Intrigued by this franchise chain from the US, we stop off in Airdrie to try Five Guys. There's a few locations peppering Alberta now, soon to be two in Calgary, and one up in Sherwood Park, but since we were driving up to Edmonton from Calgary, the Airdrie location made the most sense to satisfy a burger craving. They're touted by American fans to be tasty, fresh and huge (aren't all American burger's huge?). Anyways, we head to this little franchise that's going up against other fast food giants to have a taste-see!
While waiting for our burgers to cook, and some of our party to decide on which toppings and burger combo they wanted, we snacked on free roasted peanuts. They gave everyone bottomless bowls of unshelled peanuts - tasty, though it made me wonder if they have had any issues with customers that have peanut allergies or intolerances. *crunch munchy munchy munch munch* When you first line up, you're surrounded by sacks and sacks of potatoes.
The hand shaped un-uniform burgers are made to order - the patty is unseasoned, with most of its flavor coming from the grill its cooked on. The toppings made this burger. Lots of lettuce, couple slices of cheese, crisp bacon, thick cut slices of ripened tomato and lots of sauce, caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms... made this a monster burger to hold and difficult though tasty to bite into. You design your burger with as much or little toppings as you want - all included, and there's about 15 toppings and condiments or so to choose from. The burgers that were ordered separately fared better than the burgers part of a big order - the soft sesame seed bun got a bit too soft and the burger tended to fall part unless you ate it pronto after it gets assembled. The rest of our burgers were kinda falling apart as they came out as part of a large order, so didn't bother taking pics.the FRIES
Loved by many, I had to try them.. so a large order it was. The fries are seasoned and tossed into a cardboard cup, and the oddest thing was, when they put my order into a paper bag, along with the burger... they tossed in extra fries into the bag.. as did everyone else's... everyone got a pile of extra fries tossed into their bag before they handed it to you. If you're eating the burger right away, its nice to have the extra fries literally tossed in. If you're not, don't eat this in your car as the grease from the fries soaks through the paper bag, and we had fries flying happily everywhere when we took out our burger to eat at their tables. The fries were crisp, smooshy on the inside and liberally well seasoned with their secret seasoning salt. You can get cajun fries (which we did!) or regular fries (seasoned with salt).
the VERDICT
Not a bad place to grab a fast food burger - its made to order and though the patty is unseasoned, the mountain of fresh toppings makes this huge burger worth coming back for.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Address 100 Sierra Springs Drive, Airdrie, AB T4B 3G7
Phone 403-948-1816
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4 comments:
During my trips to the US east coast, I had several opportunities to try Five Guys but, for some reason, I wasn't really enthusiastic about it. I must mention this was before Obama's infamous visits.
Anyway, when it's (West) Vancouver location opened, I gave it a try and, while not necessarily bad, for the price, I would rather go to White Spot (and that statement tells you a lot already!). In a way, I feel it is one of those "because we didn't have it here" moments but, hey, again, since I travel enough...
I think we agree on several of the points you mentioned (and some you might have overlooked):
1) A single small serving of fries ought to be enough for 2. They overload their serving container.
2) Their fries aren't the best because they don't double fry them.
3) Just because they have a lot of toppings and they are free, it does not mean you must include all of them! As you pointed out, after a couple of bites, it gets really messy and complicated to eat.
4) If you are not a big eater, order the little burger instead. The regular order has two patties.
5) Do NOT take it to go. It is pointless as, unlike a McD's or BK "burger", because it is still hot and steamy, it will make the bread soggy in no time.
Now, here is my question: How do you compare their burgers to Burger Baron's? Or it is an apples/oranges comparison?
@kimho - Can't compare to Burger Baron... the only time I've had Burger Baron was when I dropped by a friend's family owned joint - so the burgers were slowly cooked and totally ouststanding. I think those burgers I had.. had a special treatment (and a 45min+ prep time), so it would be comparing apples to pinapples :)
*cough* Burger Baron revisit!!! :) (Preferably to a location not friend's family owned!)
I'll think about it... there's not too many Burger Barons left in the city (getting sold or just plain closed), the locations that are left are out of the way... and as each are individually franchised, I've heard there can be a huge difference in quality and tastiness.
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