Five Guys Burgers and Fries is a famous American fast casual restaurant chain with more than 1600 outlets, serving up hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, sandwiches and milkshakes.
Do you know that Five Guys was named “America’s favourite and most well-known burger brand” according to The Harris Poll’s annual EquiTrend Study? In-N-Out Burger was No. 2. Ouch!
Former US President Barack Obama is said to be a fan, and was caught on camera buying lunch at the Washington outlet.
Five Guys had humble beginnings and started out in Arlington, Virginia back in 1986 by the Murrell family, named because they had five brothers.
No freezers. No microwaves. No timers. No can-openers. That is one of their tag-lines.
They don’t use frozen ingredients and cook everything fresh from scratch; prep food daily to ensure freshness; don’t use automated cooking timers and rely on instinctive senses.
I tried the branch at London’s Piccadilly Circus. An interesting fact is that Five Guy’s first London outlet is on Long Acre at Covent Garden, officially opened one day before UK’s Shake Shack which is just 300m away.
On the burger menu, you get choices of Hamburger (£7.25), Cheeseburger (£8.50), Bacon Burger (£9.00) and Bacon Cheese Burger (£9.75).
All these come with double patty. If you are a small eater, get the “Little Burgers”, and a Little Hamburger is priced at £4.95.
Buns are baked using free range eggs, beef is 120-day grain-finished from family-owned farms in Ireland and UK, and there will be two slices of American-style cheese between the two patties.
And you can choose to add ALL TOPPINGS, which means anything from lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushroom, ketchup, mustard to mayo.
Tell the cashier “all the way” if you want all of the above. Oh yes, the burgers are also available “bunless”.
The burger is then placed in a foil wrapper, then thrown in a brown-bag.
The entire ordering process is quite fuss-free, as casual as it gets, so don’t expect table service.
First thing that I noted that it was very greasy, at least more than the usual fast-food burgers.
Took a first bite and it tasted better than the mess it looked. It was hearty, full of ‘oomph’, with a lot going on.
I wasn’t that much a fan of the bun, but the beef patty itself was flavourful and meaty. It wasn’t exactly juicy-juicy, but moist enough.
This should be better for two to share.
And so, I am generally a “Shake Shack” person, but I actually preferred Five Guys in London more than Shake Shack in London – which was kind of disappointing.
Another highlight would be its Fries (£2.95, £4.75, £5.25) available “Five Guys style” or Cajun style.
The potatoes are hand-cut daily, fried in peanut oil, and so do not taste artificial. Lightly crisp, with a good bite.
However, for weight-watchers, Time Magazine once reported that Five Guys’ French Fries contains 1,464 calories, and it was added to their list of “Top 10 Worst Fast Food Meals”. Oh-oh.
I do know that people also go for Five Guys for the FREE FLOW of peanuts.
If you are heading London…
Piccadilly Circus
Unit 1/2, Coventry Street, London W1D 7DH
Tel: 0207 734 6892
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 11:30pm (Mon – Thurs), 11:00am – 12:00am (Fri – Sat), 11:00am – 10:30pm (Sun)
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