We've all heard of Five Guys right? If not, where have you been? Don't worry though, I'm here to help and I only had my first ever Five Guys a week or so ago. Naturally I had to share the experience with you. I've been excited to tell you about it ever since. A mere 500m from my apartment in Canada, there are two Five Guys. Two. Help me. In England? People barely talk about it. People in Canada actually laugh when they see how excited I get over Five Guys but I wanted to talk to you about the best burger I've ever eaten...
The story behind Five Guys is one that I like a lot. A family of five who served only hand-formed burgers (with all the toppings you can dream of) cooked to perfection on a grill along with fresh-cut fries cooked in pure peanut oil. People liked this and have been buying their burgers ever since.
On arrival at Five Guys, be prepared to stand in a (usually very long) queue and study the small menu whilst you wait...I felt anxious and really couldn't decide what to choose - do I get bacon?!, do I get cheese?!, do I get both?! What toppings do I get?!
I kid; the menu is tiny but fabulous and really not too difficult to decipher. Simple is often the way forward. Basically, if you don't like burgers, you should probably leave (sorry). This place serves either a burger, or erm, a burger. So the choice is yours; a plain burger, a burger with cheese or a burger with bacon (or both cheese and bacon). I went for a burger with cheese. You then choose whichever toppings you'd like on top at no extra cost - go wild and get them all, Jack certainly did just that. 
The decor is kind of how I imagine a plain American Diner to be, simple, honest and more about the food and good grub rather than the interior. I don't mind places like this, as long as the food is good, I don't mind too much about the inside. Five Guys is all about the food. The line was made up of people who had just finished work, grabbing dinner after a hard day, which immediately made me realise that Five Guys is clearly a good place to eat. As far as I'm concerned, anywhere with a queue this big every time I walk past must be worth the wait...
It was my turn to order. I went for the burger (durh what else was I going to choose). A standard burger at Five Guys actually comes as a double burger; calorific but if you're gonna do it you may as well go big or go home. I chose to load my burger with lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños, ketchup, onions and mushrooms. I was quite worried at how rubbish it looked as I watched it being made on the conveyor belt... it looked tiny and lonely. I was starting to think that people were crazy recommending Five Guys to me and actually felt quite disappointed...
but then she added in two burgers and I finally saw my creation for the first time. Gulp.
I walked away with my paper bag, Five Guys tradition apparently... see what I mean, no frills but real grease and food. 
I made sure I filled a tray full of peanuts before I walked upstairs (you get free peanuts at Five Guys - don't ask, another amazingly quirky feature which makes it so original and heavenly).
I ordered fries with seasoning, opened my paper bag and let's just say I had enough fries to feed the whole of Canada. A little life-hack; in Five Guys, only ever order a small fries because they will just throw them all in the bag anyway, as many as you can carry - they don't really do portion size or portion control at Five Guys but that's part of the fun.
I sat with my greasy bag and didn't actually mean to match my nail colour to the decor...
It was the moment of truth... I unwrapped my burger (I kind of like the whole not having a plate thing)
It honestly doesn't even look good on photographs (do a little Google image search to see how big a Five Guys burger really is), but I took one bite and immediately realised why Five Guys is currently the world's favourite; juicy, succulent, pure beef (I'm not even a burger lover), yummy cheese and the toppings just make it even better. Add some fries into the burger too for good measure and it'll be worth the heart-attack you have after consuming it. What I'm trying to say is, Five Guys is indescribable, it's such a simple idea; give customers quality burgers, no frills, just good, honest burgers with all the trimmings as chosen by them. It makes McDonald's look appalling. 
My meal was ready to be devoured, enough chips for both me and Jack and I even ended up taking some home too because I pretty much had a bag full... I didn't even touch the peanuts because the burger defeated me within minutes.
I managed to almost all of my burger and at one point, Jack looked up from his and said 'Em, how have you just eaten that so fast' - apparently it's the quietest I've ever been, I didn't even stop to take a breath, I tucked into my burger and was taken away to another world for a few minutes; burger heaven. I honestly don't think I've ever enjoyed a burger as much in my life and trust me, I really am not a huge burger lover (that's probably just changed now I've been introduced to Five Guys).
Five Guys - you are fabulous. Please open more stores in the UK (but keep your prices down, it's so cheap here in Canada and I've heard the UK stores are expensive), please show the world that food doesn't have to be fancy, menus don't have to be big and life doesn't have to be expensive; choose a burger, no extra cost for toppings and 'burger customisation', hey if you want everything, go for it, Five Guys wont charge you extra. Heavy on the fries (perfect seasoning), free peanuts and a seat in a happy, vibrant restaurant = why didn't I think of this idea? Five Guys, I hope you forever continue working your magic.
I paid around $9 CAD for my burger and fries and Jack paid around $10 (£5) for his with everything on it and a drink - I think it's a little bit more expensive than this in England (typical) but if you're ever in the states or Canada, make sure your first stop is Five Guys - the exchange rate really works in our favour!
Have you ever visited Five Guys? Have you ever heard of Five Guys? What's your take on this burger craze that's currently taking over the world?
If you like my foodie posts, head here for lots more!
Lots of love, Em x
Don't forget to follow me on bloglovin!
No comments:
Post a Comment