Five Guys is coming to London!

[craigjm]

skinny said:

i hate it when people put hotdog sausages in a bum.
quite why you'd go to a burger place and get a hot dog i don't understand anyway. it's like ordering chicken at a steak place.

Haha great bit of autocorrect there! I would generally agree but in the US the dogs in 5 guys are a big thing and they didn't launch them over here at the outset to make sure they got them just right apparently!

[Lardydah]

Finally made it to Five Guys in Reading today, I was feeling pretty hungry and thought it would be a perfect time to give it a go.

I just had the cheese burger (with pickles, onion and mustard), a drink and shared a large fries with two of my friends.

The burger was great, didn't fall apart like others and was very easy to eat! Chips I couldn't complain about, pretty decent. Liked the novelty of the drink options, but I just went for a cloudy lemonade.

Only thing I could complain about, the price! £12.30 for what was essentially a burger and chips, albeit a decent one, is absolutely crazy! Will go back, but not in a hurry.... Keen to try it in the US and compare.

[theboyfold]

Lardydah said:

Finally made it to Five Guys in Reading today, I was feeling pretty hungry and thought it would be a perfect time to give it a go.

Only thing I could complain about, the price! £12.30 for what was essentially a burger and chips, albeit a decent one, is absolutely crazy! Will go back, but not in a hurry.... Keen to try it in the US and compare.

I'd say exactly the same. I went with the Mrs before going to the cinema on Friday. £25 for 2 burgers, 1 chips and 2 drinks. The burger was good, but I'd prefer one from GBK for that sort of money. I'd much rather go to Mission Burrito if I was in the mood for fast food.

[Frik]

They're opening one in Guildford soonish.

[craigjm]

Im not sure they will do well if they open any further than about 20 miles from London due to the costs. Lots of people going in as pairs buy a large fries to share and one drink to refill as much as they like to lower the cost. I have to say after having been a number of times now I am starting to loath the buns.

[ibisti]

Went to the Guildford one last night. I will have to echo the comments from earlier posts. A good tasty burger and the fries were nice, if a little salty. The price was too high for the product and the setting though. £30.50 for 2 burgers fries and sodas. It was quite busy, but not as busy as I would guess they would like.
Guildford seem to be the "go to" place for alot of big companies now but I'm not sure it can sustain their takings.

[okgo]

The moment they went to provincial towns was the moment they lost all credibility.

[lauda]

okgo said:

The moment they went to provincial towns was the moment they lost all credibility.

Why's that?

[okgo]

lauda said:

Why's that?

To retain any sort of cache I think you have to keep things small, the best burger joints in town (London) are the ones who've kept it small IMO.

[lauda]

okgo said:

To retain any sort of cache I think you have to keep things small, the best burger joints in town (London) are the ones who've kept it small IMO.

Let's face it, we're not dealing with haute cuisine here, it's a burger and chips. I'm not saying it doesn't take some time and effort to get it right but once you have nailed it, it's not a particularly difficult thing to roll out on a larger basis if you have the right quality controls.

And people in the provinces need to eat too you know

[ibisti]

okgo said:

To retain any sort of cache I think you have to keep things small, the best burger joints in town (London) are the ones who've kept it small IMO.

The thing is they are a big company so need to do this. They have between 1000 and 1500 outlets. They are certainly no patty and bun / dirty burger / meat liquor. I thing the small burger joint works well in a major city but 5 Guys isnt one of them.

[Hoofy]

Opening in Kingston/Rotunda soon.

[Dr G]

...and Uxbridge.

Can't say I'm mega excited

[22s]

okgo said:

lauda said:

Why's that?

To retain any sort of cache I think you have to keep things small, the best burger joints in town (London) are the ones who've kept it small IMO.

So because they have opened branches outside of London they can't make a good burger and fries anymore? Bizarre viewpoint.

[okgo]

22s said:

So because they have opened branches outside of London they can't make a good burger and fries anymore? Bizarre viewpoint.

Cheapens the brand. Nobody likes a chain.

But I suppose the reasons have been outlined above why they have done it.

[Mr Gearchange]

okgo said:

lauda said:

Why's that?

To retain any sort of cache I think you have to keep things small, the best burger joints in town (London) are the ones who've kept it small IMO.

Hence why McDonalds and Burger King have been such commercial flops...

Businesses care little for cachet - especially when it comes at the expense of profit.

[22s]

okgo said:

22s said:

So because they have opened branches outside of London they can't make a good burger and fries anymore? Bizarre viewpoint.

Cheapens the brand. Nobody likes a chain.

But I suppose the reasons have been outlined above why they have done it.

No it doesn't. Ruth's Chris is a chain and seems to do pretty well. As is Hawksmoor.

[okgo]

22s said:

No it doesn't. Ruth's Chris is a chain and seems to do pretty well. As is Hawksmoor.

Yes, but you don't see Hawksmoor outside London do you.

[Lardydah]

okgo said:

22s said:

So because they have opened branches outside of London they can't make a good burger and fries anymore? Bizarre viewpoint.

Cheapens the brand. Nobody likes a chain.

But I suppose the reasons have been outlined above why they have done it.

Opening stores all over the place may cheapen the brand in some respects, but it will certainly richen the owners/shareholders. Another argument might be that Meat Liquor et al wouldn't survive outside of London, with the non-hip provincial clientèle not willing to drink wine out of jars or need a stamp to get into the joint.

[escargot]

There is a bit of a difference between a small chain of 4 London based steak restaurants and an international, 1500 site, fast food joint. To say they shouldn't roll them out into the 'provinces' because they'll lose cachet is ridiculous. They're one step up from mcdonalds.