Five Guys Burgers & Fries

This is the best chain burger on the East Coast.
The Company is out of Virginia, rated the best burger in the DC area, and now on a national expansion.
Burgers are made to order right in front of you, with your choice of 15 toppings, no extra charge.
The best part, are the "real" fries made from real potatoes. Now, that's unusual. I remember when you went to McDonalds for the real fries.
The price is right $4.49 for a double cheese with all the toppings.

I like Five Guys and all. But, this looks like an ad.

You liked my review, enough to think it's an ad or fake.
Thanks for the compliment.
But you are wrong.
Where have you had real fries lately?

Yeah, it does look like an ad. And let me respond with an anti-ad. 5 Guys has gone down the toilet since they've grown like a wild fire. The latest outlet they opened by my home in Gainesville, VA is terrible. I never thought it possible, but their burgers have no flavor. Literally...NO flavor. I didn't think ground beef could be so tasteless. I would take a Ruby Tuesday burger any day over a 5 Guys', and I would even swing through the Mickey D's drive through rather than waste my time having to get out of the car at a 5 Guys again.

well,

if you tell us about other "great places" especially other great burger joints and stick around for a few hundred posts, then maybe we'll be convinced that this wasn't an ad.

If not, then I guess the proof is in the pudding or "topping"

Five Guys makes a good burger, however with the rapid expansion, they've without a doubt become a hit or miss burger joint.

Depends on the location you happen to choose as to whether or not it'll live up to the original location in Alexandria, Va. I was eating at Five Guys, back before they became a chain, and let me tell you they were on par with any of the best burger joints across the country. Now it's like playing the lottery.

I guess it's tough to keep the same high standard with a couple of hundred locations. The only burger joint I've seen be able to maintain the quality of the original location more or less, has been In-n-Out. I've never had a bad experience eating at an In-n-Out burger, I wish Five Guys would would take a step back and implement some sort of quality control similiar to In-n-Out. Just my 2 cents........

quote:

Originally posted by rebeltruce

Five Guys makes a good burger, however with the rapid expansion, they've without a doubt become a hit or miss burger joint.

Depends on the location you happen to choose as to whether or not it'll live up to the original location in Alexandria, Va. I was eating at Five Guys, back before they became a chain, and let me tell you they were on par with any of the best burger joints across the country. Now it's like playing the lottery.

I guess it's tough to keep the same high standard with a couple of hundred locations. The only burger joint I've seen be able to maintain the quality of the original location more or less, has been In-n-Out. I've never had a bad experience eating at an In-n-Out burger, I wish Five Guys would would take a step back and implement some sort of quality control similiar to In-n-Out. Just my 2 cents........

My thoughts exactly. Most start-up food concerns seem to have a business plan that includes expansion and/or franchise. At some point, the original owners lose control or get greedy and the original concept goes with it, then it becomes just another chain. It does get to the heart of some old threads about when does a restaurant become a chain. I'm fortunate enough to have a fairly good franchisee so the burger and fries are good.

Of course, 5 guys has been discussed to death on other threads..
Maybe the OP might want to run a search first.

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew

well,

if you tell us about other "great places" especially other great burger joints and stick around for a few hundred posts, then maybe we'll be convinced that this wasn't an ad.

If not, then I guess the proof is in the pudding or "topping"

Ha ha ha....... sweet.... I like that WJ...

quote:

Originally posted by lsb1123

Where have you had real fries lately?

In-n-Out
They maintain their quality by not franchising; it is still all-in-the-family. Although, I do remember reading about some in-fighting going on.

So, if "This is the best chain burger on the East Coast," then why isn't the thread in the forum on chains?

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

So, if "This is the best chain burger on the East Coast," then why isn't the thread in the forum on chains?

Because, it's been reviewed.

and I think we've been down this road before.

quote:

Originally posted by rebeltruce

Five Guys makes a good burger, however with the rapid expansion, they've without a doubt become a hit or miss burger joint.

