Tuesday, 07 August 2012

• Five Guys v. In-N-Out

  There have been some new developments in the W Household that are not good news so I will take a moment to blog about something a little more fun than the financial concerns.

   

  Mr. W and I visited Five Guys in the city of West Covina, we were out "shopping" in that general area.  Having lived in California my whole life, we've had a lot of experience enjoying In-N-Out burgers, or local mom-and-pop shops, so this was a little different for us.  Mr. W ordered a bacon cheeseburger with "everything."  That would mean mayonnaise, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions and mushrooms, and mustard and ketchup.  I ordered a "little" cheeseburger with everything.  We each had a soft drink and shared a regular order of fries.  Typically, when we go to In-N-Out, I order a cheeseburger (I'd get the double-double if I was really hungry) only with bread, meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato and grilled onions.  I've had the burgers with spread, but I am not really a fan of it.  Mr. W likes the double-double animal style--bread, meat, cheese, lots of "spread," grilled onions, pickles, lettuce and tomato.

   

  The Good:

  • Lots of topping options.  Not many fast food-type burger places offer mushrooms or steak sauce without it being a specialty burger.  They have bacon available, which is good.
  • Decent burger.  Liked that the patty was not solid like burgers cooked from frozen patties, like at McDonalds.
  • Vegetables on burger were fresh--even the pickle was crisp.  There wasn't too much mayonnaise on the burger.  Most often when I eat out, and mayonnaise is offered on a sandwich, I usually ask for it to be served on the side or simply omitted.  But, I decided to try the burger as it was intended.
  • Bright, simply decorated dining room.
  • Thick-cut fries were tender inside, but not too crisp.  Which I don't mind because I am one of those strange people who happen to like them that way.
  • Free peanuts to snack on while you wait for food.
  • Diet Sprite available--not many fast food restaurants offer diet sodas other than Diet Coke/Pepsi and unsweetened iced tea.  Some places have Minute Maid Lemonade Lite.  I know, diet soda has all kind of chemicals and whatnot, but unfortunately I'm hooked.  Trying to cut back, though.
  • Men's facilities were clean.  I didn't use the restroom but Mr. W.  He said it was clean.
  • Open-style kitchen looked pretty clean.
  • Cashier was friendly.

   

  The Bad:

  • Pretty expensive for a fast food type burger.  I would say that the "little" burger options are comparable in size to In-N-Out burger, but they were at least a dollar more expensive.  (I'm comparing hamburger and cheeseburgers only because In-N-Out does not offer bacon.)
  • Mr. W ordered and bacon cheeseburger but when we received said bacon cheeseburger there was no bacon in it.  After he scarfed down his burger, I asked him why he didn't say anything.  He said he was hungry and didn't care at that point.  So, I cannot say if the bacon was good (or at least on his account).
  • While it wasn't difficult to snag a table to sit at, every table was dirty.  They weren't covered in trash, but there were small soda spills and crumbs on every available table at the time.
  • The "grilled onions and mushrooms" didn't have much caramelized color/flavor, and were very moist, kind of like veggies that have been steamed.  They were not disgusting, but pretty bland.
  • The burger patties themselves were pretty bland.  They have salt and pepper packets but you would think that with all those toppings, you wouldn't miss it.  Plus the "little" burger lived up to its name, barely covered about 60% of the bun.
  • The bun was warm and soft, but after they were wrapped, it got squished.  Also the bun, when it absorbed moisture from the burger toppings, it fell apart.
  • People with severe peanut allergies should probably not eat here.  Roasted peanuts in the shell, and peanut oil to cook the fries.

   

  All in all, it wasn't horrible.  The concerns are minor things.  I would go back if I wanted a burger and I was close to one.  This is not a place I would go out of my way to eat it.  I'm not sure if I am biased, or just have preferences because In-N-Out was here first, but I prefer In-N-Out Burger over Five Guys.  Five Guys got some extra points for the fries, because I don't care for the fries at In-N-Out.

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