Five Guys May Be Lying To You About Its Fries
When you ask someone what is the first thing they think of when you say Five Guys, chances are you'll get a tie between huge burgers, endless peanuts, and fries. These aren't wrong answers, naturally, considering that Five Guys has made an impressive name for itself selling burgers and fries. In 2018, the burger chain managed to snag the exalted position as America's favorite burger chain (via Business Insider), beating out even big-name star McDonald's in the contest.
Five Guys credits its success to two main factors: food and service. While the chain does have a modest online presence, it's certainly not like the massive social media-dominating Wendy's or Burger King, or any "mainstream" burger joint. In an interview with Retail & Hospitality Hub (provided by Supply Chain World), Five Guys senior director of logistics Jason Lee explains that the company relies on word-of-mouth advertising more than any kind of big flashy promotions. If the food is good, the reasoning goes, then people will tell others about it and bring more customers in. Five Guys also boasts an impressive 250,000 ways to customize one's burger (via Wide Open Eats), alongside an outrageously intricate secret menu. While it's not as sprawling as its competitors, Five Guys does do its best to offer customers a satisfying experience no matter what their tastes are. If it works, it works!
But, aside from the secret menus and gut-busting burgers, perhaps Five Guys isn't being honest with you about those cups of fries you get.
You may not be getting as many fries as you think
If you went in thinking Five Guys makes its fries with some kind of gross secret ingredient, you needn't worry. There hasn't been any rumors that Five Guys is serving up "fake fries." There are claims, however, that you're not exactly getting all the fries that you're paying for.
According to a supposedly former employee on the subreddit r/IAmA, there's actually a sort of "illusion" being done when the workers are preparing your fries. The former employee explains that you actually pay for all the fries going into the bag. An example they use is a customer ordering a small order of fries: the cup of fries is put into the bag, and then an extra scoop of fries is dumped in. This is meant to fool the customer into thinking they are getting a huge deal. The employee explained that you could order the fries without the topper and you'd get no trouble for it.
Five Guys even talked about their huge servings of fries in an interview with Food Republic. Chad Murrell, son of founder Jerry Murrell, explains that giving the customer an enormous amount of fries is actually key for business. Other restaurants, Murrell claims, don't give you a "satisfying" amount of fries — not so at Five Guys. In fact, if some people are complaining about the amount, Murrell believes it's because they aren't being given enough fries.