in the bag.....that ends up being a 'regular' order.

They do the same thing if you actually order a large fry....only the styrofoam cup is much larger. So if you had really been given a 'large' fry.....there probably wouldn't have been room in the bag for your burger!!!!!!.....LOL!

And the cost for all this wonderfulness...?

Around 7-8 bucks here in the DC area. Been awhile since I've been to Five Guys...but I'm sure I am in the ballpark....

here in farmington, CT I believe its 2.99 for small fry and 3.99 for double burger. I'm thinking of going either today or tomorrow for lunch. I've been there a few times now...

A Five Guys is opening in the KC suburb of Lee's Summit where my in laws live. I'm sure we'll try it based on billyboy's report.

They make a great burger and fries...along with Chargrill and Johnson's in Siler City they are among the best of the Triangle.

quote:

Originally posted by Lexi

And the cost for all this wonderfulness...?

Five Guys has recently hit here in Athens, GA and they are indeed a hit with their two new stores, one of which is downtown, right across the street from the Arch in the location that once housed the legendary Varsity.

As for cost, that is the only real complaint I've heard about them--I paid $8.55 for a burger (double, that us) and small fries with a Coke. That's a little on the high side for burger joints around here.

The cost and the fact, as noted above, that they give you way too many french fries for any one person to eat--they give you enough for two, maybe three people tossed into that brown bag that everything comes in--are the only bad things I can say about them though.

But, having said that, the food is really good--the ground beef is never frozen, so they claim, and the burgers are cooked only after you order them, so there is a short wait.

Also, you need to be aware that to them a regular burger is actually a double burger. If you want a single, you need to know to order the small burger. That marketing is a ploy to mess your your mind--real men don't order small burgers, so you gotta get the double burger!

But seriously, unless you're one of our big eating college students we have here, most grown-up types will get their fill with a small burger, especially with all those fries.

Their real claim to distinction is the fact that they use real, fresh Idaho russett potatoes to make the fries--yes, fresh, not frozen french fries! Not since McDonald's glory days of the '60s and '70s have I seen a chain go to the trouble to make fresh fries, so they are to be commended for that alone. They're fried in peanut oil, but sadly, with no trace of the beef tallow component to the oil that made McDonald's fries so good back in the day. But I guess the Pleasure Police have banned beef tallow and we'll have to settle for peanut oil.

Overall, Five Guys is good eating for the burger&fries food group.

P.S. They also offer root beer--that's always a plus in my book and not something you can get at most FF chains these days.

There are several Five Guys in Connecticut now. What no one seems to be talking about and what makes the chain special is the amoutn of topings that can be placed on the burgers. It's not just Ketchup, pickles, lettuce, tomato. you can get raw mushrooms, sauted mushrooms, raw onions, glilled onions, peppers, jalepenios, and about 10 other topings, making one of the mssiest juiciest burgers around.

Five Guys sounds like a copy of the great West Coast chain--In and Out--which always uses fresh cut potatos for their fries and makes a teriffic double burger which cost including a drink about $6.

quote:

Originally posted by BBq King

Five Guys sounds like a copy of the great West Coast chain--In and Out--which always uses fresh cut potatos for their fries and makes a teriffic double burger which cost including a drink about $6.

King,

Nope, In and Out and five guys are two different animals in a couple of ways.

The fries are cut totally different then Five Guys, the burgers at In and Out are very thin....five guys are a good bit thicker.

As another poster mentions Five Guys offers a whole array of burger toppings. In and Out offers the basics.

Now having said all of that In and Out is my all time favorite chain burger, Five Guys is my second.

Five Guys just opened in Levittown Long Island, on Hempstead Turnpike. I've been to their VA locations, and have enjoyed their food, the burgers are a step above a lot of other ones out there, the fries are quite good, and the value, amount of 'good' product for the money is also good.
Visited a couple of weeks ago for dinner, burgers were hot, fresh and tasty, the fries were fresh and good, plenty there, and yes, I did have root beer. Probably in the $12 range for two of us, certainly reasonable for the NY area.
BTW, I've been to In and Out several times, and as much a beloved institution as it is, I prefer Five Guys.

