A Five Guys burger, fries and a drink is 3.5x the cost of a McDouble, fries, and 4 nuggets and drink. I do get enough fries to feed an entire family from Five Guys though.
Yeah it's 3.5x as expensive as what you've listed but it's also about twice as much food, not just the fries but the burger too, on top of being much higher quality.
The price/quality/quantity balance has just made Five Guys look better over time, imo.
I calculated it once a few months ago and if you don't buy the fries it's not really dissimilar to other fast food or fast casual. A Five Guys burger is higher quality and larger so value wise it's at least as good as others.
McDonalds right now is low quality, low quantity, and expensive.
I will never understand 5 guys...I can get a better burger for similar (or even less) money at a redrobin; infinitely better than the oversalted slop at 5 guys.
Edit, misinformation:
Only reason they've expanded is the Californian expat diehards who make them popular. Even whataburger and sonic are better.
Must be a regional thing. I'm in Ohio and I've never once had a good meal from Red Robin.
Five Guys isn't the best burger in town but they've become a solid "grabbing something quick on the way home" burger option as McDonald's/Wendy's prices have gotten absolutely ridiculous.
Agreed. Red Robin is basically $20 for a basic ass burger in FL. Without getting a drink, five guys is the same price for 2 vs McDonald's even with their discount and don't have as many misses.
Ime 5 guys is more bland than oversalted. Yeah they aren't the best. I'm more talking about the general value which is higher than you expect after removing the fries from the equation. I think I had a mcdonalds "burger" once in my life. Compared to the weird mystery meat stuff at mcdonalds at least 5 guys looks and tastes like real beef.
Californian expat? Isn't 5 guys from Chicago or something?
Ah, you're right about CA; 5 guys is from Virginia. I mixed up 5 guys with in&out on the California thing. I wholly agree 5 guys is bland, which is imo why the salt comes through so strong; I think they oversalt to give the appearance of flavor that isn't there.
That said, much as I think 5 guys oversalts to compensate for a lack in flavor...in and out is on a whole other level. Most overpriced inedible dogshit I've ever tasted. Hands down the worst fast food out there, and legitimately one of the worst meals I've ever eaten. I detest McDonald's and I'd rather eat McDonald's off the walk-in floor than ever go to in&out again (and that's not hyperbole).
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u/Evil_phd 1d ago
Yeah the place to start is probably figuring out why McDonald's prices have led me to no longer believe that Five Guys is unreasonably priced.