My experience with 5 guys have been strange. I , like others, have heard so much about 5 guys. Everyone says it is so good. Some people say it is even better then In-N-Out. I enjoy a good cheese burger, so with all the talk decided I wanted to go. My wive travels alot and told me that people at work talk about 5 guys alot, but on a business trip to Texas (I think it was Texas) she tried it and was not impressed. She warned me not to go and told me I will not like it.
1st Visit: The first time I went I thought all the peanuts around the area was a bit much. I wasn't a fan, but only because it makes me feel like cleaning. lol. Anyway, I ordered the Cheese Burger with everything (minus pickels) and fries. I was not empressed with the burger. It didnt have much taste. All the toppings didnt help either. The fries, though you get alot of them, was only so so. I didnt like the food, but because I was also preoccupied with other things in the day, I decided that I would give them another try and give them my full attention.
2nd Visit: Decided to go again, this time a Double Cheese Burger with Bacon, fries... Again burger didnt have much taste. Fries were a bit better at first but when they got cold it was like eating uncooked fries. At this point I decided I wouldn't go back ever!!
3rd Visit: A friend of mine told me that 5 guys have Cajun Fries. I decided I would go back one last time... Because Cajun is an aquired taste!!! That why nobody ordered it!!! (ok, bad joke) Anyway. After my first two visits I realized what was wrong with the food. (the idea came to me after watching Restaurant Impossible) The meat was not salted. Trust me it makes a BIG difference. I asked the lady at the counter if the meat was salted and she told me no. I was surprised. I asked her if she could do it for me she said no. I said why not? She said it would contaminate the other meat patties. ?!?!?! What with taste!!! Anyway I ordered my burger opened it up... salted the patty, put the burger back together and it made a big difference. Still not better than In-N-Out, but it was better than what I had before here. Salt, what a concept.
The fries were still a problem. Good if you eat them right away. But because they are fried so fast they are not cooked all the way through and when they get cold they get soft and taste really bad. When you are cooking fries from fresh cut potatoes they have to be soaked first to get rid of the starch. These fries are not and the quality suffers. I cook fries at home on occasion and I was having the same problem, looked it up online and the issue was the starch.
If they would at least season the burger patties they would taste so much better. I actually go back from time to time and do just that. But everytime I do I keep think why do I have to do something they should be doing. I rated them 2 stars. 3 1/2 stars if they used salt. read more