Depends on the location you happen to choose as to whether or not it'll live up to the original location in Alexandria, Va. I was eating at Five Guys, back before they became a chain, and let me tell you they were on par with any of the best burger joints across the country. Now it's like playing the lottery.

I guess it's tough to keep the same high standard with a couple of hundred locations. The only burger joint I've seen be able to maintain the quality of the original location more or less, has been In-n-Out. I've never had a bad experience eating at an In-n-Out burger, I wish Five Guys would would take a step back and implement some sort of quality control similiar to In-n-Out. Just my 2 cents........

I only go to the original, and the one near NoVa alexandria campus. They're both excellent. I'm told that the Georgetown location is also good (my buddy said, "it rocks".)

OK. Tomorrow I'll review Waffle House, Cracker Barrel, Wendy's, McDonald's and Popeyes.

Great! I will review Red Monster, Olive Dump, and Crapplebees..........oh yes also Popeye the sailor mans chicken!!

In the early 1990's,I lived at the intersection of Beauregard and Braddock in Alexandria, Virginia in the Newport Village Apartments. The originial (I believe) "Five Guys" was about two blocks away. My wife and I would go there on Staurdays and eat the peanuts, get some great burgers and fries and then eat them in our car. Back then there was no sit down. Also they would post a sign telling you where the potatoes were from. Of course they were cut on premise and cooked in peanut oil.

Fast forward to 2006, I live in Annapolis, Md now and a "Five Guys" has opened up here. Maybe I am getting feeble in my old age but they still provide a good burger (In my case a cheeseburger) and great fries. They are also the only restaurant that I know that serves Birch Beer, (my Amish Heritage). I am sure that things change between franchises but the one in Annapolis seems to consistantly hit the mark.

BB

Clearly, this topic has been discussed in other lengthly threads. And, Hoffman is correct.

However, I'd like to point out that the original Five Guys was located in the shopping center at the NE corner of Glebe Rd. and Columbia Pike. The Beauregard St. location came about 2 years later.

The original location was next door to Brenner's Bakery, an Arlington institution, that supplied the buns. Also, the notion of 'health police' did not exist in 1987/8, and one could get their burger cooked to order, not burnt dry as is currently the case.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

OK. Tomorrow I'll review Waffle House, Cracker Barrel, Wendy's, McDonald's and Popeyes.

quote:

Originally posted by Greymo

Great! I will review Red Monster, Olive Dump, and Crapplebees..........oh yes also Popeye the sailor mans chicken!!

the reason I gave, was not MY reason, it's the reasoning of the admins - which has been discussed ad nauseum. So there's no reason we need to go down the same road every time Five Guys is mentioned.

You guys are more than welcome to review those places, but I doubt they'll make it onto the site - and I think you know that. But you can try. Plus, unlike the Five Guys establishment that was reviewed, all those places you mentioned, suck.


If the admins want to move it to FF thread, fine with me. I'm not defending Five Guys, I simply stated the reasoning we've been given over and over. Whether you agree with it or not.

PS - since this whole thread seems to be started from a poseur, I think the whole thread can get deleted. I'm with WJ - until lsb1123 contributes more than just hype for Five Guys, I think we're all wasting our breath, or um, fingers, on this topic.

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

PS - since this whole thread seems to be started from a poseur, I think the whole thread can get deleted. I'm with WJ - until lsb1123 contributes more than just hype for Five Guys, I think we're all wasting our breath, or um, fingers, on this topic.

Amen

I was in a 5 Guys in Alexandria Va. They cook thei burgers on a large griddle. I watched the guy cooking them pressing down so hard on the burgers with his spatula, that I knew they had to be dry and tasteless, they were.
If "5 Guys is the best Burger chain on the east coast", Bill Clinton did not have sex with that woman!

i dont know hopw they taste up north but they opened one a few weeks ago here in palm beach gardens florida and it was the best chain burger i ever had in florida

We are getting one in Naples and Mrs QFan and I can't wait. We also just recently got a Fatburger, so we have gone from kind of a burger backwater to livin large!

QFan
Bonita Springs, FL

Why is it some people on this board have to start the same old effluent again and again?

MikeS.