Restaurants
Five Guys Burgers and Fries (Woodbridge)
Five Guys Burgers and Fries has finally arrived in the GTA. I have to drive to Woodbridge for this meal, but the chain (sometimes referred to as an East Coast version of In-and-Out) also has a location in Mississauga, is opening in Scarborough soon and will be expanding to Brampton and the downtown Toronto core before all is said and done.
In other words, Five Guys is coming soon to a neighbourhood near you. So what should you expect?
The vibe as we walk into Five Guys is gritty and urban. Unlike the warm family restaurant atmosphere many fast food chains promote, Five Guys is a giant sterile room with blaring 80's rock, plain tiled floors, white walls and gaudy plastic signs. Like the difference between a bar and a brewery, Five Guys is more of a burger factory than it is a restaurant. This is not a bad thing.
Equally austere is the menu. There are no salads or chicken strips. You can have burgers, hotdogs and fries. For vegetarians, they offer a kids menu grilled cheese sandwich, or, no joke, burger toppings in a bun. This "veggie sandwich" will cost you $2.99.
I order a cheeseburger and my companion a hamburger. All regular burgers are double patty behemoths, with "little" versions available as a one patty alternative.
A wide variety of toppings -- mayo, relish, onions, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, jalapeno peppers, green peppers, steak sauce, bar-b-q sauce and hot sauce -- are all free and can be loaded on to your hearts content.
For some reason, Five Guys also offers complimentary peanuts in giant tubs. I don't know what peanuts have to do with burgers, but they're tasty and remind me of baseball games. They also help kill the eight minutes or so it takes for our orders to be ready.
My cheeseburger ($7.49) is a sopping, greasy monstrosity. It's delicious. The sesame seed bun, slightly toasted and seemingly purposely deformed, is delightfully forgettable. It serves only as a means to hold the burger and at this, it only partially succeeds; it soon falls apart amid an indulgent mix of melted American cheese, grease and beef drippings. The toppings are fresh too, not a limp brown lettuce leaf or droopy yellow tomato slice in the bunch.
The patty itself is typical flat-top style, slightly crumbly and cooked to well-done (Five Guys only serves well-done burgers). The beef is moist and well textured, but lacks significant flavour and seasoning.
The meat used is definitely fresh (Five Guys flaunts the fact their restaurants have no freezers) but the quality just isn't up to snuff compared to a place like The Burger's Priest. This is to be expected from a chain however, and it's still miles ahead of most other franchise fast food options.
The hamburger ($6.49) is equally daunting and satisfying. Roughly the size of a softball, my companion has a hard time fitting the burger in her mouth. Petite eaters, you have been warned.
The fries ($3.49, regular size) are crispy and slightly overcooked, which I happen to like. The chunks of fresh cut potato are huge and come in a ridiculous portion skin-on. The Cajun fries are dusted with a smoky chili powder that is tasty, but my preference is for the plain variety.
Five Guys is not a gourmet burger. There is no foie gras to be found on the premises and you will be in and out in less than thirty minutes. That said, although it might not compete with some boutique burgers in Toronto, for those seeking a no frills quickie Five Guys is an excellent choice. When compared to other fast food options, it actually becomes a bit of a no brainer.
In other words - it's definitely been worth the wait.
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I'm so excited to have one here. I just wish it was closer to the subway!
Nom.
Atmosphere was fun, made us forget that we were in a sterile strip mall in the middle of nowhere.
For that price point, both South St. Burger & Lick's are much, much better.
I prefer Gourmet Burger Company; they have about 4 locations now in Toronto; much better burger.
South St. is my 'large chain' fav....
Burger's Priest is also quite good, my top 'indy'
Of all the fast food chains, its BK that is undoubted worst overall (what terrible fries) ....but McDs is only has fries, its burgers are less than forgettable and Wendy's is only slightly better.
A proper array of burger chain's in this town would be South St., GBC and 'old school' Lick's
five guys is overrated and definitely overpriced.
every sunday i kneel down in my pew and ask the Lord when he will motivate the evangelical owners of in n out when he (or she) will expand their operation eastwards and northwards. so far, the Lord is making an atheist out of me.
