aem wrote:
>
> L.A.Times has this story in the Business section today, about
> expansion of the Five Guys chain into California where inevitably
> they have to compete with In 'N Out.
> http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,7319175.story
>
> The story notes that Five Guys doesn't do the drive thru window--only
> sit down inside--which would seem to me to mean that they can't make a
> serious inroad into In "N Out's bottom line. And the story wisely
> doesn't attempt to compare the quality of the chains' food, noting
> only that Five Guys offers bigger and more expensive items.
>
> Being a long time SoCal resident and fan of In'NOut since inception
> I'm curious whether east coast rfc-ers have opinions about the quality
> of Five Guys' food. I think the story tries to make it sound as
> though the competition is more direct than it really is, but for the
> ordinary consumer like us, the story raises curiosity. -aem
When I lived in LA metro I used to like In'N'Out, the one close to me in
Pasadena and the one close to work facing the runway at LAX. I also
used to like the original Tommys on Beverly and Rampart and the one
close to me on Colorado in Eagle Rock.
Here in Chicago metro I tried Five Guys Burgers and Fries to see what
the buzz was about. The nearest one was in a location where the parking
was miserable. Inconveniently I recently read a review of a superior
BBQ place about two blocks away. Maybe I'll order to-go from there ...
The burgers are the flat style that's a little bit crispy around the
edge. It's a different burger style than the ones with so many
trimmings. The crispy surface is called something like "Maliard
reaction", right? If you like that it will matter. I like that but not
overwhelmingly so. The burger was fresh and tasty. Smaller than a
quarter pounder and I did not mind that either. The sauce was simple.
My wife was so-so about the bun that came with it. It was a little
more like grocery store buns than Tommys or In'N'Out but it was toasted.
Over all I figure the burger itself beat Wendys and largely matched
Carls Jr or Hardees. Other than the crispy surface that would be sure
to please some, I didn't get the raves about it. Good yes, raving good
no.
Then I bit into one of the fries. OMFG. They use the Brussels system
of cooking them twice at two different temperatures. I don't know if
they use two different oils. Cooked to perfection brown but not dark
brown. Crispy to the point of crunchy. The order taken from the
draining rack seconds before our order was called. If you want to find
better fries there's maybe one place in all of Chicago metro that
"might" be able to beat them by a *tiny* amount - And Hot Doug's only
does their duck fat fried fries one day per week. In most metro areas
you'd be lucky to find fries this good even at a super expensive
place. These fries stand out like Everest was transported to Kansas.
We left three quarters of the fries behind. As extraordinairly good as
they were, the portions were larger than we had any interest in. It was
tempting to eat until I was that scene near the beginning of Monty
Python's The Meaning Of Life and I exploded.
Simple decor on the inside. I wasn't there for the decor.
Go for the fries and enjoy the experience. That place in the open mall
in Santa Monica that had the top rated fries in the US closed in 1998 so
the competition for fries is completely over. Other fries places aren't
even in the dust. Oh yeah, and while you're there have a burger, too.
They are nice. It'll help complete the experience.