Critic's Review
I was just looking for a snack and I was thinking there's no place to get a hot dog in this stupid town; they I remembered 5 guys. They don't have sauerkraut but I could settle for a cheese dog. I ordered it online; on thing that's changed is the prices. $5.56 for a cheese dog. You'd never pay that much from a street vendor if you were walking by, but I didn't have other choices.
It took me a ridiculous amount of time to get here. A draw bridge. Long traffic lights. This city is a disaster.
The order was ready when I got here. $6.04 for a hot dog. I got a table in the completely empty restaurant and opened the bag.
Not a very impressive looking dog. I expected this to be oozing with cheese.
It's a decent hot dog. Not much going on inside. For $1 extra they could have put cheese on both sides of the bun.
A decent, but overpriced snack.
Conclusion
This place used to be a real bargain, but now it as expensive as Burger Fi. $8 for a cheeseburger and $6 for a cheese dog goes beyond fast food pricing. No wonder the place was dead empty.
Review 3/20/15
After refusing to deal with the forced valet at Tap 42, I hit Publix and grabbed some food at Five Guys.
The place hasn't changed a lick since they opened in 2009. Same minimal decor; same minimal menu. Still no sauerkraut or onions for the hot dogs. Just cheese or bacon.
I reviewed the menu hoping there would be something different, but it's largely the same. I decided to order a burger "All The Way", which is 2 patties, cheese, mushrooms, sauteed onions, pickles, lettuce tomatoes and mayo. He gave me a cup but I'd ordered a bottle of water. "Sorry, reflex", he said. There's an ice bucket of water bottles on the counter.
I grabbed a table and waited.
There's no beeper or speaker system; you just get a bill with a number on it and wait for a dude to call your number.
Music is pretty loud, so it was easy to miss the guy calling out the numbers. You have to pay attention. While I was waiting: Thompson Twins, Bruce, ZZ Top. Not too bad. Finally a dude holds up 2 packages "31 and 32". I had my bag. You get a brown paper bag whether you take out or eat in.
The small fries come in a little cup, but they give you a load extra in the bag, so there's no real reason to order the larger size.
The burger itself is quite a load of food. $6.69 for what would have cost $13.50 at Tap 42.
I just had a few of the fries. Not bad or good fries. The big burger was enough calories.
It's a messy burger. Slippery is the word I'll use. I struggled to keep it together.
The beef/burger wasn't superior in any way, but with the sauteed mushrooms and pickles and cheese and onions and mayo there were a lot of good flavors going on.
I could have skipped the fries and this would have been a better deal for under $10. No tipping. A lot of food for a relatively good price.
Conclusion
Not as cheap as they used to be, but still a quick meal at a fair price. It would be nice if they give you one thicker patty than 2 skinny ones, but that's not how it works.
Review 11/5/12
Five Guys was the first of the burger joints to begin aggressive expansion in South Florida, before everyone else got the idea. The big thing with Five Guys is that they cook with peanut oil; they have big drums of peanut oil and bags of peanuts that decorate the place. They also have free peanuts, reminiscent of the old Ground Round restaurants from my childhood.
There's nothing pretty about these places; it's sort of a warehouse, fast food theme.
Even when you eat in at Five Guys, its take out. Everything is wrapped in foil and put into a lunch bag. They have a lot of extras that you can put on whatever you order, but the only condiments that are available are Heinz Ketchup and Malt Vinegar.
If you go to their online ordering system, they have a BLT as an option, but there's no such option in the store. I don't know if it's a mistake, or if you need a secret password. I decided not to ask about it, and I ordered a cheese dog and a grilled cheese.
The cheese dog didn't have a whole lot of cheese, but it is good cheese. At $3.69 it's not that cheap, but their cheese is good and they do a nice job of grilling the buns.
The grilled cheese was smaller than I expected; this would have been really good if it had a burger in it. It's about half the size of a full sized sandwich, but again, the good gooey cheese makes it a tasty snack.
You can get a pretty good cheeseburger here for $6.59; the prices have creeped up from when they claimed to have a great burger for $5. What they do here is give you a choice of portions, unlike the "other" burger places that try to justify their high prices by giving you a 9 or 10oz burger with unwanted fries. It's a little grilled cheese for a little price. Nothing showy here. Just tasty food.
Review 2/22/10
Five Guys is one of the fastest growing new burger joints, and there's no shortage of online reviews raving about how great it is. Their claim to fame is apparently that they use peanut oil, which they like to show off with the big sacks of peanuts and cans of oil "decorating" the floor. The staff is a bit crusty; there's something about being greeted by toothless people that I'm just not comfortable with.
Even when you eat in at Five Guys, its take out. Everything is wrapped in foil and put into a lunch bag. When you order you can have them put the condiments on for you so you don't have to unwrap them; personally I like to put my own stuff on so I get the correct amount. Burgers are served on seseme seed buns and hot dogs are split and grilled. Fries are served in a paper cup. No sauerkraut for the hot dogs is a big, big minus.
The verdict: I find Five Guys to be unremarkable. There's really nothing special about it. Its certainly better than McDonalds, and much better than the California Burgers and Shakes burger that I had last week. But I can't see myself getting all sweaty thinking about eating here. Its just pretty good.
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