Posted by Adam Kuban, February 25, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Burger Barons,
The backround: I've been enjoying Five Guys since it made it to NYC in Queens as verified by AHT. It's been a must have when either the lines at Shake Shack make it possible to drive through the Midtown Tunnel into Queens before I could even order, or if I am forced to do the death march to Long Island to see the in-laws.
The good: I've been commuting between Boston and New York weekly for more than a year now. A welcome sight on my drive is the Five Guys in New Haven right off the Merritt Parkway. Same great Five Guys from when I was in college in DC, and same great Five Guys as in College Point.
The rub: I've been raving about Five Guys to everyone I know, and finally we made the trek from Boston to Foxboro to get Five Guys. It was no better than Burger King, and I think I'm being generous. I chocked up the first poor Five Guys experience to it being new, but three further outings have not improved. Dry, overcooked beef, cold fries, the longest wait ever for food, and none of the usual Five Guys goodness. I took the time to write to Five Guys, but never heard back.
I'm inclined to give up on Five Guys in the Boston area, the Foxboro location is worthless, the Dedham location is not much better, and Five Guys obviously interested in complaints. I'm happy to keep stopping at the 'good one' in New Haven, but what am I supposed to do when the location of the crave just sucks?
Dear John,
First, if you're stopping off at Five Guys in New Haven and not at one of the many awesome mom-and-pop burger joints that you can find in Connecticut, you've already got a bigger problem than the lackluster burgers at the chain's Boston-area locations. ;)
I'm not sure if we can really help you here besides serving as a forum for you to air your grievances against the Boston Five Guys. It seems strange that all the locations there are subpar, but what can you do? If they're not listening, they're not listening. Then again, I have heard that 5G corporate reads AHT on a regular basis, so maybe they'll see your words here.
If they can't get the Boston-area 5Gs up to snuff, you'll be SOL, since I've heard that Boston is pretty bad for burgers in general.
This goes into my complaint with 5G's in general: they *don't* listen.
Overall, the fact that they don't listen doesn't bother me much. 90% of the 5G's I go to are great. The other 10% of them are downright lousy (seriously over- and under-cooked burgers, screwed up orders, loooooong wait times, etc). The workers and onsite managers are disinterested (and, with the screwed-up orders, completely refused to fix it), and my complaints disappear right into the bit-bucket.
Likewise, I've found that the Five Guys in Dedham is pretty good for what it is (a way-above-average, chain fast food style burger), but I have nothing to compare it with in terms of other 5G locations.
In terms of Boston being bad for burgers, I think that case may be overstated on here, in part because Kenji (whose posts I have truly enjoyed) likes a very particular style of burger. I've not been to many of the oft-lauded burger spots in Boston, but Highland Kitchen in Somerville usually serves up an excellent one, and I found Four Burgers in Cambridge much better than it's usually given credit for (though not truly great). For my part, more research to come...
5 Guys will only offer you a franchise if you agree to open 5 restaurants (ingenious, right?). The franchisee then gets exclusive rights to a specific territory with the right to open more. What's causing John's problem is that who ever has the rights to the Boston area is a deadbeat. When you complain to 5 Guys, 90% of the time they hand the complaint to the franchise owner to handle the response. I know this because I've complained before and the response was handled via e-mail by the owner him or herself. So, he's getting no response because once again the Boston area franchisee sucks. I would send another note to 5 guys pointing out that you've complained before and that no one from the stores in question has contacted you to address your complaints.
The Avon Five Guys is great. I always call in my order ahead of time to avoid the wait. The first time, the fry-guy who handles dispensing orders didn't call on me or misheard the cashier so I ended up sitting there for 20+ minutes thinking my order wasn't done. Eventually I asked, and they said "oh, it's been ready for a half hour.. want us to remake it?"
I was in a hurry and didn't have time to wait, so I told them I'd just take the cold stuff, not realizing it stays hot quite a while in the foil. The manager was right nearby, and gave me a voucher for $25 off my next order. He mentioned that it happens a few times a week and they're working on fixing the issue.
My next order was $35 or so, and a different manager was working the register. He took the voucher and said "you're all set."
Very happy with the service, and the food is just awesome. Burgers always juicy, fries always crispy, I've never had a bad thing there.
I'd try an 'awesome mom and pop' burger place as Adam suggests, but I haven't found one that can beat Five Guys yet..
