Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Multiple Locations around Northern VA and DC
No set of restaurant reviews of the Washington Metro area would
be complete without addressing Five Guys. Opened in the ‘90s,
Five Guys has grown from having five local locations in 2002
to having hundreds of locations all over the country today, and
more are always cropping up. The success and expansion, rather
than being a function of money or corporate aspirations, is attributable
to the simple fact that Five Guys makes some of the best burgers
around. They consistently win “best burger” and “best fries”
awards in just about every city they expand to.
The décor is sparse at best – often locations, especially the
older ones, look like someone started cooking burgers in a factory
and never bothered to upgrade. Walls in Five Guys are almost
exclusively decorated with reviews and citations attesting to
their greatness, and with a corkboard set up for happy patrons
to leave index card notes of appreciation. So why all the hype?
For starters, Five Guys burgers come standard as doubles; if
you want a single patty you have to order a “little” burger.
Then you can add things from a tremendous list of sauces and
toppings. If you’re at all a fan of mushrooms, I would recommend
choosing those, as Five Guys’s sautéed mushrooms are terrific.
If you venture to order a side of fries, make sure you know what
you’re getting into. Five Guys fries are covered in peanut oil,
and come in two sizes: large and epic. They call these sizes
“regular” and “large,” but a regular is more than enough for
two people to share.
One note of warning: Five Guys is strictly a burger joint.
The only options on their menu besides burgers are some hot dogs
and grilled cheese (though I’ve never seen anyone come into Five
Guys and order either of those). Also worth noting is that if
you’re picky about how your burger is cooked, you may not even
want to bother with Five Guys. All their burgers come well done,
though that shouldn’t be prohibitive. Despite being brown all
the way through, Five Guys burgers never lack in juiciness. Also
a warning to those with peanut allergies, Five Guys locations
are stocked with open barrels of peanuts for people to snack
on while they wait for their food.
If you’re a Northern VA resident who likes burgers even a little,
and you haven’t ever been to Five Guys, my recommendation is
to run out and try them. You have no idea what you’re missing.
-D.S. (07/30/08)
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