Five Guys: Burger heaven

When you hear a burger joint is touted as part of the fastest growing chain in America, it makes you curious.

What do they have that could cause such a frenzy?

I visited the Dothan location of Five Guys Burgers and Fries at Westway Shopping Center with Danny, one of our photographers, and found the answer: They serve one heck of a burger.

Neither of us could refuse the temptation of the big bacon cheeseburger ($6.19), two large patties piled with your choice of 15 toppings. We both got grilled mushrooms, he got grilled onions, and we finished it off with our own choices of mainstays like mayonnaise, lettuce, ketchup, mustard and tomatoes.

We topped it off with one large order of Cajun fries ($4.69) plus large ($2.19) and regular ($1.99) drinks. The total, after tax, was $23.17.

Well, Danny and I are known as big eaters. He hadn’t had much for lunch and I had ridden my bicycle more than 20 miles before I came in to work in the early afternoon. All that said, we ordered too much.

The food came in a large paper bag, with grease spots already showing through the sides (this isn’t the combination to order if you are on a calorie-restricted diet). We took out our burgers and a large cup overflowing with thick straight-from-the-potato fries, opened up the sandwiches and admired the colossal chunks of burger heaven.

Before I even took a bite, I figured we could have gotten by with the smaller version of the burger and the regular order of fries.

I wondered why there were almost a dozen napkins at the top of the bag, but just a couple of bites into the made-to-order burger (which took two hands to hold) left no doubt the folks behind the counter weren’t being overly protective.

The burger was extremely juicy. I should have let it sit about a minute longer in the wrapper so the heat from the patties could have permeated the lettuce and tomato, but you live and learn.

The other rookie mistake we made was not checking the bottom of the bag. We got through with our burgers and were dividing the last of the fries when Danny said, “There may be more in the bag.”

That was an understatement. We had about half as many fries in the bag as we started out with in the cup, and Danny uttered a phrase I don’t think I had ever heard him say: “You can have ‘em.”

If you go, heed our advice. The regular-sized fries (cooked in peanut oil for $2.69) are big enough for two, maybe three people. The little burger (ranging from $3.59 to $4.99, depending on cheese and bacon options) is enough unless you’re really hungry (big burgers range from $4.79 to $6.19). Concentrate on the toppings, including jalapeno peppers, hot sauce, steak sauce and barbecue sauce, if you want to add flavor without extra cost.

But there are choices beside burgers. Hot dogs with or without bacon and cheese ($3.39 to $4.79) and sandwiches (veggie for $2.79, cheese veggie for $2.99 and grilled cheese for $2.99) are available.

Drink options range from bottled water ($1.99) to the fill-your-own, free refill Coca-Cola products (we drank the surprisingly good raspberry-flavored tea) and regular iced tea (sweetened or unsweetened).

Don’t expect the burger to be drive-up ready. We were behind about five other orders that hadn’t been filled, yet it still took only about 12 minutes to get our food. Five Guys is in a restaurant category some refer to as “fast casual,” and the wait was reasonable.

The restaurant boasts that its beef is never frozen, and it shows in the final product. Maybe the big boys of fast food could take cues from this chain.