Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Restaurant Review!

So this place called Five Guys Burgers and Fries opened up in our City a few weeks ago. From the reaction of local people I would say it's a pretty well known franchise. The name sounded vaguely familiar to me but I had never seen one or been to one before. Apparantly, the first week it opened there were lines out the door! A lot of my friends had constant Facebook updates about going to eat there so I figured it was time to try this "amazing" buger joint!

My Boyfriend and I decided to have dinner there last night, we went around 6:30pm. The place was pretty packed, there was a short line and only a few free tables. Having never been there we both quickly scanned the menu before ordering, by the time we were done and seated waiting for our food there was a line almost out the door. So here is my little review:

Ambiance: The theme is red and white, the tables are an assortment of high tops and regular tables with 2 to 4 chairs. Tables can be pushed together for larger parties. My Boyfriend and I picked a high-top table right by the kitchen (which is open concept). The table had 4 chairs and was SO small. After our food came and everything was on the table I couldn't imagine 4 people being able to enjoy a meal there. The walls are covered in quotes from newspaper articles, Zagat survey ratings and other reviews. It definitely had the feel of a fast food joint.

Food: You can order burgers, hot dogs and fries. There are no additional charges for toppings. I ordered a Cheesburger with onions, pickles, ketchup and lettuce with a regular fry. My Boyfriend ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger with grilled onions, ketchup, and hot sauce with cajun fries. First of all, neither one of us knew that all the burgers were doubles and secondly the fries are so big you would be silly not to share one. We did also order regular drinks, you fill them yourself at the soda fountain. The burger was so big I had a hard time just getting my mouth around it for a bite, the toppings were falling off, the buns were falling off, it was a big mess. I ended up picking off half the toppings just to eat it and after every bite I had to put it back together. My Boyfriend had an easier time with his burger. I finished about 2 thirds of my burger, my Boyfriend finished his and the rest of mine. The amount of fries we had left was tragic, we didn't even make a dent in them. It was a shame to waste so much food like that. We used a lot of napkins. I felt as full as I feel after a big Thanksgiving dinner and also kind of sick. I'm not used to eating fast food.

Opinion: To be honest, I didn't think there was anything particularly special about this place. The burger was just a burger, a very big burger. The fries were really good because they are fresh cut which I liked but they give you WAY too many. It was just another fast food restaurant to me and the meal cost about $27 which is pretty expensive for fast food. If we had gone to McDonalds we could have gotten that meal for around $12 and to be honest I think I like McDonalds' burgers a little better. My Boyfriend agreed with me, neither of us were blown away by Five Guys and we both have no intention of returning anytime soon. Our fast food fix will keep us going for months.

Damage: I like to know what I'm putting in my mouth so here is the breakdown of how many calories we consumed at Five Guys.

My Burger: 874 calories with toppings
My Fries: 310 calories (that is for half of the fries they give you, I ate less than half but I'm going with their #)
Total: 1184 Calories and 70 grams of fat

BF Burger: 945 Calories
BF Fries: 310 (he only ate half as well, a full fry is 620 calories and a large fry is 1464)
Total: 1255 Calories and 77 grams of fat

I don't know about you but that is close to my calorie limit for the whole day.

NOW If I had gone to McDonald's and ordered a cheeseburger, medium fry and small soda the total calories are a measly 820 with 48 grams of fat compared to the Five Guys meal. Five Guys doesn't give you the nutrition information for their sodas so those are not included in the totals for Five Guys. Tack on approximately 150 - 220 calories for the sodas!!

Eat at your own risk!