tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Five Guys Famous Burgers & Fries
Owner -- Privately held
Primary Operating Region -- East of the mighty Mississippi
Number of Locations -- Around 250 (2008)

Insurance salesman Jerry Murrell decided he wanted to start a hamburger joint that made burgers that actually looked like they were made by human hands.  Homeade burgers.  So he went to his oldest sons, all still grade school age, and offered them an opportunity to go to college...or use their college fund to buy into the fledgling family business.  Each chose to buy in (the younger two...the youngest who is about the same age as the chain...later followed).  The first store opened in 1986, best described to me as a "hole in the wall".  It was an instant success.  As the sons grew, the number of stores grew.  Franchising, directed by former Washington Redskins kicker Mark Mosely, started in 2003 and took off fast.  In just a few years, Five Guys had nearly 250 locations in 17 states with 1,000-plus options sold.  The franchise locations largely appear to be in overglorified strip malls that usually have names beginning with the phrase "The Shoppes At...".  

Five Guys prohibits advertising...their popularity is literally word-of mouth.  That's how I heard about them...people e-mailing me asking when I'm going to review them.  Some Guy e-mailed me recently and I checked out the Five Guys website.  Lo and behold...they have a location open in Wisconsin now.  Right in the heart of Culver's territory.  THAT will be an interesting test.

I walk in and there's five...no FOUR...guys behind the counter in the wide open kitchen.  The kitchen and dining areas look far larger than they need to be.  The interior is a simple red and white checkerboard design.  Sort of like In-N-Out.  Sort of.

Smiling Counter Guy asks what I'd like.  I order a "little hamburger" (the "little" burger means "single patty", which is a quarter pounder.  Yes, the regular burger is a half-pound double).  He asks what I want on it.  The choices are: Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, A-1 sauce, hot sauce, pickle relish, onions (fresh or fried...same onions either way), pickles, lettuce, tomato, jalepenos, or even sauteed (canned) mushrooms...all at no extra charge.  Bacon or cheese ARE extra, but are listed as different burgers.  Some of the finished burgers I've seen in pictures look stacked like a sandwich Dagwood would make in a Blondie cartoon.   I also order fries, a drink, and a bacon cheese hot dog.  He asks what I want on the hot dog.  Apparently, all of the hamburger toppings are also free on the dog.

Five Guys uses fresh, never frozen beef.  The hamburger patties are NOT perfectly round...they look hand-formed.  They really do look homeade.  There's nothing about this I couldn't immediately replicate in my kitchen.  There seems to be no proprietary seasoning to make it taste unique.  It's just a lovely homeade-style burger.  I wouldn't put it in my top five, even among chains, but I know some who would.  I've also never really bought into this "fresh, never frozen" ground beef hype.  So what if ground beef has been frozen?  Could you REALLY sit two identical hamburgers in front of somebody, one made with previously frozen ground beef and one without, and have them successfully tell the difference in a taste test?  It's GROUND BEEF, for pete's sake.  You make Hamburger Helper with it.  I have six tubes in my freezer right now.

The fries (available in regular "Five Guys" style or cajun) are fresh cut skin-on and prepped in-house and cooked in peanut oil.  They're served in a styrofoam cup.  In order to increase the appearance of value, Five Guys fills the styrofoam cup, puts it in your order bag, and then throws an additional scoop of fries into the bag.  You will not be hurting for fries.  They are EXCELLENT and probably drive a lot of the store traffic.

The 100 percent kosher hot dog is split in half, served on a toasted bun, and can be ordered with bacon and/or cheese, just like the burgers.  It's one of the better dogs that I know of.

The menu has two other items...a veggie or grilled cheese sandwich, both made out of burger toppings on burger buns.   Also available are free peanuts to snack on while your food is cooked.

Five Guys does what they do well, and they've got the right buzz to be a hit with the grown-up burger crowd.  But the Midwest already has some pretty good burger joints, and I don't know that Five Guys will really stand out in the crowd.  Certainly they're one of the best in the East, but in Culver's backyard?

We'll see.

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