Five Guys Cheeseburger and Fries

Five Guys Cheeseburger and Fries, originally uploaded by ~db~.

I was walking along Wilshire Blvd, headed towards LACMA, when I came across a Five Guys location. I hadn't planned on having a burger that day, but Five Guys was on the list, so I decided to check it out.

I ordered a regular two-patty cheeseburger with everything (i.e. "all the way"), which includes mayo, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions and mushrooms (there's several other toppings available, all for free). I was surprisingly disappointed.

The burger was fine, but not outstanding. First, it's a hot mess, which isn't bad in itself, but next time I'll probably leave off the mushrooms and maybe the tomatoes. Also, wrapping it in foil, even though it was an eat-in order, means the lettuce gets soft instead of staying crunchy.

But the biggest problem I had was with the meat. Using two smashed patties maximizes surface area and creates a lot of flavor, but risks overcooking, which happened here. A properly cooked smashed burger still has a bit of pink in the middle. Not here.

The fries, on the other hand, were pretty excellent. Cooked properly, they had a bit of bite on the outside, and were pillowy soft on the inside. The small order was about twice as much as shown here, with the remainder just dumped into the bag it is served in.

So all in all it was okay, and I'll be back. But next time it's their "Little" burger with a more discriminating choice of toppings. Cheeseburger and fries, about $10.