After seeing various Five Guys locations around Manhattan, I decided to give them a try. The word of mouth on this burger is surprisingly good, New Yorkers rave about it like Californians rave about In-N-Out Burger. I'm here to report that, just like In-N-Out, this burger is serviceable albeit overrated. Don't get me wrong, I liked the burger but I just wasn't crazy about it. For fast foot it's good, better than most, but just like all the others what you're tasting is not the meat but the meat-flavored oil they use to cook the burgers in. This is just a theory of mine (since I'm in no mood to go a-Googling on how these burgers are made), but I'm pretty sure its the case. This burger even tasted a lot like In-N-Out, perhaps they get their oil from the same place.
One neat thing about Five Guys is you pay a flat price for a burger and then all the toppings are free. This allows for an entirely customizable burger experience. With all of this power at my fingers I opted for grilled onions, ketchup, pickles and lettuce. I think I chose wisely, as this is a very no-frills burger that doesn't stretch the pallet too far. As I mentioned before, the flavor came from the grease, and so my bun was greasy on the top and the bottom--SBB's dastardly cousin. It wasn't overly bad, but make sure you pack extra napkins with this burger, which I should mention comes as a double patty delight. For cheese, the standard is American cheese, which is the standard cheese for fast foot burgers' cheese.
The fries were over-cooked and not good, I do not recommend them or the Cajun variety, which were overly seasoned. To wash it all down, I had a Troeg's Amber Ale. A fine ale indeed.
And now, a haiku entitled: five-seven-five guys.
