REVIEW: Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Five Guys Burgers and Fries, a popular restaurant chain, is coming to Burlington. I had heard of their fresh Idaho potato fries and juicy burgers but had never eaten there myself. I decided to visit the Five Guys by my house in Louisville, Kentucky before returning to Elon, just to see if the food lived up to the hype.
Immediately when my friend and I drove past the food chain, we smelled the French fries. It smelled so good that I would have walked in just because of the smell. When we walked in, I was immediately curious because there were 20 large bags of peanuts right at the front door. My friend explained that the peanuts were free, and unlimited, as long as you ordered something. I thought that was an interesting idea, a burger and peanuts isn’t your typical combination.
We arrived at lunchtime, the place was packed so we had to wait a few minutes before we could order. I ordered the bacon cheese hot dog with Cajun fries, and Emilie had a cheeseburger and plain fries. Though the place was busy, we only had to wait five minutes to get our food, during which time we ate our complimentary peanuts. When we got our food, I was surprised how much food they gave us; my French fries filled up the cup, and the bottom of the bag was covered with them. The hot dog was sliced in half, with a piece of melted cheese on top and two pieces of bacon inside a bun with ketchup and mustard. I’m not usually a hot dog person, but biting into it, I enjoyed every bite. The cheese was not overpowering and I could still taste the hot dog. I decided to move onto my Cajun fries. They smelled amazing, and tasted even better than I expected. They were spicy but didn’t need ketchup.
My friend enjoyed her cheeseburger, but she also said that it was too much food for her to eat. Five Guys also offers “Little Burgers,” which had one patty instead of the two on the regular burger. She also liked the French fries, but preferred the spice of the Cajun fries. She said that both the cheeseburger and the fries were nothing special and that she could get them anywhere. However, she likes Five Guys for the atmosphere as much as the food. Even though the restaurant was loud with people talking while they ate and staff yelling out orders, there was a sense of fun. There are index cards and crayons laying on the tables, and there were three large billboards covered with messages that customers had drawn for the staff about what they like about Five Guys. It didn’t feel like a typical fast food restaurant, we were able to talk and enjoy ourselves while eating.
Though the food was just as good as I have heard, I was surprised when I looked at the nutritional information. My hotdog and fries had almost 1,300 calories in it! Looking at the nutrition information online, the healthiest thing that you can order is the veggie sandwich, which still has 440 calories. So, if you are watching what you eat, you should probably avoid Five Guys. I wouldn’t recommend eating it for every meal, but if you want good fast food with a fun atmosphere and don’t care about the nutritional aspect of it, I would definitely recommend Five Guys. I believe that it will become a popular place for students to eat when students return to Elon next fall.
My kids love the apple’s but they also love the fries. All things are good in modoratien right. Now the kids can be healthier while the parents can order that super sized bigmac with extra fries and mayo and……. And an extra lrg diet coke just to be healthy.