Five Guys (Restaurant)

Top 10 things you need to know about the Five Guys burger joint in Westfield:

1) A Five Guys double cheeseburger with bacon is the definition of gourmet fast food; It’s the sensation of mind-blowing unctuousness. Bite, look at the thing in your hands, and then at those around you to confirm that they too are in thrall of some ridiculously good burger. It’s almost unbelievable.

2) Free toppings include wonderful things like freshly grilled jalapeno peppers. They also have dogs, grilled cheese and BLT sandwiches and a vegetarian option.

3) Roasted peanuts in their shell are free to customers as snacks while their order is prepared. And the restaurant also cooks their freshly-cut fries in peanut oil, which gives them an extra kick of deliciousness.

4) You place your order and pay, then walk down to the receiving area and wait for your number to be called. Eat some peanuts and get excited about what’s about to happen to your sense of flavour.

5) Five Guys is very popular. Lines can be long. But the open kitchen is teeming with workers busily frying, cutting, stacking, squirting and wrapping; it’s a thing to behold, and while the wait may be a bit longer than what you’d find at other fast-food joints, it’s worth it.

6) If you’re bread-free, they’ll replace the bun with crisp leaves of iceberg lettuce, which still tastes amazing. We do not kid about this.

7) The self-serve soda drinks machine is as close to a Willy Wonka contraption as has ever been invented. 164 different flavours are apparently available by mixing varieties together yourself. But they also have flavours you may never knew existed, like peach Fanta. Yes, peach Fanta!

8) Need something strong? Well, they serve beer! Always useful during a shopping spree at the Westfield mall. They have Budweiser (of course) and a ‘premium beer’ which on the day we visited was Brooklyn Lager, which is not exactly premium, even if it’s priced that way.

9) Use the free crayons and paper pads to express your newfound passion for Five Guys and tack it onto the bulletin board containing hundreds of other love-notes to burgers. It’s a bit cultish, but you won’t care.

10) All of the staff seem to have been trained to be incredibly peppy, positive and American? That’s not a bad thing; service with a smile is a rare thing in the mall-food world. ...read more