Five Guys Burgers & Fries (Galleria) - Visited June 2012

Today my teenage son decided we should eat lunch at the Saint Louis Galleria (hey, he gets a turn to pick, too) so I had to decide where to eat there at the mall. I know he was going to get a sandwich at the Charley's grilled sub sandwich place in the food court and my wife and her mother were going to the Saint Louis Bread Company (Panera) there. I wanted to try something different, so I thought I would try out the Five Guys Burgers and Fries which I have never tried. I know some folks love the food there and other folks think it is overrated, so I wanted to see for myself what it was like.

The location is right by the northern Nordstrom entrance to the mall where the Starbucks used to live. I looked on Google streetview for a picture to snap and they still have the Starbucks pictured there.

I know today was really hot and I was already in the mall having accompanied my son to Charley's and I thought it was odd I had to go outside to get to Five Guys. In any case I went inside and it was maybe a third full at 11:50 and the line to order was quick. I decided on just a small burger and a small order of the regular fries. I had snacked on a couple of my son's Charley's fries and they were okay, but I wanted to see how Five Guys Fries compared. It took them several minutes to prepare my order during which time I filled my cup of water and retrieved a small container of peanuts. I had just finished eating my last peanut when they called out my number and my order was ready. I took my food out of the Five Guys seating area and into the mall where I found the rest of my party waiting in the court area in front of the Saint Louis Bread Company and the Nordstrom eBar. That is actually a much nicer place to sit than the gargantuan food court sitting area, which feels like a scene from the "Dawn of the Dead" zombie movie:

So with my greasy bag in hand I joined the others under a skylight near the eBar and tried my Five Guys food. The burger was well wrapped in foil and the bag was overloaded with a billion french fries. I tried the fries first and was vastly unimpressed, especially after just eating the Charley's ones. Whereas the Charley's fries were rather bland, they were at least fairly crisp, somewhat meaty and had a little character to them. The Five Guys fries were a giant mound of greasy, limp, tasteless sogginess. Sure, they gave me a billion of them, but I preferred the bland Charley's fries to these things. Luckily I brought some ketchup from Five Guys along to enhance the Charley's fries.

I then tried the burger, which was actually... pretty good! The meat had a nice fresh meatiness to it, the toppings (I selected lettuce, tomato, pickles, jalapenos, cheese and BBQ sauce) were flavorful and crisp and the bun was pretty solid if not over exciting. It was well cooked but not overcooked and not too bad for a fast food burger. Was it the greatest burger ever? Well, no, not by a long shot, but I think it easily tops a typical fast food burger (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's.)  I think many of your typical "bar & grill" places make a bigger, meatier burger, but they would charge a bit more too, although at $4.49 their Five Guys little cheeseburger is not exactly cheap.

My son was actually more pleased with his Chicken California Combo from Charley's. He thought it was prepared just right, and the extra bacon he added to his sandwich gave it a good touch along with the ranch dressing. I know I had a sampling of some sub while I was waiting for his sandwich, and their grilled subs are always pretty good. (I always get the samples!) My wife and her mom were pleased with their food from Panera, and I did not mind helping them eat their cookies. My wife purchased the Chocolate Duet with Walnuts cookie and her mom had the Toffee Nut cookie. I was able to sample some of both of them. It sure beats soggy french fries!