Five Guys Burgers

[thistlechaser]

Tried Five Guys Burgers
Oh my god, SO EXPENSIVE
It's just a burger.

Belly full of lunch
There must be a better time
to clean up hairballs

After work I wanted to get a frozen yogurt. When I saw Five Guys Burgers opened (next door, they had been in construction for a while), I decided to stop in. We hadn't had any in California before this one, but I heard they were really good, so I was excited to try it.

WTF. $8.50 for a burger and small soda. In a fast food place. I didn't even order fries. Insane. It was a slightly better than average burger (for fast food). Not outstanding. Not worth so much more than other fast food burgers. Better than In'n'Out (though I'm not an In'n'Out fan). However, at least In'n'Out has a drive-through.

They must be making a crazy amount of money there though. In the middle of the day (an off-time), I was order 92. They called 62 right after I ordered and I only waited maybe ten minutes -- so 30 people in 10 minutes likely paying more than $10 each. The line was endless, the place was packed. (They did no advertising that they were open as far as I'm aware, just word of mouth.)

It was interesting to watch them work. They had maybe twelve "cooks" (burger makers?) in a space that would have been comfortable for half that -- they were literally arm-to-arm, in contact with each other most of the time. One person toasted buns, one put wrapper down, one put ketchup/mayo/mustard on bun, next put veggies, one cooked burgers, and so on. Really organized and impressive, but it must be hellish to work there.

Sadly, I filled up on Diet Coke while waiting for my order, so I didn't bother getting my frozen yogurt. Wish I had gotten that instead -- I hadn't really been in the mood for a burger, but I wanted to try them.

Comments

[sahn.livejournal.com]

Five Guys is popular on the east coast. I went there fairly regularly when I was in Pittsburgh. I've been there twice in socal. I remember in pittsburgh the order of fries was a lot bigger, but the burger tasted pretty much the same. Personally, I prefer In-n-out.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

It looked like people were getting a lot of fries, yeah. I probably should have tried those as well (maybe they were really good, they sure would have been hot! They were cooking them nonstop). Maybe I'll go again sometime I feel like paying a lot for a big burger! :)

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

5Guys is known more for their fries than their burgers (I can say nothing good about their burgers other than "I can eat it without being sick", which i can't say about any fastfood chain)...Though the price differential is nuts. Burger + drink + fries is $6 here in TN. I've actually gotten in the habit of buying a falafel or gyro and stopping at 5 guys for an order or fries to go with it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay, I'll have to go back and give them another try!

Everything's more expensive here. I'm living in the most expensive place in America, outside of Alaska!

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

Aww, I like In'n'Out. They don't don't have them in my area, so I can only get them on road trips.

$8.50 a burger does seem really expensive for fast food, but maybe back on the East Coast, that is a reasonable price?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm the odd man out when it comes to In'n'Out. Most folks love them!

I'm thinking it must be cheaper back east, too. Everything's so much higher in this area!

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check and see what the prices at the Five Guys here in Maryland are. They've opened a couple in the past year around here. I think the chain started in DC/Northern Virginia.

I am bitter because the management of one of the shopping centers I use raised the rent on one of my favorite stores and drove them out, then stuck a Five Guys in half of the store. The other half is still empty. Plus, there was already a Fuddrucker's across the street and a Cheeburger Cheeburger a few blocks down. -_-;

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ugh! I hate it when good stores are driven out!

Fuddrucker..? Hee, what a name! Cheeburger Cheeburger is cute though!

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Fuddruckers!" is the favorite almost-swear of one of my friends. ;p

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ha! I can see that!

[sailor-arashi.livejournal.com]

Yep, first one opened in Arlington, and they spread around the DC/Metro area for awhile before venturing further afield.

$8 is crazy, though. The whole Burger-Drink-Fries thing is only around $6-$7 here in Virginia.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Fries were about $4, so when I go back to try them, it'll be about $12 for burger, fries, small drink. D: Sucks that we cost so much more!

[sailor-arashi.livejournal.com]

Wow, yeah, at that price I can't imagine it's even remotely worth it. The fries really aren't all that either. They tend to be kinda soggy and sometimes undercooked, especially during lunch rushes (though the 'Regular' fries is approximately two metric tons of fries, and the 'Large' is roughly the same size as the moon, so it's a bit more cost-effective than the burger).

When it's pretty much the same price you'd be paying at regular Fast Food, it's much more palatable.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I just made my return visit and posted about it in my own LJ. $12 for burger, small fries, small drink. The burger was good, the fries were meh. So very not worth it.

[peppygrowlithe.livejournal.com]

It would only be about $6 or $7 here. Isn't the area where you work generally more pricey than much of the rest of the nation as is? And of course, if you think about it, paying $10 or more for a quality burger at any steakhouse (or even like Applebees or a Round Robin) is commonplace!

... I admit it, I'm a Five Guys fanboy. X)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a good price! $7 is the cost of a fast food combo meal in places like BK/McDonalds. And yeah, this is the most expensive place in the country to live... of only our salaries still matched that! I haven't gotten a raise in eight years, and I've had multiple pay cuts!