Culver City Burger Quest: Five Guys Burgers and Fries

If there is one truth about food in Southern California, it is this: We love our burgers.  From the original 1940s McDonald’s in San Bernardino, the still LA-based Fatburger chain founded in 1952, to recent successes like Umami Burger and Father’s Office, we live in a burger mecca.  Doubt that?  How many of your friends’ first stop after flying into LAX is another SoCal chain, In-and-Out burger?

Given this region's impressive history and my own love of the form, I wanted to know, what are the best burgers in Culver City?  Now, I don’t believe that I or any person could come to the conclusion that a single burger is the best.  After a late night hanging with friends, I might crave a heartache-inducing but oh-so-satisfying greasy-spoon burger.  And sometimes, I want a gourmet job lovingly designed by a master chef. Further still, sometimes I’ll get the craving for something besides a beef patty, like turkey, ostrich or buffalo.

The rating system is simple, 1-5, 5 being best in four categories: Meat, Bun, Burger Options and Fries. 

First up to bat, I chose the interloper to the Culver City burger scene: the new Five Guys Burgers and Fries that opened in the Westfield Culver City mall.  I have been hearing about this burger for years from my friends in the DC Metro area.  Many of them claimed Five Guys was as good, or even better than the LA drive-through king of burgers, In-and-Out.  I promptly forced them to give up their SoCal membership cards. CLEARLY the east coast had warped their sensibilities.  Or maybe not?  A few months ago, a co-worker, Sam, proclaimed Five Guys the best chain burger in LA.  I treated him with healthy skepticism in all matters from that moment on.  Sam thought I was seeing the world through west coast grilled-colored glasses.

So how did Five Guys stack up? Well, here we go:

My first visit to Five Guys was with my friend Donna. Dressed in all white with red countertops and red checkers (Five Guys, not Donna), the decor is simple.  I felt right at home, all that was missing were little red palm trees on the tiles.  We stood in line and pondered the menu, our thoughts regularly interrupted with the cashier yelling “ONE PATTY!” or “TWO PATTIES!”  At Five Guys, a “Little Burger” is a single patty, while a “Burger” is two, the yelling is their not-so-charming take on expediting the grill.  Also on the menu, it notes that all  toppings are free, a list of dogs and two sizes of fries with two styles.  When you order, try not to look at the calories in parenthesis, it will only ruin your mood.  So we ordered our burgers and both styles of fries, sat down and got to eating.

Meat: Nicely done, well seasoned.  They cooked the meat with a little hint of pink in the middle. Not bad at all. It didn’t blow my mind, but it was good. A solid 3, maybe a bit better. 

Bun: You can tell immediately these buns were fresh. Topped with a good but not excessive amount of sesame seeds, these buns were designed to hold up to the weight and juice of the burgers. An easy 4.

Options: Mayo, Relish, Onions, Lettuce, Pickles, Tomatoes, Grilled Onions, Grilled Mushrooms, Ketchup, Mustard, Jalapeno Peppers, Green Peppers, A-1 Sauce, BBQ Sauce and Hot Sauce. Wait, what?  Did you say grilled mushrooms?  5.

Fries: Now here is where it gets interesting. The regular fries with salt and pepper are good, however, to me, the star of the show are Cajun style fries.  Nicely flavored, maybe a bit too salty, but with a great spicy kick, those fries bring the goodness. And to solidify my fondness, they don’t skimp on the fries either.  All in all, I’d give the fries a solid 4.  That is until I went back and asked for the fries well done or extra crispy.  I now have to bump them to a 5.   

I didn’t try any of the dogs, or the grilled cheese, or the veggie sandwich, but I do give Five Guys props for giving away peanuts-in-the-shell while you are waiting and free refills at the drink fountain.  And heck, they have Coke Zero, my Coca-Cola drink of choice.  Although, a burger place without milkshakes? Weird.

In the end, Sam, buddy, you might be right.  I’m not convinced that it is better than the venerable chain we all know and love, but it is very very close.  Five Guys makes a darn tasty burger and some incredible fries.  I can easily reccomend that you take a trip to the mall and give them a shot, I certainly walked away happy.

Want to nominate a burger for the Culver City Burger Quest, drop a note in the comments!