Five Guys

I love Five Guys, I really do. I'm from the DC area (where Five Guys started), and I've been going to them for years. But this location just isn't worth it. When it had just opened, it wasn't bad. Odd that they measure out the extra fries, but I assume they all either measure it, or are trained on how to do that. I went to this Five Guys location for dinner tonight, and had a pretty bad experience. All the employees seemed to be moving very slowly. At one point an employee changed the ice under the lemon tray, dropped the tongs used to pick up the lemons, and just left them sitting in the water tray under the soda-fountain. It was something beyond laziness. It took longer than it should have for someone to come to the register and take out order. Then it took twice as long as it should have to make our order (by the time they started making it, we were the only ones waiting). They gave far fewer fries than they should have, and they messed up the order. I don't mean by forgetting one topping, or adding one extra, I mean I got a completely different burger. It this time it took much longer than it should have to make me what I had ordered. By the time I got the burger, my fries were cold. Tasting them I could tell that they weren't cold only because of my waiting, but because they had been sitting for a while after being made. Oh, and I forgot the mention the flies. They're all over the place. I'm not entirely convinced this Five Guys location would pass an inspection by the health department with all those flies around. Like I said, I'm a huge fan of Five Guys, but this location sucks. You're better off getting a burger somewhere else, and waiting until you're near a different Five Guys location to have a proper Five Guys experience.

Five guys is something of an odd place, as a burger place that really doesn't do burgers very well. Their fries, particularly the cajun fries, are incredible and I crave them fortnightly. Burgers, however, are not cooked to your specification. No matter how much you plead, the only way they will prepare them is cooked. to. death. They are extremely generous with extra fixings on your burgers, and at no additional cost, but the burgers themselves are always woefully overcooked. The staff has said they can't cook them less for liability reasons because they could get sued, but it's hard to buy that line when we live in a town with a Red Robin that has no problem preparing you a delicious medium or medium rare burger. Think you can avoid the overdone meat by ordering a hot dog? Think again. They'll split it in half to ensure that all of the juices and flavor run out of it as well, and charge you ridiculously for it, when gas station hot dogs are superior. I still crave those fries on a regular basis, but they are the only thing Five Guys does well. The fries and the friendliness of the staff here keep elevate this place from one star to two.

I have eaten at so many burger joints in Ann Arbor - in search of the best. My kids in tow everytime, they love searching out the best burger and fries on the way home from school. I've tried the locals, the big chains, the new and the old around Ann Arbor. We call it "research" so that we have no guilt for what it does to my diet. Five Guys is super simple, funny, edgy and friendly. The burgers are at the top of Ann Arbor choices but the fries (amount and taste) put them over the top into the number one spot (our three votes). I get a little "add-ons price shock" at another great local chain and I appreciate that Five Guys does not do that to us. One secret I've found is start on the second column, the small burger (meaning I think a 1/3 pounder); the "regular burger" is two patties. If you want to see this for yourself but keep the bill lower, get the single burger. I love them and hate them for stuffing my bag so full of fries on every visit. I'll be back.