Fast food is bad. The last time I ate at a McDonald's, it was the year 2000. McD's was right around the corner from my office. I had a burning hunger in my stomach and 1.07 in my pocket, just enough to get a dollar double cheeseburger. The burning hunger quickly turned into a burning pain, and I didn't think I'd make it on the 20 minute subway ride in time.
I will never forget that pain, so as a result, I only eat burgers from places that have fresh meat. Like Five Guys! I know it's a chain. Those places are all about profit not nourishment, but 5G seems different to me. The product is good and it's not too expensive. The employees don't seemed disgruntled. The interiors are clean. While you wait for your order, they provide peanuts on the shell to munch on. It's a nice touch. The ingredients are real. I saw whole potatoes in bags, ready to be cut for the fries. The patty is thin, but the meat tastes fresh and it's cooked on the griddle using the smash method. The price isn't dollar menu, but it's still under ten bucks.
I've been to Five Guys in DC and was always glad that they weren't in NYC, because I love Burger Joint and Shake Shack. But those places are always soooo crowded, and if I'm alone and craving meat, I just can't wait that long! Besides, I'm usually looking for something quick before seeing a movie, it's nice to have the option of the midtown and downtown Five Guys.
Located at 55th St. bw 5/6th Ave in Midtown, this 5G is perfect if you're going to see something at the MOMA, the Ziegfeld or the Paris. If your movie is at Lincoln Center, go to Burger Joint because it's closer. I'm sure Five Guys is a mob scene at lunch, but I've only been there on off hours, and they still cooked the burger to order and the fries were fresh from the fryer. In my opinion, the burger at Burger Joint is tastier because it's better seasoned, but Five Guys has the benefit of free toppings like jalapenos, sauteed mushrooms and onions, green peppers and a choice of condiments. Be careful if you get the "little" single patty burger, though. I ordered too many free toppings and they overpowered the meat, but if you slide them off the burger it makes for a sort of salad. As for fries, BJ has the thin shoestring type for 3 bucks, while 5G hand cuts for a meatier fry and it's a quarter cheaper. The fries are dumped into a styrofoam cup and then into a brown bag, so there are actually at least 2 servings in there. For price, 5G wins because their one patty "little" hamburger is 4.25. Burger Joint's one patty is $7. Pictured is Five Guy's cheeseburger. It's 2 patties for 6.25.
Downtown at 496 Laguardia Place between Houston and Bleeker, that Five Guys location is good for a quick bite before a movie at the Angelica or even Film Forum. I revisited an old technique for getting hamburger taste without the actual ham. Back in the day at the Dobie Theater in the mall, we were right across from the Burger King. Our cleaning guy, Alberto worked there, so we would get food there, but we would never order the meat. They thawed the frozen patties and kept them in water before they threw them on the grill. Nasty. So we'd order a cheeseburger without the meat. Essentially a processed cheese sandwich it was not terrible tasting and very cheap. Last night, I really only wanted the fries, but then I saw the veggie or grilled cheese option. Grilled cheese on a bun sounded boring, but melted cheese with the sauteed mushrooms, peppers and onions sounded good! I'm a big fan of melted American cheese, it acts like a glue that keeps the veggies in the sandwich. Ordering a sandwich is key because it's wrapped in foil. You can use that foil to top the cup of fries to eat later. There's enough fries in the small order that falls into the brown paper bag to eat with the sandwich. Then the next day you can have french fry salad! Yes folks, for health and frugality, reheat the fries in the toaster oven and throw them in your salad at lunch. That's literally what I ate today. Kind of like a salad Nicoise without the tuna, olives, greenbeans, tomatoes all I had was lettuce, hardboiled egg and carrots (yeah, i know no carrots in Nicoise) in the fridge. Sad but true and still kind of good. Heehee!
