Five Guys is coming to London!

[Yidwann]

Uncle John said:

There's one just opened in Croydon, so it's definitely going downhill fast.

Oi! Some of us have to work in Croydon on a regular basis! I know I know, I don't know who I upset either! I am at least going to check it out though having never been before! Quick and easy on works expenses!

[Toaster Pilot]

Yidwann said:

Oi! Some of us have to work in Croydon on a regular basis! I know I know, I don't know who I upset either! I am at least going to check it out though having never been before! Quick and easy on works expenses!

Some of us have to stay there 3 nights a week for the foreseeable!

[Sheetmaself]

craigjm said:

Sheetmaself said:

My favourite is Kau Aina, used to only get them in London but my mate has just let me know that they've opened one up in Fukuoka Japan, will be going there a fair bit i suspect!

Funny how everyone is different. I have never really rated Kai Aina. To me they are average at best.

I think for me certainly at the Goodge Street one, its the combination of the food, the milkshakes and the friendliness of staff all put together which makes it a winner. We have a five guys in my town and to be fair i do think their burger is better than Kau Aina but i would never go to five guys for a meal out, only when on way to somewhere and the meal isnt the evening.

I am looking forward to the crazy Japanese take on things in a few weeks time, and as an aside i have also been told that a local place has started selling Green beer topped with candy floss!!!

[craigjm]

It's definitely not a night out it's an expensive McDonald's

I'm not a big fan of five guys either. The burgers sweat in the foil and all the toppings taste the same because they are all cooked on the same griddle.

[castex]

kev1974 said:

miniman said:

Ed's Diner is utter carp.

I love Five Guys. I'm staying 2-3 nights a week at Angel at the moment and there's one right by the hotel. Lovely stuff.

Ed's Easy Diner were fine and one of the best places for burgers for years and years, back when they were just the one tiny location in Old Compton Street, Soho; before burgers were all cool and that! I have been going there for decades! That first branch is still open (been there for 30 years, so they make Five Guys and all the others that have come up in recent years look like toddlers).

Around 2010 they had a couple more locations in London, but then at some point since then, the original founder died, and whoever took over opened a few other locations in places like Birmingham Selfridges and they were never the same any more. And then in the last few years they expanded massively, totally changed the menu, and that totally killed them. They were never a brand that suited being a big massive corporation chain, I am sad for the day they stopped being a tiny family business with the same cook in the kitchen area day in day out

Ed's was on King's Road decades ago. We used to go there early 90's. Yummy stuff. Agreed, they killed it.
5 Guys is great.

[Uncle John]

Toaster Pilot said:

Yidwann said:

Oi! Some of us have to work in Croydon on a regular basis! I know I know, I don't know who I upset either! I am at least going to check it out though having never been before! Quick and easy on works expenses!

Some of us have to stay there 3 nights a week for the foreseeable!

Feel your pain chaps, I work there as well...

[Craikeybaby]

Had a Five Guys for lunch today (as work was paying), it is better than McDoalds etc, but not twice as good, despite being twice the price.

I wonder if the McDonalds signature range is trying to compete with Five Guys etc...

[craigjm]

Craikeybaby said:

I wonder if the McDonalds signature range is trying to compete with Five Guys etc...

I guess so, and they are nice but to compete they need to improve their fries maybe doing a new version specifically for signature meals. Five Guys etc do much better fries because they are freshly made

[R1gtr]

Never been to Five Guys but really want to come back to London just for this-

https://londonsbestburgers.com/big-matt-meal-at-ha...

It includes a Shaky Pete's ginger cocktail which was the nicest (manly) cocktail ever!

[Rollin]

R1gtr said:

Never been to Five Guys but really want to come back to London just for this-

https://londonsbestburgers.com/big-matt-meal-at-ha...

It includes a Shaky Pete's ginger cocktail which was the nicest (manly) cocktail ever!

I've been to Five Guys many times and the Big Matt is unsurprisingly miles better....Both available outside the M25...

