Photo By: Elin Chow
Five Guys is a popular American fast food chain known for their burgers, fries and milkshakes. Started in 1986 with one store in Arlington, Virginia, the chain currently has more than 1,700 outlets across United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and Middle East. The first Five Guys outlet was officially opened at Sky Avenue, Genting Highlands in October 2021.
The opening of its first store at Genting Highlands has drawn phenomenal attention and crowds to its doors, with video clips of endless queues appearing on all of your social media feeds. However, I finally visited this restaurant only after the hype died down.
Unlike most fast food joints, there was only one ordering counter. Located beside the ordering counter is an open kitchen where you can watch the kitchen crews preparing and assembling the orders.
THE MENU
Their menu is tiny, with only two types of beef burgers, hotdogs, a few sandwiches, and fresh-cut fries to choose from. If you don't eat beef, this is probably not a place for you.
Five Guys serves 100% halal-certified fresh ground beef with no fillers and preservatives. There are no freezer in any of the Five Guys outlets, just coolers to keep their ingredients fresh as they do not believe in frozen goods. All their patties are hand-formed from fresh ground beef and griddled on a flat top. Everything, including the sesame-topped brioche bun, are made fresh everyday.
Besides beef burgers and hotdogs, the fast food chain also offers three vegetarian options - Veggies Sandwich and Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Cheese Veggies Sandwich. Other than that, it also offers bunless burger bowls to all low-carb eaters. For the bunless option, you can order all the toppings you want in your burger , but without the bread.
TOPPINGS & SAUCES
There are 15 toppings and sauces available that you can add to your burger or hotdog at no extra charge. The toppings and sauces list include:
- Mayo
- Lettuce
- Pickles
- Tomatoes
- Grilled Onions
- Grilled Mushrooms
- Ketchup
- Mustard
- Relish Onions
- Jalapeno Peppers
- Green Peppers
- Steak Sauce
- Barbeque Sauce
- Hot Sauce
There isn't a limit how many toppings you want to add to your burger. You can choose to add all the toppings and sauces if you want! However, if you can't make up your mind, you might want to consider ordering their ''All The Way'' burger. The ''All The Way'' burger comes with five toppings and three sauces, which include lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions and grilled mushrooms, along with ketchup, mustard and mayo. "All The Way" is actually Five Guys "standard" for toppings.
We ordered their signature cheeseburger with two beef patties to share. There are no trays in Five Guys, and all of our orders are packed and served in a brown paper bag. The burger comes wrapped in aluminum foil, which not only helps to keep the food warm, but also prevent the sauces from leaking out. We chose to add almost all of the toppings and sauces to the our burger, except jalapeno peppers, green peppers and pickles. Wow, we were honestly blown away by the size of it! The burger was enormous, and it was hard to eat it in one bite.
The two thick patties are each layered with a slice of cheddar cheese, with generous toppings bulging out of the burger. If two patties is too much for you, you can get the "little" versions with just one patty instead of two. Even the "little" burger is more than enough for two.
The cheeseburger was sinfully delicious and very filling. The coarsely ground patties are cooked well done, but a little dry and bland on its own. You can't order a medium rare, rare, or medium patty due to food safety concerns. With all the toppings and sauces added, the burger was bursting with flavors! All toppings were fresh and flavorful. But it was a little disappointing to find the cheddar cheese not completely melted.
The buns were nothing exceptional. They were soggy but soft and fresh with every bite. It can get a little messy while eating. The toppings were wet and the sauces were leaking out everywhere. Even keeping my burger wrapped, my hands ended up covered in meat juices and sauces. Despite that, it was still tasty.
We also ordered a small serving of their fresh-cut fries to try. If you are eating with just two or three people, do not order anything larger a small fries. The smallest size is more than enough for two people to share, unless you are not getting a burger. A small fries order will get you a cup filled to the brim with fries, plus a whole lot of extras thrown into the paper bag that carries your food. Therefore, you will actually get twice the amount of fries than you ordered.
The fries were quite bland, so you might want to eat them with ketchup or mayo sauce. However, they have a perfectly crisp exterior, and soft, mashed interior. Do take note if you have a peanut allergy as the fries are cooked in pure peanut oil.
CONCLUSION
Whether it is the beef, the fries or the tomatoes, Five Guys does not compromise on fresh, quality ingredients. The food from Five Guys are all known to be notoriously unhealthy. Prices at Five Guys is also quite steep, with a basic burger priced at RM 25, small fries at RM 20, beef hot dog at RM 25, bottomless soda at RM 15, and milkshake at RM 25. Although the portion sizes and unlimited toppings make it worthwhile, they are not enough to make me spend my money at the restaurant frequently.
Five Guys
Facebook: Five Guys
Instagram: Five Guys
Lot SA-T2A-25, Sky Avenue
Genting Highlands
Be sure to follow me on my Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to get the latest updates on my blog! Also, do not forget to share my blog posts with your family and friends if you find them helpful. In the meantime, you might also want to check My Wanderlust page for some of my other travel adventures.