Burger Guys

Five Guys opened in Medford back in June. Somehow we had managed to not try any of their other area locations before (not on purpose), so we checked it out early in July. It was right before we went away, so I never got around to mentioning it.

We stopped in for a second visit recently, and the place was humming along as though it had always been there. The burgers are tasty, and there is a long list of toppings and condiments, including grilled onions. The fries are of medium thickness, which gives them a pronounced potato taste. When I eat fries at all, my personal preference is for thin ones.

When you order a burger, the cashier yells "two patties!" back toward the grill area. On our first visit we quickly learned that this means a standard Five Guys burger is a double. That's a lot of food, and their patties are a little thicker to start with. You can order a single, which they call a "little burger" (possibly to embarrass you into just ordering the double?). On our second visit I went with a single-patty bacon cheeseburger, and found it less overwhelming and more satisfying overall.

The biggest surprise to us was that they don't offer typical burger accompaniments like onion rings or shakes, though they do offer hot dogs, which I don't eat anyway. In this respect I have to give Boston's Uburger the edge, because their burger-shake-thin cut fries combo is one of my favorites, and also because their burgers are flatter, which I also prefer. These things just kind of go together (as long as you don't think too much about the gastrointestinal ramifications).

Of course, if Boston got a Shake Shack I'd have to split my burger consumption between them and Uburger. And I don't even dare dream of In & Out—that's best left for West Coast visits.