Love them. Better than most “real restaurant” burgers I’ve had (and I’ve had many) and MUCH MUCH better than a fast food burger. I love the fries too.
I have had them once. I was surprised to order the regular burger and get two patties. I guess you have to order the “small” to get one patty, which I would prefer. We took a ton of fries home and enjoyed them later.
I want to go back.
You are so wrong about the fries. Their fries are the best fast-food fries I’ve ever had. Unpeeled fries are all kinds of awesome, but different strokes and all. They actually taste like the potatoes they’re made from. If I could get an In-n-Out Burger with Five Guys fries, that would pretty much be the perfect fast food meal for me.
edit: Yes, I always order the junior or small or whatever they call it. The single patty is just the perfect amount for me, but I’m the type of person who tend to prefer a thinner (1/4 pound and under) burger to pub burgers (1/2 and up). If you like the bigger, thicker burgers, you’re going to be disappointed with Five Guys. They also cook the burger through (no medium rare orders or anything like that), so if that’s important for you (and it is important to me for thick burgers, but not fast food style burgers), be forewarned. Just have your expectations set correctly: this is going to be a traditional, American fast-food-style burger, not some gourmet experience.
I enjoyed that it was the only place I’d been which puts relish (if you wish) on them. Sit outside though if you don’t like blasting loud music.
So have they improved the cooking method for the fries? I haven’t had a 5 Guys in at least 12 years, so I would hope they did something to make them more palatable.
Sorry, but I’ve never found one anywhere that came close. The closest was a place in New York City that claimed they had the best hamburgers in the city, but they were a quantum leap below Five Guys. Hamburgers in local places are undistingushed, not as juicy, and have no options other than lettuce, tomato (usually tasteless), or onions.
There was only one place in the world that could touch them for fries – a french fry place on the pier at Old Orchard Beach in Maine that I visited 25 years ago. When I returned there about two years ago, it was gone. The peanut oil makes all the difference.
If you notice, Five Guys consistently is named by restaurant critics as the best burger in their area – in every area they set up. They aren’t an every day meal because they are very high in calories, but they are the gold standard for hamburgers.
Good fries. Dry, overcooked burgers—surprisingly palatable as far as dry, overcooked burgers go, but they are definitely dry and overcooked. I wouldn’t turn my nose up at them, but I’ve seen no need to seek them out again after trying them once.
I wouldn’t know. The first time I had Five Guys was about a year to two years ago, when they first entered the Chicago area market. The fries are excellent, but everyone has a different idea of what an ideal fry is. This is pretty much spot on to what my ideal fry is.
And just to show you what my ideal fry looks like here’s an example from a local Italian beef stand. Fresh potatoes, skin-on, twice fried. I’m not sure if Five Guys fries their fries twice, but it sure seems like it to me, given the end product.
The burgers are good at 5 Guys, but pricey. They remind me of what Wendy’s burgers tasted like 20 years ago.
Sorry, should have put a smilie in there somewhere… I’m not offended.
BUT… I just can’t wrap my mind around someone thinking the two are about the same. Maybe I should go back and try Denny’s again, but the last I remember they were frozen preformed patties on whatever bun they had with processed cheese served with frozen pre-cut fries fried in whatever they also did the chicken fried steaks and what not in.
Again, I’m not offended, but does anyone (else) really think the two are in the same ballpark?
Almost forgot… 
I have one near my house and have found the burgers to be very good. I wasn’t so crazy about the fries the first time I went but I do like them better now. Definitely a place I will stop in from time to time.
That picture is 100% food porn. 
Charred? If anything, the Five Guys near my house undercooks their fries. I’d go there twice a week if I didn’t think it’d shorten my lifespan. I don’t care who cooks it, but a double cheeseburger and fries is not exactly healthy.
The cook the burgers just right. Dunno about everyone else, but E. Coli is not on my menu. If you don’t grind the meat yourself, you can’t trust it, and even then, it’s iffy. Thanks to some people dying from fast-food burgers a few years ago, it’s pretty common for health codes to require “well-done” burgers. (The usual spec is to cook them to 160 degrees.)
As for In-N-Out, their burgers are Bland City (you shouldn’t need some silly “secret menu” to get something decent) and their fries are pale and raw. A burger and fries from Denny’s is better and doesn’t come with a sneaky side order of evangelism.
Right. They taste like potato peels. Fried potato peels. That may rock your boat, but whatever they are, it’s not a fry, which is something made from peeled potatoes, blanched, lightly fried once, allowed to rest, then fried the rest of the way. If you don’t bother to peel them, you’re not even trying.
Well, I disagree. Let’s just leave it at that.
You have to ask for the In-N-Out fries “well done” for them to be any good. Still, they’re not even close to the same league as Five Guys fries. The burger, though, I prefer. And I don’t do the “animal style” stuff. Just a plain single cheese burger from In-N-Out. The Perfect Fast Food Burger.
One thing I’ve noticed is the quality varies between franchises.
Not in this area. 
I’m sorry y’all don’t have better burgers up your way. But if you make it down to Atlanta, please try one of the places on the linked list. I am especially fond of Vortex burgers.
Maybe that’s part of the problem. I’m willing to give a different franchise another shot, but the time I tried 'em, their burger was overcooked, overpriced, and IMHO not even as good as, say, Wendy’s.
But I will give them another shot out of respect for my fellow Dopers. Maybe I caught them on a bad day.
…Or maybe I didn’t have a real appreciation for just how many great burger places there are in Atlanta. Maybe other parts of the country are deprived. 
ETA: A little googling reveals to me that the Wall Street Journal in fact called Atlanta the burger capital of America. So maybe we just have high standards! 
I have never once finished an order of fries there. Tasty enough, but even the small order is too friggin’ huge.
I like the burgers, but I wish they had a condiments bar.
I don’t eat peanuts. Not a draw for me at all.