BurgerClub

California has and Virginia has Five Guys.

I'd heard of this place before from one of our Washington D.C. based members, but it wasn't until a recent trip down to Northern Virginia that my out of town bro. reminded me by raving about the great burger he had while at the mall. Mall? Land of Sbarro pizza and Arthur Treachers's? Franchise food joints are like movie sequels... never as good as the original. As the East-Coast FatBurger has proved.



But my brother has good taste, and I did have to goto the mall for some last minute gifts for our White Elephant/Yankee Swap game. Besides the many In-N-Out joints have been a great exception to the franchise rule... perhaps Five Guys is too.

Of all the food court restaurants to grab a bite while holiday mall goers shopped, it seemed that half of them were in line for Five Guys... a good first sign. A little intimidated by the crowd, I managed to easily make my way to a register... most of the people were waiting for their orders. The menu is a little like Fat in that you have many add on options... and they are all included in the price, good stuff. I ordered two cheeseburgers, one with tomato, raw onion, pickle, mayo, ketchup... and the other with sauteed mushrooms, fried onion, mayo, ketchup. And one order of fries... and a diet soda, gotta look after this figure you know.

I didn't dent my wallet or have to wait too long before I brought the food to the table-saving MerBurger.



Oh yeah! That a good looking cheeseburger... like that of In-N-Out, the cheese is an oozing glob that manages to fill all the cracks of the loosely packed burger. The bun is a basic toasted white roll with a few seeds. And to our surprise, there are two patties... apparently if you don't want a double, you have to order the "Little" burger. No worries, even though we had a big home made din din to go back to, we were shortly being met by two West-Coast fans who were parking and also wanted a taste. And taste they would have, this guy was mmmm mmmm tasty. I'll let the California members comment, but the words "better than In-N-Out" teased the burger gods for a moment after one of them had a bite.



I liked this burger... not the best I've ever had, but for the price and being in a mall... I can't wait to goto the original Five Guys. These guys also have a smattering of other joints up+down the East-Coast, although I think that Virginia is where the most are. So if you're near one (check out fiveguys.com for store locator) I would love to hear your thoughts.... cause I'm sold.

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lets eat!

We now have Five Guys in Virginia Beach, three locations. The first time I went, the burger was so dry I couldn't finish it. When the manager of this new store came by to ask how things were, I told him. He gave me his card and said next time was on him.

So, next time, I was going to order it medium but the sign said all burgers cooked well done. Yeah, it was, again, too dry for me.

Two strikes, you're out.

Five Guys burger is the closest thing to a quick home made burger. I think that tossing a good patty in a pan, getting a decent bun, and slicing average quality tomatoes (but then again, where do you find truly good tomatoes around here?) would yield the same burger. It does not have any fundamental flaw, but i couldn't help being slightly disappointed at the fairly insipid taste. I am in no way advocating bbq sauce all over, but i think cooking the patty on a griddle, well done, without letting much frying accumulate on the outside does not do justice to a burger. Cheese was not fully melted either, adding to the impression that this baby was not properly taken care of. This is a B+ burger.

I had my first Five Guys burger while visiting the Outer Banks last week. It was the best "chain" burger I've ever had, and ranked high among the best professional burgers I've ever consumed. Juicy, with enough fat to be flavorful, and the fixings we're a plus (not always true). The fries were good, not great., but there were a bunch of them. Service was very good, no slackers they. Price was such that the meal was a good value when considered with quality, not cheap, but very much worth it. I'd go back in a heart (attack) beat. I drove 40 miles round trip to get that burger, and don't consider that excessive, given the quality/value.