Being from Orange County my entire life, when we wanted the unofficial king of fast food burger, we headed to In-N-Out. This past week, we saw the introduction of Five Guys in the OC landscape, specifically our backyard of Orange, California. To be frank, it seemed like an alien mothership had landed in our town. Either way, we decided we had to give this place a whirl first hand. Here's how it went down!
Wasn't sure what to expect upon entering. The decor follows a red and white tile scheme, gives off a feel of a glorified bathroom if you will. It definitely gives off a very homely feel though, from multiple tack-boards for writing up messages with crayons and markers, to newspaper clippings and a message board that lets you know where today's potatoes were accrued from.
Pictured above is the soon-to-be-famous Victor Yanie. For a short while, this guy was the Foursquare Mayor of this particular Five Guys location. If you don't understand what that means, it means he comes a lot!
What are those boxes? What are those bags?! Those are actually bags of peanuts creating a psuedo wall and extension of the line, but more importantly, they act as some awesome decor which eventually get put to use by our mouths.
You get to eat nuts while you wait (that's what she said)!
One thing I observed, is these workers are unusually happy and perky. Everyone from the cute girl taking our order to the guys in the back flipping burgers. I'm not sure what these guys are getting paid or what they're putting in the water, but these guys are damn happy. That was surely a plus.
The manager taking some time to explain how the menu works, schmooze with customers and be a generally nice guy.
This is a quick shot of my burger, sans bacon, but complete with ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ELSE available on the menu. Yes, that means onions, green peppers, tomatoes, lettuce...yes that means RELISH (new game changer for hamburgers, try it out!), bbq sauce, A1 sauce and jalapenos, just to name a few things. Given, the moisture of the burger and of my multiple sauces caused the burger to break apart about 3-4 bites in, the flavors that were remaining were completely worth the broken burger.
I thought my burger with "everything" on it was crazy...until Victor Yanie pulled out his crazy bacon burger, his bacon cheese hot dog, and his order of cajun fries. This guy truly is a FOODBEAST, and best believe he ate every last bite without a second glance.
This is a shot inside Giovanni's burger, which was equally impressive as mine, except he went with cheese and bacon. Let it be known, even the "normal" burger at Five Guys comes with TWO patties, if you don't want two patties on your burger (if you don't, go to Subway or something chief), you order the "Little Hamburger" which comes with a standard single patty.
There's Giovanni getting deep-throated by Five Guys. Burger that is.
That's a shot of the BACON CHEESE DOG. It should also be noted that the free toppings that apply to the burger, also apply to the hot dog!
And I think it would only be natural to round off this adventure with a sexy picture of VICTOR YANIE, just before he's getting ready to beast on all that food.
All in all, the experience at Five Guys Burger and Fries was great. Everything from the vibe, to the food, nothing was unsatisfactory. I'm not sure where the comparisons to In-N-Out became so heavy, but it's almost unfair to compare the two. The two brands are quite distinctive of their relative coasts...the best way I can capture what Five Guys offers is...basically a sit down burger, in a fast food setting. The patties are humongous and cooked well done, yet they maintain incredible moisture. They must be tasted to be understood. The fries are also a completely different experience, providing a personality all their own (try out the cajun fries, definite winner!) and of course their other menu offerings include veggie substitutes which we didn't get a chance to try and hot dogs.
If you're from Orange County, or passing through, it's definitely worth your time to check out this spot. While I don't follow die-hard enthusiasts who say "THIS PLACE WILL PUT IN-N-OUT OUT OF BUSINESS", I do think that the particular In-N-Out location near the The Village Mall will reel a bit in the coming weeks and months ahead. Regardless, do what you want family, and eat on!
Tuskatella Shopping Center
1549 E. Katella Ave
Orange, CA 92867
Tel: 714-532-5544
Fax: 714-532-5546
