Condiment lovers rejoice! When you visit Five Guys Burgers And Fries, you have almost 250,000 possible combos of extras to customize your hamburger! First, the actual hamburger itself comes in two sizes called a Little Hamburger or just a Hamburger (which actually has two beef patties). To those you can add cheese and bacon. They are then called a Little Bacon Cheeseburger or just a Bacon Cheeseburger. Pretty self explanatory.
The house style for toppings is called "All the Way" and that means that your hamburger gets tomatoes, pickles, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, mayonnaise, lettuce, and mustard. There are even more toppings you can choose that are not included when ordering Five Guys all the way. Not included, but easily added with a smile, are green peppers, relish, raw onions, jalapenos, hot sauce, A1 sauce, and BBQ sauce. You could even choose all fifteen toppings for no extra charge! This means you can painlessly order the best burger for your current mood.
Five Guys uses fresh beef burger patties that are an 80/20 chuck blend. They can only be cooked well done when you order, but that doesn't keep them from being super juicy. None of the Five Guys restaurants have freezers so the brand consistency of the burgers is a sure things as far as freshness goes.
Can We Talk About Five Guys French Fries?
When you fantasize about the perfect burger joint, french fries will surely be in that fantasy. Five Guys buys most of their potatoes from Idaho, specifically 140 million pounds annually which is more than five percent of the state's total potato production. That's a lot of fries!
Like the burger patties, the fries are never frozen. Rather than freezing pre-sliced fries, fresh potatoes are sliced by hand every morning. Their fries are rinsed through water 3 times to get all the starch off and the fry guys perform a daring double fry in peanut oil. All this fry love makes them crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. A large fry is truly large and served in beautiful brown bag of yum. Grease included free of charge.
The Five Guys menu lists traditional or Cajun Fries. But those in the know of the secret menu says Five Guys locations will also make your fries into cheese fries. Just ask nicely. Throw carb caution to the wind. Life is short. and fries are delicious.
Compared to McDonald's, Burger King, or other fast food burger chains, the Five Guys menu is pretty straight forward. The most deviation from burgers and fries are the grilled cheese, hot dogs, and a veggie sandwich. No salads to tempt you with the false promise of health.
Ordering a milkshake operates under the same theory as the the toppings for the hamburgers— all the mix-ins are free! Unlimited possibilities for the most delicious bellyache you've ever had are waiting behind the doors of your local Five Guys Burgers And Fries.
The other free favorite item aside from the toppings and mix-ins are the peanuts you crack open yourself! While waiting for your food, bond with your loved ones over unlimited bowls of peanuts!
Secret Menu Items at Five Guys
Because of the quarter million combo possibilities, a secret yet not so secret menu has been born. One of the most popular is the Double Grilled Cheese Burger.
Here's how to order. Ask for two grilled cheese sandwiches and a hamburger, bunless. Then from the comfort of your table, slap those two burgers between the grilled cheese sandwiches, unhinge your jaw and enjoy. You are now "in the know" of the Secret Menu.
Other insider info at Five Guys abounds. My friend was told by an employee this tip to maximize enjoyment:
"A five guys employee taught me never to fold the bag! Keeping the bag open keeps your fries from getting mushy. Game changer." On a related note, this is why many chicken restaurants serve your food without giving you a plastic bag. The plastic keeps the condensation in and turns your crispy fried food into mush.
Another friend weighs in for vegetarians:
"Five Guys is one of the few burger places that has a decent vegetarian option. It's basically vegetables and grilled cheese, but that's a million times better than awful, awful veggie and black bean burgers. I still like it way better than the Impossible burgers."
Other friends are all about the lettuce bun:
"Love, love, love the lettuce bun option. I don't care if I end up wearing half the burger in my messy hands, it feels so much lighter."
"I love Five Guys! I recently had a bacon cheeseburger in a lettuce wrap. It was delicious! Make sure you have lots of napkins!"
And kids love Five Guys too. Their little bellies may not go "all the way" just yet but give them time. For now, 8 year old Miles only requires ketchup on his burger and his older brother Ian is simply cheese and ketchup. Soon they will know the endless possibilities this great burger chain offers.
