I'm not too sure what I think of Five Guys... It's a little bit hit and a little bit miss, for me.
The burgers are really great - fresh, juicy, very nicely cooked and customisable just the way you want them. The shakes are pretty good - I had the salted caramel - though, I don't think they compare to those at Ed's Diner a few minutes' walk away which are in another league. They use peanut oil, which for me is overpowering and makes the fries not as enjoyable or fresh-tasting as they should be. But each to his own.
On the day we went, there was no queue and we were able to have our order taken immediately but then waited more than 10 minutes after our order to receive our food and a further 10 minutes for the milkshakes (which the server very kindly gave us our money back for as an apology for the delay). And I think that's the problem, when you're paying a (relative) lot of money for fast food, you want it fast and it just wasn't happening on that occasion.
Waiting all that time for our food and milkshake gave us a lot of time to watch the restaurant, which just appears very badly organised. There is a lot of shouting between line chefs and person who I assume is an expediter; and shouting between servers behind the station and those walking about the floor; but no real communication or understanding actually seems to be going on at all... and none of that shouting seemed to help us get our food in any quicker! Just a lot of noise. Noise that is really annoying when you're hungry and trying to have a conversation. I guess other people go for that kind of 'buzz' though... so it's really just down to personal preference.
We were back in Westfield at dinner time, hungry and with an hour to kill yesterday, and we opted for fail-safe Ed's instead. Sure the patty may not taste as great, but the atmosphere is so much better, the servers are really cheery and friendly and the salad is super fresh! read more