Five Guys to close 3 stores

  The owner of the three "Five Guys" burger&fries stores in Sussex County Delaware has announced that all 3 locations will be closed.
   The Bethany Beach store had been open since 2004 but did not re-open after the winter seasonal closure.The Rehoboth Beach store,open since 2008,also did not re-open after the winter closure.The Highway One store in Lewes is year round and still open at this time.A drop-dead closing date has not been announced. 
   The franchise owner (same guy for all 3) gave no further information to the press.
 

He probalby  finally decided that he hated beatened to death  and well done  burgers!

If you can't make it in Rehobeth Beach, with a food joint, something is seriously wrong!

I recall an article in the local paper.  The founder moved to Connecticut a couple years ago, renamed the chain Jake's Wayback Burgers, updated the decor and plans on a big expansion program.  Somehow from all that they decided to close many of the older locations.

what about the Connecticut ones?
surely they can't all have been named Jake's. 
This is important stuff.

 

 
I walked in and out of a Five Guys a couple of weeks ago.
 
There wasn't one redeeming feature to keep me there.  It was dark inside, the staff looked less than on top of things and then there's what I've heard about the burgers.
 
 

Sorry, don't know how I confused Jake's and Five Guys.  Must have been the Delaware reference and "beatened to death  and well done  burgers" comment.

Well, I've never had a bad Five Guys burger, but their expansion plans are so outrageously ambitious that there's no way all the stores can survive.

The fewer the better.

I think 5 guys is just "ok" I've mystery shopped them several times and I can tell you that there are at least 15-20 criteria to be met including how many time the fries are shaken when they come out of the fryer.
Many times in a situation like this the franchise owner is having financial or other problems which results in the closing and it may not necessarily have anything to do with the product.
Ultimately I have no real information whether 5 guys will succeed or fail as a national chain. Personally I don't see the continued appeal of paying $10 for a small burger, fries and a drink, ordered from a counter with no real service or atmosphere involved.

it's comon sense with chains. seasonal doesn't work.

ces1948

Personally I don't see the continued appeal of paying $10 for a small burger, fries and a drink, ordered from a counter with no real service or atmosphere involved.

Yeah but you get "FREE" Peanuts!!! Could it be that they're putting the cost of the Peanuts into their pricing structure???????-----------Nah, They wouldn't do that! Then they wouldn't be FREE!

I've always wondered about free peanuts.  I made the remark to a manager at Logan's Roadhouse that I'd love to have the peanut contract for their restaurants.  He replied they get the peanuts free.  While I didn't think to ask, I've been wondering  how Logan's receives free peanuts.  Could it be the beer companies pay for them?  And now I wonder if Five Guys actually has to pay for them.

ces1948


I think 5 guys is just "ok" I've mystery shopped them several times and I can tell you that there are at least 15-20 criteria to be met including how many time the fries are shaken when they come out of the fryer.
Many times in a situation like this the franchise owner is having financial or other problems which results in the closing and it may not necessarily have anything to do with the product.
Ultimately I have no real information whether 5 guys will succeed or fail as a national chain. Personally I don't see the continued appeal of paying $10 for a small burger, fries and a drink, ordered from a counter with no real service or atmosphere involved.

Just curious...at the one by us, when the fries come out of the fryer, they are immediately put in the plastic seving cup where they wait for the rest of your order to catch up & then everything is put in a bag. Is this the offical corp. policy?

I love Five Guys, but their prices are getting out of hand.
 
On our most recent visit our order was two small burgers (a single 1/4# patty on each), one small fries, and one small soft drink.  The bill came to nearly $14.00.  YIKES!
 
   

I agree their prices are a bit steep.

Michael Hoffman


The fewer the better.

I know you love those frozen, then thawed Waffle House patties served medium rare. 
 
Evidently the spectre of salmonella is not the only dangerous aspect of dining there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnCreOhzEcI
 

MellowRoast


I've always wondered about free peanuts.  I made the remark to a manager at Logan's Roadhouse that I'd love to have the peanut contract for their restaurants.  He replied they get the peanuts free.  While I didn't think to ask, I've been wondering  how Logan's receives free peanuts.  Could it be the beer companies pay for them?  And now I wonder if Five Guys actually has to pay for them.