Glad to see Five Guys here in Canada, I work close to the Woodbridge location and definitely will be stopping by soon. By the looks of it, it's the way a burger should be. Burgers were meant to be of this sort, yes with processed American cheese! that is what In N Out and Shake Shack use, slightly crumbly, cooked on a flattop, and thin. But it is disappointing that they can only cook it well done.
And why would a vegetarian eat there? Well, in my case, mr leny is a carnivore and I'll be accompanying him. Glad to know there will be something I can eat other than french fries.
The answer to the peanut thing, has to do with an Old Southern tradition. Sadly, Arlington, VA is no longer part of what true Southerners in the States consider the South anymore.
Oh and btw, i'm not a tree hugger or a vegetarian, I eat meat.
My beef (nopardonpun) is the rate that these burger bars and beef outlets are popping up. You see a burger bar or fast food burger joint literally every few blocks. It is the same as coffee bars, these are just beef bars serving pre measured orders of red meat to satisfy carnal unhealthy addictions people do not even realise they have.
Eat it now and again, np. Red meat is not meant for continual consumption in our diets, its grossly unhealthy and bad indicator of western society. Chill out on the beef people, especially this low grade s@#t. Smarten up.
Also, going to debate the southern tradition thing va in ca.
I think you get unshelled peanuts to keep you busy while you wait when they get slammed and to fill you up so when you leave your like "damn i'm full" They would rather serve you 4 oz patties and free peanuts then 6 oz's of beef per serving.
Would love to hear of this beef and peanut tradition from Virginia (please enlighten) but I am gonna go with economics.
agree that bugers priest has a slight edge on flavour and texture but the toppings at five guys push them to the top.
nothing better than five guys in my mouth
won't bother going again.
Then we had a Five Guys when we lived in Calgary, and were sad that the only Five Guys we knew of in Ontario was Kingston.
Upon discovery, we have now enthusiastically tried both the Vaughan and Mississauga locations. We felt that they were jipping us on patty size at the Vaughan location, but the Mississauga one was definitely better (the patty actually filled the bun). And boy is it a tasty burger!
We live right downtown (along the queen streetcar line to boot), so when reading all the comparisons to "Burger Priest," we decided to hop on the streetcar today and check it out, as it's a lot easier to get to than Mississauga!
I was disappointed to say the least! It may be $0.50 cheaper for a basic cheeseburger, but they don't have the topping choices either, such as no mushrooms, and the patty did not taste seasoned at all (which was someones criticism of Five Guys). We are actually on our way to McDonalds now for their 1/3lb Angus Mushroom & Swiss burger because we're still starving after the grocery-store mini-bun and mini-patty burger from Burger Priest.
I think Burger Priest is going to lose some business when the Five Guys downtown location opens, as long as they stick with the Mississauga-size patties.
I think there is an element of local-brand loyalty when people talk about Burger Priest. There is nothing WRONG with them, but I don't think I would go there if there was a Five Guys in the TTC zone. They're certainly not cheap, nor are the burgers any bigger (I think smaller) than Five Guys.
And for the folks that were complaining about the lack of "real cheese" on the Five Guys burgers - perhaps you are not the target audience, because I would not trade the yummy goopy melty cheese at Five Guys for "real cheese."
I'm definitely looking forward to a Downtown location for Five Guys!
Now if only we could get Red Robin to leave their comfort zone on the West Coast...
Burger was very good,but very expensive. In the USA the same burger avereages 4.99 at 5guys - here it is 6.50- why do we get "hosed" in Canada???
Sorry. No conspiracy theory this time.
The burger is good and seems to be fresh. I particularly like the fries, they do taste good and the quantity is overwhelming. Nothing special about the toppings. Apart from grilled onions and grilled mushrooms you can get them at almost any burger joint.
However I do not think I will be going to 5 guys again because it is way overpriced for the quality and the actual content.
I keep waiting for ottawa chain The Works to come to toronto.
Unfortunately The Works is even worse, tasteless and dry.
Both FAIL!
They need to have signs up to tell people before they walk in that they use peanut oil and have peanuts out in the open.