No more road trips needed for Five Guys fans
GREENSBORO — Now that Five Guys has opened at Friendly Center, Tres Currie won’t have to drive to Concord to get his burger fix.
One day last fall, Currie craved a fresh, juicy, Five Guys cheeseburger with fries. So, he persuaded some friends at Greensboro College to make a road trip.
“It’s just an hour there and an hour back,” Currie said. “We got them to go and ate them in the car. It really hit the spot for me.”
Currie qualifies as a Five Guys fanatic. Along with the president and first lady.
In May, President Barack Obama made news when he stopped at a Five Guys in Washington to order a cheeseburger. And Michelle Obama? She once slipped out of the White House without anyone noticing to get a Five Guys meal.
The chain got its start in 1986 in Arlington, Va. That’s when Jerry Murrell told his five sons that he could afford to send them to college or start a business. The boys chose a fast-food restaurant that their parents called Five Guys, in honor of their sons. It featured cheeseburgers made with ground beef that’s never frozen, hot dogs and fries.
“People took notice,” said Molly Catalano, the company’s director of communications. “They really developed a cult following.”
In 2002, the family began to franchise the operation. Now, there are 516 Five Guys restaurants across the country, including 30 in North Carolina. The company opened four restaurants Monday.
Currie, a sophomore from Burke, Va., stopped by the restaurant at 3124 Kathleen Ave., site of the former Swensen’s ice cream shop, for lunch Monday. He ordered his usual cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles and a bag of fries.
“I love it,” Currie said, adding that he can’t eat such fare as often as he would like. “My body doesn’t love me after I eat it.”
The new restaurant attracted men in business suits and work clothes, students in ball caps, T-shirts and jeans, and moms pushing strollers.
Some waited 15 minutes to place their orders. No one seemed to mind.
As they waited, customers read blurbs about the restaurant posted on the walls. (The Willy Wonkas of Burgercraft — WashingtonPost.com.) They shelled and munched salted peanuts. And they gawked at 50-pound bags of potatoes that walled off the waiting line from the eating area.
The crowd included Lisa and Jody Stutts of Greensboro, who made their first visit to a Five Guys. They had never heard of the chain until they drove by recently and saw workers preparing the building.
“We’ll definitely be back,” Jody Stutts said.
Added his wife: “The fries are great. I could see myself becoming a fanatic, too.”
Jerry Armfield, another Greensboro resident, says he’s already attained fanatic status.
“I qualify,” Armfield said, admitting that he’s traveled as far as 100 miles to get a Five Guys meal. “The real test of a burger is how far you will drive to get one.”
Now, he lives within walking distance of the restaurant.
“I’ll be here a lot,” he said.
For all its popularity, a meal at Five Guys can be pricey.
A cheeseburger, regular order of fries and bottle of water or regular soft drink costs $11.12. Toppings are free; burger orders come in smaller sizes, and a regular serving of fries can feed at least two.
Five Guys will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: Fortified with a paper bag of french fries, Tres Currie, a Greensboro College sophomore, eats a burger at the new Five Guys on Monday.
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