Five Guys Burgers and Fries
1620 Margaret St
Jacksonville, FL 32204
(904) 425-3380
Two or three times a month, an office bound friend of mine requests a meal from Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Being the good friend that I am, I always oblige. Jacksonville, Florida has several locations of this chain restaurant available. The location that is closest to the downtown district is in the historic neighborhood of Riverside. Every single time that I visit this location, there is always a great attitude in the staff and a manager is working in the exposed kitchen. On this stop the manager, Jason Beard, even introduced himself to me.
My friend that I order for is a big fan of the bacon double cheeseburger, all the way, add hot sauce. That is not how you order the double at the restaurant. When you order a burger at Five Guys you should know that all of the ‘burger’ orders are already doubles…unless of course you get one of the little burger choices. These are the single patty sandwiches and this is what I ordered. For him a bacon cheeseburger all the way with hot sauce; for me a ‘little’ cheeseburger with only mayo, ketchup and mustard. Along with the burger order I included an order of the fries. You should know that my ‘little’ burger was less than $4.00.
If you have not been to a Five Guys, let me give you a little idea of the atmosphere. It is your basic walk up to the counter kind of quick burger place. They offer peanuts to snack on while you are in line and are cooking your food. Every one of their places that I have been to has stacks of 50 lb. bags of potatoes piled on top of each other in the restaurant area. A neat little novelty that F.G.B.F. (that’s what I am going to call them from now on) has is that they take great pride in their potatoes and what city or farm they are from. Somewhere in each F.G.B.F. they post the location of where today’s fries came from. You will place your order at the counter, pay, get a cup for your drink (Coke products) and watch n wait. When your meal is ready they will yell the number that appears on your ticket. Be aware that if you order fries, they will be very hot. They also will over fill your cup of fries to the point where you will end up with a bag that is half full of extra fries. So, I grabbed my Diet Coke and sat near the counter/kitchen. When my food was up, sure enough… they yelled my number. Then I got the bag, grabbed some napkins, and then sat back down. Even though I was going to take my friend his lunch, I was ready to eat right then and now. Sitting there I opened my ‘little’ cheeseburger and grabbed the excess fries that filled the bag. It was then (and purely by accident) that I discovered I like mustard on my fries. Even though they have vinegar available to put on the fries, I stuck with the mustard and ketchup. The vinegar on the fries is especially popular for the people from the Mid-Atlantic and up North. F.G.B.F.’s are based in the Washington D.C. area. This should explain the vinegar.
The burger from F.G.B.F.’s is a great sandwich. If you are looking for consistency and a friendly atmosphere you should definitely swing by a F.G.B.F.’s. Now if you have been to one in the past, I am sure that you have been back. Or if you are one of my good friends then I am certain you will either meet me up there or send me to get your lunch for you. Find the nearest location and look at the menu online at www.fiveguys.com
Review by Pie, email: pie@piesplate.com
I must say a combination of Ketchup and mustard mixed together is really good.