Trip to Five Guys Burgers & Fries, NYC (w/ pics!)

I stopped in at Five Guys on 55th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues) today. Having been there twice before, I'm really taking a liking to their burgers!

Outside Five Guys. They keep some pretty good hours if you get the urge.

The bags of potatoes that are specially picked for Five Guys.

They have signs like this of quotes from different papers and magazines as well as framed Zagat's and magazine reviews all throughout the place.

The dry erase board tells where the potatoes are coming from each day.

The menu. The hamburger is actually two patties of beef and the Little hamburger is a single patty. Notice on the bottom of the menu, it says that all meat is cooked juicy and well done. You wouldn't think so, but it is possible and has been the case every time I have gone there. There isn't any pink in it, yet it is one of the juiciest burgers I have ever eaten. There really is a difference between a well-done burger from the grill and a well-done burger from the flat-top. With the grill, all the fat drips on to the coals leaving the burger dry by the time it's well-done, where the flat-top allows it to cook in its own juices and keeps it very juicy. Just my own theory.

My small order of fries. I watched the counter guy put them together. He scooped them into a small size cup, placed the cup in the paper bag, then scooped another helping on top of that! They've done that every time! They certainly don't skimp on the fries. They can get soggy if you're traveling with them (hey, what fries don't, right?). Best to get them out of the bag ASAP. I love that they have malt vinegar as an option and I never put ketchup on these babies. Very tasty with a good potato flavor. Not the best fries I have ever eaten, but I'd go back for more.

A close up of my Cheeseburger with pickles and ketchup. I must've taken about 10 shots, but this was the best "close-up" shot I could get. Getting a good food shot is like getting to Carnegie Hall (practice, practice, practice!). Anyway, this was an amazing cheeseburger. They lightly toast the buns, possibly to help hold up under the juiciness of the meat. The bun held up really well and didn't get mushy. The beef flavor really shines through and they don't mess with that. If you wanted just a couple of patties of beef on a bun, you could get that. All of the toppings, as per the menu are free. I didn't get a shot of it, but they had a shelf with restaurant sized cans and jars of sliced mushrooms, pickles. KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, Frank's Red Hot sauce and others. They don't make any bones about being "fresh" with the toppings. Their shining stars are the beef and the potatoes. This was definitely in the Top 10 burgers I have eaten of all time and maybe even my top 5! I'm just really taken with it.

My Cheeseburger ($6.25), "small" fries ($2.75) and a large Diet Coke ($2.25)-refills are free. The total with tax came out to $12.20. Yeah, I know, NYC prices! I wouldn't want to make it a regular habit with that price tag and I don't eat red meat too regularly, but if I could develop a way to eat this with no adverse health effects, I'd be here every day!

Same meal in Baltimore comes in around 8 bucks.

Billy,

Great report and pics, as usual. I miss my years in NYC, and my friends in Oriskany, NY. Keeps those reports coming.

I guess I'll have to try a 5 Guys one of these days.

I know I passed one a while ago ... don't remember where. But, my day will come.

Used to go to the original one in Alexandria, VA back in the late 80s, or at least I think it was the original. It was the only one we knew of. Tremendous burgers, no seats-all takeaway. They had big bags of peanuts to eat while you waited. I ate at one in Raleigh, NC awhile back and it was good, but not as good as I remembered (what is, right).

Good report! Even blurred, that pic of the cheeseburger is making me hungry.

Which of the toppings did you have on your cheeseburger?

It must depend on the particular operator, my closest one, the burgers are completely forgettable, good fries though. They had idiots working the flat top who kept pressing down on the burgers to get them to cook faster, there was No juice left, hence crummy burgers.

I tried the 5 guys in Avon, CT last week and I was impressed. The fries are excellent and truly taste homemade, the portion of a small is really big. The burger was also huge and I got the regular with all the toppings. I pigged out for $7.00. Not bad at all. Problem was I then had to go home and eat supper.

Its a great place with good food at a good price. One thing it lacks is atmosphere.

Hmmm...Am gonna have to check out the Five Guys. My neighbor just told me about it, but I didn't realize it was a chain. I'm in South FLorida and usually recommend Jack's Old Fashioned Hamburgers (2 locations Pompano Beach and Ft. Lauderdale). If this place is as good as Jack's I'll be thrilled. I'm in West Boca, so the trip to Five Guys in Margate is closer. Otherwise, I'll be back to schlepping down to Pompano to satisfy my burger cravings.

I'm glad someone else agrees that even though the burger is well done, it is still quite juicy.

Still, I haver only been to the original two locations, which are still company owned. Many of the other branched in DC are company owned too, so, maybe when I see one a little farther out of town, I'll be able to compare the franchise vs. the company owned locations.

$12 is steep, though. That meal is about $8 in DC.