Everyone Has An Opinion On Five Guys These Days — And Most Of Them Are Wrong

In February of 2021, after living in Bratislava, Slovakia, for about seven months, I traveled with some friends to Edinburgh, Scotland. I was pumped. I had never been to Scotland before, and I wanted to see every sight and eat every must-try Scottish dish I could get my hands on. So, I (bag)piped up to my friends and asked, "Okay, where are we eating?" The group looked at each other, then at me, and without hesitation said, "Five Guys!"

At first, I was shocked. But after a minute of thinking about it, I couldn't blame them. Five Guys is awesome, and perhaps I had been taking it for granted when I was still living stateside. Just like me, they wanted to experience all that this new city had to offer, and that happened to include something they had never had before: Five Guys. I got myself a Little Bacon Cheeseburger, arguably one of the best chain bacon cheeseburgers out there, and a bag of fries and tucked in. And you know what? It was perfect.

So, what is it about Five Guys that doesn't just make it delicious, but also worth traveling for? For me, it's a lot of little things. Any restaurant can make a good burger and fries, but Five Guys has created an experience that makes it something genuinely worth looking forward to. A burger and fries isn't a meal I eat every day. It's a treat. And when I want that treat to be a memorable one, I'm going for Five Guys whenever possible. And despite all of the negative things folks have to say about the casual chain, there are so many things to love about it. 

It's no secret that a lot of restaurants these days feel they need to try really hard to get people to come eat at their establishments. They're the "pick-me" restaurants — the places that make you walk five floors below ground level and tantalize you with snarky signage. They throw flashy items on the menu to get your attention, only to have you eat there, discover the food is just okay, and then ask yourself, "Why did I even bother coming here in the first place?" Five Guys isn't like that. It keeps it simple, not just with its burger offerings, but with its entire interior vibe.

As you approach the counter or machine to put in your order, you may step on a peanut shell or two. That's not an accident — Five Guys gives out free peanuts so customers can have a little snack while they wait for their food. The booth seating is comfy and inviting, while the red checkered interior feels timeless. And the open kitchen gives you the opportunity to see (and smell) your burger being freshly prepared. It's welcoming in a way that other chains aren't. After all, when I go out to eat, I don't want to feel intimidated by my surroundings. Five Guys has managed to create an environment that feels fun and friendly, and to be able to pair that with burgers and fries that I constantly crave is no small feat. 

When you're craving a fast-food burger, you want it immediately. You aren't willing to sit around and wait for it. That's where places like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and the like are crucial. You walk in, put in your order, and in a matter of minutes, you can be walking out, burger in mouth, joy achieved. That isn't the Five Guys experience. When a burger is made to order, it takes a few extra minutes. Absolutely starving for that grub? Have some free peanuts while you wait. 

What does made to order mean, exactly? At Five Guys, it means that before your order hits the kitchen, the burger you desire hasn't been cooked yet. It hasn't been sitting around in a steam basket, sweating, just waiting to be slapped on a bun and wrapped to go, nor has it been overcome by freezer burn after spending days or even weeks in a walk-in. Five Guys operates under the "no freezer" mentality, meaning that those hand-formed burger patties are always fresh when they hit the grill. Five Guys smashes its patties and cooks them to well-done. While that temperature may not be everyone's favorite, it's actually great for the smashed burger patty, a burger method that ends up delivering the best outcome in terms of flavor and texture. The burgers are always juicy, so if cooking that burger takes a little longer, so be it. I'll wait.

Some people are burger purists. They want to taste the beefiness of the burger patty, perhaps with a condiment or two, and be done. Then there's the completely opposite end of the spectrum — people who want to top their burgers with so many accoutrements that they start to forget where the toppings stop and the burger begins. I respect both avenues of burger customization, and Five Guys does too. Five Guys says, hey, customize that burger any which way you like, and guess what? All those toppings are free.

15 toppings is nothing to scoff at. That's hundreds of thousands of combinations, a lot of opportunities to concoct a burger creation that you didn't even think you were capable of. The best part? Those toppings are remarkably fresh. Even if you just want lettuce and tomato, that lettuce is going to be perfectly cold and crisp, and that tomato will be just the right level of juicy and sweet to complement a beefy burger. And if you don't know what to pick, you can defer to its Popular Picks selections, which one of our writers tried and ranked.

Do I need to pile my burger high with 15 toppings and condiments just to prove I can somehow make a profit on this burger? No, not necessarily. But I will make it my business to give in to the desire for fresh jalapeños, barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, and freshly grilled onions, because I can — and you should too.