Could it be the Mgr. was pulling your leg???
There is no free lunch!

cavandre

ces1948


I think 5 guys is just "ok" I've mystery shopped them several times and I can tell you that there are at least 15-20 criteria to be met including how many time the fries are shaken when they come out of the fryer.
Many times in a situation like this the franchise owner is having financial or other problems which results in the closing and it may not necessarily have anything to do with the product.
Ultimately I have no real information whether 5 guys will succeed or fail as a national chain. Personally I don't see the continued appeal of paying $10 for a small burger, fries and a drink, ordered from a counter with no real service or atmosphere involved.

Just curious...at the one by us, when the fries come out of the fryer, they are immediately put in the plastic seving cup where they wait for the rest of your order to catch up & then everything is put in a bag. Is this the offical corp. policy?

There is no question about on the questionnaires I've seen about what order the items go in the bag. There is an overall limit of 8 minutes from the time the receipt is issued until your number is called. Fries are supposed to be dropped when the order is sent from the register. I have actually seen the opposite where the burger was ready and the fries were not.

MetroplexJim

Michael Hoffman


The fewer the better.

I know you love those frozen, then thawed Waffle House patties served medium rare. 

They're certainly better than patties to which have been delivered death by crushing and crisping.

The always controversial "deathwatch" feature of an Atlanta blog that tracks retail and restaurant business is predicting that at least three Five Guys in this region will be going under soon.  They've just expanded way too quickly is what everybody is saying.  Atlanta's also awash in very good burger joints these days; it stands to reason that something's going to give.  Since the foodie crowd that might have been interested in Five Guys if they were a destination restaurant is sticking instead to much smaller chains, they've lost a small part of their customer base to overgrowth, with rising prices doing a number on a larger number of potential guests.

Foodbme:  No, the response appeared quite genuine.  So that's why I later reasoned the peanuts may be supplied by their beverage vendors.  Next time, I'll ask outright.

1bbqboy

what about the Connecticut ones?
surely they can't all have been named Jake's. 
This is important stuff.

 
 
Wait a minute!  
 
Mmmmmm, do I know you? 

If 5 guys isn't doing well then, change the name to 4 guys......

Michael Hoffman

MetroplexJim

Michael Hoffman


The fewer the better.

I know you love those frozen, then thawed Waffle House patties served medium rare. 

They're certainly better than patties to which have been delivered death by crushing and crisping.

spoken from someone who has never been.

A Five Guys is opening near me in Geneva Illinois. It joins Smashburger and Tom and Eddies Burgers close by. Tom and Eddies is a soon to be 3 restaurant chain founded by, well, Tom and Eddie who are retired Mc Donald's execs. I've never had Five Guys but so far, T & E is my favorite of chain burgers.
 
http://www.tomandeddies.com/index.php

I think Five Guys has probably expanded too fast, leading to varying degrees of quality, based upon reviews here.
 
I've never been to any Five Guys outside of Alexandria VA...including DC locations - some of which are company owned, others are franchises. I don't know which are which, so I don't go. The Beauregard location has good juicy burgers.
 
However, when I really want a Burger, I go to Clyde's. There's a Ray's Steaks, same as Ray's Hellburgers, about a mile from my house...in a sketchy neighborhood across the Anacostia River. I may go there to try one of his burgers. I hear they're great.
 
 
 

Anytime a business shifts to "hyper-grow" there are bound to be some errors in the marketing scheme. 5 Guys have expanded rapidly so it is almost to be expected that some of the franchise holders might not be on top of the Operating Plan.
 
A few years ago All the Hardee's on the Indiana side of Louisville 8-10 stores went under. Poor franchise management was the cause. There are still stores in Louisville (on the KY side), but no one has risen to reopen any of the Indiana stores.
We have 2 Five Guys in New Albany. One is pretty large and seems to be busy any time I pass it by...the second is a single store in a strip mall with very little parking and other check-marks against it. I don't think it will last the year.

Scorereader

Michael Hoffman

MetroplexJim

Michael Hoffman


The fewer the better.

I know you love those frozen, then thawed Waffle House patties served medium rare. 

They're certainly better than patties to which have been delivered death by crushing and crisping.

spoken from someone who has never been.

And who will never go to one because of what I've been told by people who have been there, and from what's been written about their method of cooking their burgers and from video and still photographs of the process.

Scorereader


However, when I really want a Burger, I go to Clyde's. There's a Ray's Steaks, same as Ray's Hellburgers, about a mile from my house...in a sketchy neighborhood across the Anacostia River. I may go there to try one of his burgers. I hear they're great.

 
Score, My daughter lives about 2 blocks from either Ray's.  I thought the Hood quit nice, even in the evening.  And they are spectacular!