Heath C. Ice

I first heard about “Five Guys Burgers and Fries” about 2 months ago via this Reddit articlIe. A few of the comments likened the mainly east-coast chain to the west-coast’s “In-N-Out Burger.” As “In-N-Out Burger” is in my list of top three burger places, I was definitely interested in testing this claim.

Fast forward 2 months and I have finally had a chance to try a “5 Guys” located near the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington, NY. I ordered a little cheeseburger with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms (an option that In-N-Out would do well to adopt), and mustard; a regular order of fries; and a small soda (Mr. Pibb). My initial reaction to “5 Guys,” unfortunately, is “meh :-/.”

The burger wan’t bad, but it was served lukewarm at best. I didn’t really taste anything special in it over a Hardee’s Mushroom and Swiss burger (btw, if they still existed in a majority of places it would be in my top burger list). I cannot really say there was anything wrong with the burger, but it didn’t hit me as “I HAVE to eat this again.”

Let’s move on to the fries. I loved the fries. as stated on their website, they use thick-cut fresh potatoes to create their fries. This includes skin and all. The plain fries were definitely better than In-N-Out’s plain fries. As I stated on Twitter and Facebook right after eating at “5 Guys,” if you want great burgers eat at In-N-Out, if you want great fries eat at “5 Guys.”

As with any restuarant with which I was not initially impressed, I will give “5 Guys” at least one more chance at the first location and another chance at a second location. I still must try different toppings and I must see about getting my fries well-done.

As of this writing though, I think that the perfect meal combination between the two franchises would be an In-N-Out Double Double with sautéed onions and no lettuce and an order of 5-Guys fries well-done with In-N-Out’s animal-style treatment.

As I mentioned, i will be trying 5 Guys at least two more times in the near future. I will post updates about any changes in opinion.

Blog post about second trip to Five Guys Burgers and Fries.