Take a stroll over to your local Five Guys, and you'll notice two different types of burgers: the standard burger and the "Little" version. Before you audibly guffaw at the idea of ordering an itty-bitty burger, take a beat. "Little" doesn't mean you're ordering a White Castle slider as opposed to an actual, adult-sized burger. It simply means you're getting one burger patty as opposed to the two patties that come on the regular burger. The double burger patty option is a good go-to, especially if you want something a little more filling, but if you want something a little more, well, little, the Little burgers are an excellent alternative. The best way to see this is by breaking it down by the numbers, so let's do it.

A single burger patty from In-N-Out weighs in at about 2 ounces, while a single burger patty from Shake Shack weighs 4 ounces. And right in the middle, in what can only be described as the most delicious Goldilocks situation, you'll find the Five Guys patty, weighing in at 3.6 ounces. Not too big, not too little — despite the name. It's just right. And yet, that Little burger is no dainty snack. It's a lot of burger, to be sure, and considering it can also be accompanied by a big portion of fries and as many toppings as you'd like, that Little burger can quickly turn into quite the meal.

This sort of love letter from me to Five Guys that you're currently reading isn't just to the burger: It's to the entire establishment. And it's somewhat of a dream come true that Five Guys offers more than just standard beef burgers. In those moments of food indecisiveness, I float over to the sandwich section of the Five Guys menu, where some of the most delicious items reside. 

Not in the mood for a traditional burger? How about a patty melt instead? Are a burger and a patty melt all that different? Not entirely, no, but sometimes having that slightly different item can really open your mind. Want all the toppings on the menu but not the actual beef burger? You got it, hoss, it's called the cheese veggie sandwich. Want a grilled cheese sandwich? Not a problem; it's on the sandwich menu. My favorite of the non-burger bunch is none other than the BLT. The bacon is super crispy and piled high, and with that fresh lettuce and tomato, it's the perfect order when I want something indulgent without the beef.

If you're hoping for a chicken menu or some sort of veggie patty option, you'll be disappointed. But Five Guys never said it was going to be an all-encompassing restaurant with every possible protein. It is primarily a restaurant for burgers, with a smattering of other fun stuff, too.

There are a multitude of clichés I can come up with when comparing the relationship between burgers and fries. Spaghetti and meatballs and peanut butter and jelly both come to mind, but it's about more than just a classic pairing. If the fries are no good, the whole experience is ruined. Thankfully, Five Guys delivers big time when it comes to fry quality. They're hand-cut, never frozen, and it only uses peanut oil to fry them, giving them a deeper flavor that takes on several dashes of malt vinegar with gusto. Best of all? The portions are huge.

This portion size is no accident. In the FAQs section of the Five Guys website, you'll find an explanation: It gives you enough fries to share with a friend, and if you have leftovers, they can be reheated later. Over the years, there has been a lot of talk about Five Guys fry shrinkage, most notably from a Reddit user who weighed bags of fries after multiple trips to the burger establishment. The Reddit user found that while Five Guys advertises a rough serving size of 550 grams of fries in a large order, they were getting far less than that, as little as 376 grams in some cases. Despite the lack of scientific evidence of Five Guys fry stinginess, that's still nearly 3 cups of fries. It's still plenty to snack on, share, and even bring home if you can't finish them all. I'm willing to give Five Guys the benefit of the doubt here, especially considering this "underserving" of fries is still pretty darn huge.

I've harped a lot on the extremely enjoyable vibe inside a Five Guys. But when that craving for a Five Guys burger strikes, I don't always want to eat it in the restaurant. Occasionally, I want to get my food and sprint home as quickly as possible to enjoy my delicious burger on my couch, in my comfy, soft pants.

Without even realizing it's done so (or perhaps it has), Five Guys has created the ideal way to enjoy its burgers at home without sacrificing flavor or quality: the burger bowl. Some may see this as a way to cut out the carbs by simply ordering all the elements of the burger without the actual bun. That may be true, but to me, it's a means to get my burger home in pristine condition without unwrapping a soggy, wilty, room-temperature mess. The components are packed in an aluminum box to maintain the heat, and the toppings and sauces come on the side. I may give the fries a little bit of a refresh in the oven, but overall, a Five Guys burger and fries at home is just as perfect at home as it is moments after receiving it at the restaurant. Soft pants, here we (my burger and I) come.