The cheeseburger was $6.25 and the fries were $2.75. I'm pretty sure the order I got was a "large", at least at this location. They had two sizes of styrofoam cups attached to the wall with the respective prices written on them and he filled up the larger of the two for my order. My total was $9.00 ($9.75 with tax). I don't eat burgers regularly, but I'd gladly pay for this one over most of the burger places here in the city. I still like my Blue 9 Burger, but this is definitely a couple of steps up from that. True musicmat, they have a whole lot of free toppings, although I'm usually a purist, at least on the first visit and I want to taste the meat and see how good it is. Yeah rebeltruce, the fries at Five Guys are thicker than shoestring, but not thick cut like chips/frites/steak fries. Somewhere in the middle. Some of the best fries I've ever had at a chain.

I ate at a Five Guys in Whitestone, Queens and in NJ someplace recently. Seems the price of the double cheeseburger (their "Cheeseburger") was about $5.09 and the small order of fries was $2.39. The single cheeseburger was around $3.69.

One just opened in Knoxville, TN. I have never been there but I know several people that have. I have not heard a complaint yet and most sorta rave over it.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I went to Five Guys in Fairfax, VA last June. On the first trip I did not know what to expect and kind of got flustered on the toppings. We will be in Virginia again next week so maybe we will give it another try.

quote:

Originally posted by rebeltruce

quote:

Originally posted by BBq King

Five Guys sounds like a copy of the great West Coast chain--In and Out--which always uses fresh cut potatos for their fries and makes a teriffic double burger which cost including a drink about $6.

King,

Nope, In and Out and five guys are two different animals in a couple of ways.

The fries are cut totally different then Five Guys, the burgers at In and Out are very thin....five guys are a good bit thicker.

As another poster mentions Five Guys offers a whole array of burger toppings. In and Out offers the basics.

Now having said all of that In and Out is my all time favorite chain burger, Five Guys is my second.

Thanks for that clarification.

I was a patron of the very first Five Guys - an in-line take out in a strip center on the corner of S. Glebe and Columbia Pike in Arlington, VA. They were neighbors of the then far more famous Brenner's Bakery and used their buns as a quality differentiation. The bakery and that location are closed.

I was wondering about Five Guys v. In & Out as there has opened in Dallas a direct rip-off of Five Guys: Mooyah. The local reviewers all compare it to In & Out when it is in fact a direct rip of Five Guys.

I'm glad to see that the Guys have made it to the City. I wish them well and can't wait until they come to the Big D and show Mooyah who their daddy is!

By the way, there is a great Roadfood place that does the big, thin burger as well as I imagine In & Out does: Baker's Drive-In, S. McDonald St., McKinney, TX.

Love Five Guys.
Great place. I've only been to the original location and the Beauregard St near NoVa-Alexandria.
Great little joints.

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

Love Five Guys.
Great place. I've only been to the original location and the Beauregard St near NoVa-Alexandria.
Great little joints.

Leesburg Pike & Beauregard was their second store. Though that location was the first to offer "dine in" when the success of their take-out let them expand when the laundromat next door lost their lease.

A Five Guys recently opened in North Greenbush, NY (just east of Albany) I went there once. It was excellent. fresh cut fries, handformed burgers. I love burgers and this place for a fast food joint is ok in my book.

Clearly, we have some "Guy's" fans out there. My only "beef" with the place (after I got them to tone down the volume of DC 101 which they had blaring at their first two locations) is that their bun gets soggy.

a) they don't toast their buns
b) they wrap the steaming hot burger in foil wrap and
c) throw it in a paper bag with the steaming hot fries

I HATE SOGGY BREAD!!!

They should toast the bun and offer the option of an unwrapped burger on a paper plate if you're "dining in".
If this sounds reasonable to you, please join me in making this comment @ www.fiveguys.com/

"The local reviewers all compare it to In & Out when it is in fact a direct rip of Five Guys."

How can someone sell hamburgers and fries and be accused of ripping another joint off? There are probably hundreds of thousands of hamburger joints in the U.S. Who's ripping off which one? It'd be mind-boggling to try to figure that one out.

"Nope, In and Out and five guys are two different animals in a couple of ways."

I disagree. They both suck.

quote:

Originally posted by kensandyeggo

"The local reviewers all compare it to In & Out when it is in fact a direct rip of Five Guys."

How can someone sell hamburgers and fries and be accused of ripping another joint off? There are probably hundreds of thousands of hamburger joints in the U.S. Who's ripping off which one? It'd be mind-boggling to try to figure that one out.

"Nope, In and Out and five guys are two different animals in a couple of ways."

I disagree. They both suck.

Chacun a son gout. Paix!

(Each to his own taste. Peace!)