Never eaten at a bad one down here in Tampa Bay. Used to eat at the original one at Columbia Pike and Glebe Rd back in the day, service was enthusiastic there too.
the five guys that recently opened in Chicago has been getting pretty lukewarm reviews since it has opened... haven't even tried it yet because the reviews have quashed my willingness to wait in line (as there always is when i swing by). i will get there one day but after all the hype surrounding its opening, this makes sense as to why it may suck...
Thanks for commenting! Your comment has been accepted and will appear in a moment.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it pleasant. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
Print
Burger Barons,
12 Comments:
This goes into my complaint with 5G's in general: they *don't* listen.
Overall, the fact that they don't listen doesn't bother me much. 90% of the 5G's I go to are great. The other 10% of them are downright lousy (seriously over- and under-cooked burgers, screwed up orders, loooooong wait times, etc). The workers and onsite managers are disinterested (and, with the screwed-up orders, completely refused to fix it), and my complaints disappear right into the bit-bucket.
kaszeta at 11:04AM on 02/25/09
I think that if a restaurant refused to fix my complaint, I'd never go back. Ever.
SSG Snuffy at 11:49AM on 02/25/09
Is this the same as a Five Guys Burger and Fries?
stewmeat at 1:29PM on 02/25/09
I think the one in Dedham is fine. I had almost the exact same experience there as I did in Mystic, CT and Baltimore.
zaeatah at 1:36PM on 02/25/09
Likewise, I've found that the Five Guys in Dedham is pretty good for what it is (a way-above-average, chain fast food style burger), but I have nothing to compare it with in terms of other 5G locations.
In terms of Boston being bad for burgers, I think that case may be overstated on here, in part because Kenji (whose posts I have truly enjoyed) likes a very particular style of burger. I've not been to many of the oft-lauded burger spots in Boston, but Highland Kitchen in Somerville usually serves up an excellent one, and I found Four Burgers in Cambridge much better than it's usually given credit for (though not truly great). For my part, more research to come...
Celeriac at 1:59PM on 02/25/09
5 Guys will only offer you a franchise if you agree to open 5 restaurants (ingenious, right?). The franchisee then gets exclusive rights to a specific territory with the right to open more. What's causing John's problem is that who ever has the rights to the Boston area is a deadbeat. When you complain to 5 Guys, 90% of the time they hand the complaint to the franchise owner to handle the response. I know this because I've complained before and the response was handled via e-mail by the owner him or herself. So, he's getting no response because once again the Boston area franchisee sucks. I would send another note to 5 guys pointing out that you've complained before and that no one from the stores in question has contacted you to address your complaints.
EazyB at 2:45PM on 02/25/09
Any one tried the 5 Guys in Avon/Simsbury, Ct? Now that I'm hearing some sad reviews I need to know where NOT to pig-out.
bessfour at 4:12PM on 02/25/09
The Avon Five Guys is great. I always call in my order ahead of time to avoid the wait. The first time, the fry-guy who handles dispensing orders didn't call on me or misheard the cashier so I ended up sitting there for 20+ minutes thinking my order wasn't done. Eventually I asked, and they said "oh, it's been ready for a half hour.. want us to remake it?"
I was in a hurry and didn't have time to wait, so I told them I'd just take the cold stuff, not realizing it stays hot quite a while in the foil. The manager was right nearby, and gave me a voucher for $25 off my next order. He mentioned that it happens a few times a week and they're working on fixing the issue.
My next order was $35 or so, and a different manager was working the register. He took the voucher and said "you're all set."
Very happy with the service, and the food is just awesome. Burgers always juicy, fries always crispy, I've never had a bad thing there.
I'd try an 'awesome mom and pop' burger place as Adam suggests, but I haven't found one that can beat Five Guys yet..
ratbuddy at 6:47PM on 02/25/09
@John: Make a trek to see the inlaws and stop at the Levittown 5guys
eastcoastvb at 9:40PM on 02/25/09
Never eaten at a bad one down here in Tampa Bay. Used to eat at the original one at Columbia Pike and Glebe Rd back in the day, service was enthusiastic there too.
redfish at 2:03PM on 02/26/09
the five guys that recently opened in Chicago has been getting pretty lukewarm reviews since it has opened... haven't even tried it yet because the reviews have quashed my willingness to wait in line (as there always is when i swing by). i will get there one day but after all the hype surrounding its opening, this makes sense as to why it may suck...
hookrilla at 1:04PM on 03/03/09
I thought the Dedham one was pretty good, too.
airstrikemike at 1:20PM on 03/31/09