So, can we talk about Five Guys?

[goodolmike]

Last week, two IRL friends of mine told me about a new (to San Diego) burger joint called Five Guys, then two guys from the Interwebs also brought it up. I decided I had to check it out. I love a good burger, that's for sure.

Yesterday we found ourselves a few blocks away from one and ready for lunch, so we went.

From the start, I could tell it was a hot mess. The line was almost out the door, and I saw a lot if people standing around without food.

Turns out, Five Guys is incredibly inefficient and poorly laid out. All they sell are burgers and fries, and our order took a half hour. Fail-urrr.

By the time we got our food, we were going batshit stir-crazy, so we took our food to go. Later, we found a table outside that was, at least, quiet.

Here's the thing. My burger was good. It was really good, but for $5 and that god-awful wait, I'm going to go with Not Worth It.

What I'm wondering, though, is did we just come at a bad time? If it would have been less crowded, maybe I would have loved it. I'm curious what you guys think.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Comments

[sultmhoor.livejournal.com]

Even the busy-ish one I went to in Washington DC didn't have any kind of line like that. The one by our house gets us our food in about five minutes. Wait until the hype dies down or go during an off time.

[njbearcub1.livejournal.com]

It's probably still undergoing the "OMG! NEW!" phase, where everybody has to try it. It happened a few towns over when they opened one here, and we'd drive past to see the place full of people standing up, ordering, or waiting to have their orders taken. They also opened one in the town where we have our store, but I never drove past during the opening phase.

Same thing happened when they opened a Sonic in town, though. They opened in the height of summer craziness, and people had been clamoring for something new. For at least a month, there was a cop car present to guide traffic into the parking lot, and it took me weeks before it slowed down enough that I wanted to even attempt the drive-thru.

I haven't had a Five Guys burger, though. Seeds. The first time we went, I had hot dogs and fries. Couldn't have the free peanuts, either. But we called, and asked if I could bring a kaiser roll or something to put a burger on next time, and they said that we could. Jeff liked it, but, not enough that we've been like, "OMG. When are we going again?"

[tonethbone.livejournal.com]

It's always crowded down here in Atlanta

Here's a tip
Crowded..worth the wait..food is good..tasty, tasty burger
Empty...food is fair-horrible

except for IHOP on Sundays after church...where crowded=food is still awful and the Christians are here.

[cpj.livejournal.com]

The only way they can make it more efficient is to double the size of the grill and the number of cooks, since they don't pre-cook any meat. But doing that wastes floor space when their seating is already tight. The food is good, but the ambiance is pretty lacking.

But like someone already said, if it's a new store, you're fighting the Five Guy virgins who want their taste.