The Great Austin Burger Hunt

Five Guys Burgers and Fries
3208 B Guadalupe St
Austin, TX 78703
Tel: 512-452-4300

Cheese Burger

Good, but not spectacular. Meat was well cooked and the lettuce was crispy. The bun was above average, better than the standard balloon bread bun you get at most places.

Bacon Dog

I was disappointed, but it’s not what you think. I was expecting a hot dog, but what I got was more of a brat, or a polish. Now, I love both of those, and this one was good, but it was not what I was expecting. The bacon was perfect, but on a brat, it was a bit much. Next time I will try it without the bacon, and there will be a next time.

Large Fries

Five Guys delivers their fries in a cup…well, sort of. All Five Guys orders come in a bag. They don’t ask if it is to go, they just deliver it in a bag. After putting your burger in the bag, they fill a cup with fries and put that in the bag, but then they also fill a small metal bowl with fries and toss that into the top of the bag. It was a very large order of fries.

And, they were hot, almost too hot. Even after walking out to my car, they were extremely hot. They were well salted too. Now, that is a big deal to me. Fries without salt are bland…well, let’s be honest, potatoes without salt are bland, no matter how you prepare them. So many places have gone to minimal salting that I almost always ask for salt when I order fries. I think it is some health conscious lunacy that causes it.

If I were health conscious I wouldn’t be eating fries.

Now, don’t get me wrong, they weren’t over salted, something which I am somewhat prone to doing. They were well salted, and that is a good thing. I grabbed some salt on my way out, but I did not use it. So, back to being very hot. They were tasty, large cut fries with the skins on. Now, I am not a huge fan of skin on fries, but I don’t mind it, except for the occasional fry cut from the edge of the potato.

I also judge fries on how well they travel. Almost all fries are good when they are hot and fresh, but some remain tasty for a few minutes. McDonald’s fries are among the best, but they do not travel well. 5 minutes later, they are bland, soggy, strings of potatoe. On the other hand, Wendy’s fries are not quite as good when fresh, but they travel well. 5 minutes later they are still pretty good.

Five Guys fall somewhere in between. Well, when fresh. The fries were good, but again, like the burger, not spectacular. Unfortunately, they did not travel well. 5 minutes later they were greasy, soggy, and barely recognizable as edible potatoes. I won’t be ordering the large fries again. A small cup will be more than enough.

My conclusion? Good, but not spectacular. I will go back, but not all that often, because they don’t have a drive thru…at least not on Guadalupe.