Bay Area Foodie

I didn’t know anything about Five Guys until I saw President Obama on CNN leaving the White House to grab a bite. Really, are they that good I thought to myself? Well, the east coast chain has come to San Jose so Mike and I went to try it out.

In the Bay when you think burgers most think In-N-Out so here is a comparison of the two burger giants:

5G = Five Guys           INO = In-N-Out

The beef: 5G meat was tender, juicy and fresh – best part of the burger. I’d give them the edge over INO.

The bun: 5G bread was cold and tasteless. INO has a far superior bun that is baked-in house and toasted.

The condiments: 5G does have more toppings to choose from including BACON plus free mushrooms & jalapeno peppers but they had no flavor. I didn’t even taste my shrooms. INO has less options but better taste.

The fries: 5G fries tasted like ore-ida straight from freezer. I couldn’t eat them. INO has its own fry issues…after 1 minute they go cold and I don’t know why they are so stingy with the salt.

The ambiance: 5G line moved fast, the employees were nice and it doesn’t have that weird INO smell that gets embedded in your clothes and car. INO is always slow no matter if you go inside or drive-thru but the employees are nice.

The decor: Both have very minimalist approaches using only red & white but at least INO jazzes it up with palm trees. 5G is straight kinko’s.

So, overall I don’t think Five Guys Burgers are worthy of leaving the oval office for. The meat would bring me back if I was in the general area but I wouldn’t go out of my way to find it.

Note: Five Guys in San Jose has a good amount of outdoor seating and when we went on a Friday night the international buffet next door was jammin’ the reggae music which was great.

Website: http://www.fiveguys.com/

Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Jose, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: Five Guys Burgers and Fries, review, san jose |