Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

as of today, october 30th, they do sell fries, we went last night, burgers were awesome, cooked perfectly to temp, one medium rare, the other well done. the fries leave something to be desired.....they should stick to the alternates, corn, mac & cheese, chips....and also, please dont offer cokes in plastic bottles. the vintage sodas are awesome. All in all, best burger ever by far. I grew up in Chicago, been out west for in-and-out, the spot in Kenosha wisconsin, Culvers.....and 5 guys out here.....Rays is by far the best!

condé nast is missing the point. they just killed off their crown jewel of food magazines because of some ridiculous numbers game. i find it telling that they are keeping the "Gourmet" name for their online properties and also for future books — they know it's worth more than some stupid subscription numbers, but they won't admit it openly. just a few weeks ago i had renewed my subscription to Gourmet for 3 years. if they try to convert my subscription to one for Bon Appetit, i'm going to cancel, and they will certainly get a letter explaining why.

@richopp - with regards to a BBD, if this happens any serious burger reviewer would class the burger a FAIL and never try it again, at least, in the short - medium term. Too many other quality burgers to eat out there!

I moved last week, but I used to live across the street from this place and I'm sad that it was a big disappointment for me. After all the hype and press, I just didn't enjoy my burger any more than Five Guys or Good Stuff Eatery. And since it's such a hassle usually with the line, no seating to be found inside, cash only, and no fries, I just prefer other burger eateries. People tend to freak out when I say this, and especially like to say that I shouldn't judge a burger by its side dishes, but that was really the final straw for me. The tater tots are gross, and I can't just eat bite after bite after bite of mediocre burger with no fries or decent side to balance it out, and yes, I love burgers!

For less crowding, a shorter walk from the Metro, and to have your burger with a glass of shiraz in a pleasant air-conditioned environment, go to the bar at Ray's the Classics in Silver Spring instead. They don't quite have the full complement of options but you're more sure to get exactly what you want. And the bartenders are awesome. And if you're not in the mood for the burger, their other bar menu deals are tremendous.

I miss DC. And its burger selection.

I maybe be a freak or a food snob but I'm not crazy about five guys for either their burger or fries. Their burgers are becuase it seems pointless to brag about using fresh high quality ingredients and then they charboile it until it's grey. Gahhh. And there are too many fries.

Fortunatly there is a local steakhouse joint in my neighborhood called Ray's the Classics and they have incredible burgers that can be cooked just to medium.

It's the fries. Period.

Five Guys is very popular where I live. Their fries are out of this world and everyone loves them. I don't eat meat so I don't personally know what the burgers are like but all my friends rave about them as well.

I bought a year of web access to cooksillustrated.com in Jan, 2008. In Jan,2009 I got e-mail notice that they were going to automatically renew for another year at $19.95 (60% increase) and that the 'normal' rate was $34.95. I called 800-526-8442 and told them I would renew at $12.50 but if the price went up to $19.95 I would not renew. They renewed for one year for $12.50. If they're willing to charge me $12.50, I'd prefer that they just do so instead of making me jump through these hoops.

It's like the In-and-Out of the Mid-Atlantic. Every one that I've been to serves the thin fries, fried in peanut oil. They don't get the fries in frozen either. There's always a sign in the restaurant that says where they got their potatoes from that day.

And the small fries size is more than enough for two people. They put a small cup in your bag, then scoop the fries into the bag. I think a large fry order would get you fewer fries, because the cup itself takes up more room!

that would be "subscription questions" in the second paragraph :(-

I'm a personal chef and use the web site for many of my dishes, so I'll keep it. However, I read the magazine in my local library and then use the web site since the index is always up to date.

As far as charging, get used to it folks, the days of "everything free on the internet": is coming to a close! I too also had a bad experience with their customer service.

I understand why they don't have advertising -- it makes them less obligated to say nice things about any brands or products, and that's the image they want to have. Like Consumer Reports.

And not having revenue from advertising is a huge chunk of money. Subscription money isn't a huge revenue stream for publications. Advertising is where the real money is. So they have to charge more to stay afloat.

I agree that it would be nice if the online content was all free to subscribers, but that's their choice.

Right now, the publishing industry is struggling to figure out how to handle Internet distribution. In order to keep publishing, money has to come from somewhere, either from advertising or from selling the content. If you give away online content for free, either the print publication is making enough money to support the web, or the web publication needs to bring in revenue, either from web ads or web subscriptions. Readers don't want to pay for web subscriptions because so much other content is available online for free. Online ads? Heh.

I think it's going to be a while before the print publications figure out how to handle their online content.