[Burwood]

Rollin said:

R1gtr said:

Never been to Five Guys but really want to come back to London just for this-

https://londonsbestburgers.com/big-matt-meal-at-ha...

It includes a Shaky Pete's ginger cocktail which was the nicest (manly) cocktail ever!

I've been to Five Guys many times and the Big Matt is unsurprisingly miles better....Both available outside the M25...

I have to say, it does look rather epic. 5 guys is nasty but i can't get over their fries at 1700 cals for a large. wet due to them being laden with grease

[davek_964]

I had my first Five Guys burger at the weekend.

Burger was nice enough. Fries were average (cajun ones, over spiced) and the milkshake was disappointing.

I was a little surprised to find that the "price" they showed for the burger is actually plus vat. I've never been to a shop / restaurant which shows pre-vat prices. Finding that my £8.95 burger was more like £10.95 was a surprise, and if I'd realised that from the start I'm not sure I would have bothered.

[anonymous-user]

davek_964 said:

I had my first Five Guys burger at the weekend.

Burger was nice enough. Fries were average (cajun ones, over spiced) and the milkshake was disappointing.

I was a little surprised to find that the "price" they showed for the burger is actually plus vat. I've never been to a shop / restaurant which shows pre-vat prices. Finding that my £8.95 burger was more like £10.95 was a surprise, and if I'd realised that from the start I'm not sure I would have bothered.

i had a similar experience first time, the cajun fries where just too salty. second time i choose what i wanted on the burger had a chocolate, malted milk and caramel shake and enjoyed it a lot more. i think a McDonald's quarter pounder is close, but at least with 5 guys made to order.

[davek_964]

The Spruce goose said:

i had a similar experience first time, the cajun fries where just too salty. second time i choose what i wanted on the burger had a chocolate, malted milk and caramel shake and enjoyed it a lot more. i think a McDonald's quarter pounder is close, but at least with 5 guys made to order.

The last time I tried McDonalds (about 3 years ago) it was absolutely horrendous - it amazed me people still eat it. Very very thin burgers, as dry as (and tasted like) cardboard (it was a Big Mac). I was shocked at just how bad it was - and although I was never a regular, I've refused to go back since.
The Five Guys was in a whole different league (not a £11 a burger league, but definitely a very big step up from McDs). However - from comments I've seen - and my g/f's opinion - I wonder if I was just unlucky and McDs are better than I think.

[craigjm]

davek_964 said:

I was a little surprised to find that the "price" they showed for the burger is actually plus vat.

Where was that? I've been to a few in London and they weren't plus vat.

[davek_964]

craigjm said:

davek_964 said:

I was a little surprised to find that the "price" they showed for the burger is actually plus vat.

Where was that? I've been to a few in London and they weren't plus vat.

Reading (The Oracle).

ETA : Just searched and maybe I mis-read the receipt - although we only looked at it because the final bill seemed much more than we expected, and the VAT seemed to explain that. But maybe we just got it wrong.

Edited by davek_964 on Friday 18th August 13:23

[HorneyMX5]

Just back from a Friday work lunch at 7Bone in Newbury. Loved it. Good value and proper tasty. Much better than Shake Shack yesterday.

[Craikeybaby]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

No they aren't. I wasn't that impressed with mine. I still prefer the big tasty.

[lauda]

HorneyMX5 said:

Just back from a Friday work lunch at 7Bone in Newbury. Loved it. Good value and proper tasty. Much better than Shake Shack yesterday.

7Bone is great. It pisses all over Five Guys from both a quality and value perspective.

[markcoznottz]

Craikeybaby said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

No they aren't. I wasn't that impressed with mine. I still prefer the big tasty.

McDonald's can't get close. Imho five guys worth every penny, the mouthfeel is just spot on, you can taste the extra £££. I still think the bk whopper is a good burger, always tastes how a burger should. McDonalds just cannot get premium burgers right, it's been trying for years and still no good. The buns are synthetic air filled rubbish, the patty's are scaled up quarter pounders, or maybe actually the same ones they use for quarters, and have that bland cheap texture, and the sauce is just something pulled off the shelf, it doesn't compliment the meat.