Dining Advice, Tips, Recommendations, and News
PrintHigh Five to Five Guys' Burgers
"If your burger blogging crew ever makes it down to the nation's capital, you've gotta try Five Guys."
Over the weeks, months, and, now, years that I've been plugging away at A Hamburger Today, I've probably gotten more emails like this about this regional chain than for any other burger chain small or large. And in all those months, I've never had the occasion to truck down to D.C. Instead, I've watched as the red states on the Five Guys locator map (right) grew in number and crept up the East Coast. At one point months and months ago, New York lit up red on this map, but that first Empire State Five Guys was in Schenectady—upstate and still not easily accessible for a nondriving city-dwelling burger dude.
So when news hit that a Five Guys would open in Brooklyn, a short subway ride from my home, I was jazzed. What I didn't know was that there was already a Five Guys in New York City; it had opened quietly on April 1 in a tucked-away part of Queens.
Half the Fun
Whoever said "getting there is half the fun" must have had a full stomach. If you don't have a car, it's a bit of a chore to get to the Five Guys in the College Point section of Queens. Hopstop.com recommends taking the Long Island Railroad, followed by a 20-stop bus ride.
Matty and I took out a Zipcar instead, and after some mishaps and a few wrong turns, we eventually pulled in to a small recently built strip mall in College Point about a half hour before closing time.
Great Burgers
The outer-borough location allows ample room for this Five Guys, and the place was airy, clean, and orderly. All grilling and frying is done in the open in a large space behind the counter. Above the counter is the menu, which lists but a few items: burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and fries (regular or "Cajun" spiced). Hanging from the menu is a sign that would normally send me running: "We Cook All Our Meat WELL-DONE."
Yes, burgers here, unfortunately, are cooked to well-done as per company policy. While this would seemingly result in a dry puck of a burger, ours, while not dripping with juices, were moist enough. The 3.3-ounce patties are packed moderately loose by hand each morning and are cooked atop a griddle, which, along with the coarse grind, makes for a great crunchy crust. The joint gets the cheese-melt just right, too.
A "hamburger" ($4.49) or "cheeseburger" ($5.09) here is by default a double-patty sandwich. If you want a single patty, you'll have to order a "little hamburger" ($3.09) or "little cheeseburger" ($3.69). Bacon is 60¢ extra across the board. All other topping options are provided at no extra cost, but you have to ask for them—otherwise your burger comes naked.
If the College Point location is any indication of what quality will be at the Brooklyn Heights store, I'll be making regular trips to Montague Street. These burgers (at least those we had last night) rival those of the Shake Shack.
Related: Brooklyn Heights locals debate the merits of Five Guys vs. established neighborhood joints [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
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15 Comments:
Someone told me that Five Guys was just okay (I saw it when I took a trip to VA) , but you make it sound pretty tasty. Or maybe it's the pile of meat covered with melted cheese...
I had a banana for lunch, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MEEE?!?!
roboppy at 2:37PM on 05/11/07
i'm excited to hear you approve - looking forward to trying it for lunch very soon!
j at 3:14PM on 05/11/07
Can you order a medium-rare cheeseburger if you sign a waiver?
Ed Levine at 3:15PM on 05/11/07
I just don't know if I could get past the well done thing.
FKC at 3:20PM on 05/11/07
Oh, Five Guys. The heart-clogging goodness of my hometown finally makes it here! If ever I feel the need to inhale half of a dead cow, I'll most definitely head there.
Funny story about Five Guys--my friend accompanied me (in VA) a few years ago. Why, I don't know, because she's a VEGETARIAN.
She gets there, and asks for a veggie burger. Commence everyone behind the counter laughing and rapidly speaking Spanish to one another. I take this as not the greatest sign.
When we finally sit down to eat, she opens her burger and finds...........vegetables. They literally took the condiments that they place on a burger (pickles, onion, lettuce, tomato) and put them on a bun.
Couldn't stop laughing......but honestly, what did she expect? It's FIVE GUYS!
Stefanie at 3:21PM on 05/11/07
Adam,
I'm glad that you enjoyed your "Five Guys" burger there in New Yawk. And, by the way, the photo is "Academy Award-grade" food porn. Good job.
