Five Guys

                If you walk into one of the area locations of Five Guys Burgers and look at all the magazine and newspaper articles on the wall you would think you had walked into hamburger heaven. Hanging there are reprints of a vast number of reviews, features and articles ranking the best burgers in towns from Baltimore to San Antonio and beyond, all of which sing the praise of this rapidly growing burger chain.

                Five Guys was started in Alexandria, VA in 1986 by the Murrell family, mom, dad and four sons, who wanted to have the kind of restaurant where they would want to eat. Specializing in burgers (with dogs and some veggie sandwiches on the menu) and fries, they use only fresh, never frozen ingredients. For their fries they even buy their potatoes from area farms and hand cut them on site. All of this pays off as Five Guys has rapidly made a name for themselves as a quality, affordable place to grab a burger.

                We discovered Five Guys a couple years ago when we were on our way to a regional high school football game (Josh’s high school won) and have seen the number of locations in the tri-state increase. You can find your nearest Five Guys on line at www.fiveguys.com.

The Burgers

                We both had the standard cheeseburger which is actually a double with two quarter pound beef patties slathered with American cheese and the condiments of our choice. They also offer what they call the Little Hamburger and Little Cheeseburger which is a single quarter pound patty. I guess this is their version of the kid’s meal.

                It seems that everything at Five Guys is big, from the size of the burger and the offering of fries to the quality of service and the flavors that burst when you bite into the burger. For a chain this really is one of the better places you can eat a grilled up slab of beef on a bun.

                But size wise, it is the French fires that are truly extraordinary. For a $3 regular fry they fill a decent sized cup up with the tasty tubers and then put them in a paper bag. Once safely nestled inside, another scoop of fries is tossed on top. One person cannot (or at least should not) eat a regular order by themselves. Josh even pointed out, as we were leaving plenty of fries still in the bag, that “five guys probably couldn’t eat all of those fries.” Pun intended.

                To say that Five Guys is a bargain, as is stated in many of those article reprints hanging on the walls, isn’t really pushing it either. Along with that massive $2.99 order of fries each of our half pound double patty burgers cost $5.99 and each regular drink was $1.99.

                No, Five Guys isn’t the best place in the area to grab a burger but it is far from the worst. Yes, it may have been overrated by some but keep in mind that it is a chain and as chains go it is hard to beat, that’s for sure. Combine the quality with the value and you have a good place to stop if you are near one and in the mood.