Five guys strikes me a great compromise between the all-too-familiar fast food burger joints, and the $12.00 gastropub burgers. Price-wise, it's right in between. For $6.49 at a Wendy's, you probably get the whole meal with fries and drink. Here, you get a two-patty half-pounder which included your choice of many toppings or condiments. But everything else is "a la carte." Two of these big burgers, a shared large order of fries and two bottled waters ran about $23.00. Not too bad, but I was expecting less than $10.00 per person, not knowing what else to expect.
The place is clean. The staff is friendly, and the service not so fast. That said, the burgers and fries were very old-fashioned delicious. With this style of burger, there is no deciding on rare to well-done. They're just all prepared the same way, as they would have been in an old burger joint. There is the choice of a 1/4 pound burger, too. But I think I'd always want that half-pounder myself. All the topping choices add some fun to the experience, not to mention the flavor of the burger. We were topping piggies.We pounded down those burgers in that no-frills eat off the wrapper ambiance, wiped our mouths with the single paper napkins, and savored the fresh and tasty fries dipped in ketchup. Definitely a 7 or 8 on a your 0 to 10 burger scale. Also a good casual burger stop and a nice little quick escape at Fullerton and Clark.