But here in Maryland . . . "Five Guys" is considered mediocre, at best.
We believe that just about EVERY local burger joint is BETTER than the "Guys."
On the other hand, I loved your article.
Keep up the good work!
DocChuck at 3:26PM on 05/11/07
Thanks, DocChuck. Yeah. The "well-done" thing is kinda iffy. Maybe I should have backed off a bit on my praise. I augmented mine with bacon, which might have made a difference as far as taste goes. Maybe I should hedge here and say that it's great for a fast-food type burger but doesn't stack up against a great one-off burger from a noted non-chain place.
Adam Kuban at 3:52PM on 05/11/07
The reason why you might hear grumbling about the quality of Five Guys from we Virginians is because, if you can believe it, Five Guys used to be SO much better. But as the company has grown, the quality standards have faltered. Still a gazillion times better than McDonald's or Burger King crap, though. I'm glad more people are coming to know the goodness.
DaveFaris at 6:28PM on 05/11/07
It's funny, as Adam and I (this is Matty) waited for our burger, I wondered out loud how a company grows from 75 stores at the end of 2005 to what will probably be over 1,000 at the end of next year without losing quality. It sounds like they don't. Still, as DaveFaris said, I'd much rather have everyone eating a Five Guys than other fast food.
Not that they can't coexist, but I look forward to seeing how it shakes out the first time a Five Guys and an In-N-Out open in the same town. It'd be cool if they both agreed on a city (meet in the middle at Chicago?) and opened their first stores on the same day. Whose line would be longer?
capndesign at 1:37AM on 05/12/07
Oh to have a Cheeburger Cheeburger in NYC.
FKC at 6:45PM on 05/12/07
Thanks for the tip. I went right there on Saturday for dinner. It was great!
pupymnster at 11:25AM on 05/14/07
Capn: In-N-Out would destroy Five Guys because it's cheaper and they cook the burgers to order.
Adam Kuban at 2:40PM on 05/14/07
Amen, Adam! Like you, I have had both. In-N-Out offers good burgers, cooked and served up by good folks. "Five Guys" have a few kinks that need to be worked out, IMHO.
I address this issue as a person who has had "In-N-Out" burgers in Tempe, AZ, and "Five Guys" burgers in Maryland . . . fully realizing that those two locations are not the ONLY examples of either chain's full spectrum of locations.
DocChuck
DocChuck at 5:30PM on 05/14/07
I just tried the place out. First off, they must have about 9 people behind the counter. It seemed like they were all training because the girl on the grill was the only one working and instructing the rest of the crew. There was an Asian guy who stood staring at 4 burgers for 2 minutes and 43 seconds (I timed him) without touching them. I'm still trying to figure out how the other 8 employees could ignore the orders that were not going out. Mine was one of them and all it needed was BBQ sauce and to be wrapped up. OK, I understand they just opened so I will let this go. As far as the taste, the burger was OK (all burgers are cooked well), nothing to write home about. The fries were very good. I think that Henry Street Ale House has a better tasting burger (you can get it cooked the way you want it also), and their fries are almost as good but not as crispy as Five Guys. They should really consider delivering. I will try them again. They seem like a clean operation.
MITCH C at 8:42PM on 07/15/07
I just tried Five Guys while in DC. Waking in to the store, it reminded me of an In-N-Out, but not quite: from the red and white tiled interior (many In-N-Outs have red, white, and black tile) to the messy burgers and fries cooked in oil (peanut vs vegetable) to order. At the time it made me wonder if a former In-N-Out employee moved East to try out a similar formula. McDowell's from Eddie Murphy's Coming to America came to mind.
The Five Guys Burgers are good, definitely better than any mega-chain burgers. Now living in Indiana but having grown up in Southern California, I miss In-N-Out, so Five Guys is a fair substitute from a burger chain. But Five Guys at best are In-N-Out wanna-be's, not to mention more expensive.
Too bad their chains are at opposite ends of the U.S.: the show-down suggested earlier would be great.
bobinski at 10:09AM on 08/02/07