Last week or so, I went to lunch with a couple of my friends, Conor and Michael. Michael absolutely wanted to go for burgers, must have been one of his junk food kicks...
So the first place he suggested was Smasburger... My response: "eh" as I shrugged my shoulders, didn't think it was the greatest.
So he suggested 5 Guys Burgers and Fries.
I had never been there, the only point of reference I had was from another of my friends, Matthew. One day he came back from lunch smelling like a fast food restaurant, I asked him where he went for lunch he said " 5 Guys". "Is it good?" I asked him? his reply was "yeah, not bad" and that was about it. So no great expectations based on his review, never thought much about it after that.
When Michael suggested 5 Guys, I thought to myself - not really in the mood for a burger but whatever... I trust Michael's culinary judgment, he knows good food, even good bad food.
Michael came to my house to pick me up (I ended up driving because his car was covered in dog hair, or so he said) and we went to Conor's to pick him up. Of course there is no 5 Guys near by and it is raining - Great! But I take one for the team and begin our lunch trek out south.
We end up taking some seriously convoluted route because of construction and such, taking a wrong turn blah blah blah... comments from my passengers about my driving - I suggest one of them drive next time. You're welcome...
Damn back seat drivers, would have helped if I had known were we were going in the first place... Just a though - I don't think the navigation team was up to par that day...
So we get back on our path to our destination and we are on our way - Woowhooo! Off the exit we go, I say we turn right, they say left, out voted, we go left, wrong turn again... Ummm navigation team, where are you? Where it hell is this place? Should have listened to me in the first place. Hello...
We double back and I spot our destination, Michael says to me "should have trusted your instincts" Agreed.
We park in the rainy wet parking lot, and before the car actually comes to a complete stop, the boys jump out and run for the restaurant doors leaving me behind - Thanks for leaving a girl hanging... Chivalry is truly dead. So I catch up to them and we enter the restaurant.
Bright white and red decor with sacks of potatoes forming the barrier for the line - just a couple of people in the restaurant doesn't look like anything spectacular. We look at the menu.
Simple, consisting of burgers, fries, hot dogs and soft drinks. Everything they make is fresh, never frozen, they cut the fries there, slaughter the cow out back etc...
We place our orders, I was the last to order, cheese burger with lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard and ketchup, I also get an order of fries and a drink. Pretty basic.
We get our order # and head for the soda fountain, pick a table and Michael comes to the table with a little cardboard boat full of peanuts. Hmmm.... kitchy... We chitty chat as we shell our peanut treats, and they call our number...
Conor grabs our bags from the counter, gets back to the table, reaches into the bag and pulls out the burgers labeled 1, 2, 3 and hands them out... We each open the foil and look at the burger, "this is not what I ordered" we all say and switch around burgers until we all get the right one, it's like burger roulette.
We open the bag of fries (each of us ordered fries with our meal) to find more fries than I have ever seen in my life! It is a large brown paper shopping bag full to the top with fries! NOT KIDDING!
If you ever go to 5 guys and order fries for a few people, one order will suffice believe me on this one, A mountain of fries - delicious! We're going to need more fry sauce...
I pick up my burger and take the first bite - Total Burger Nirvana! This thing was sooo good!
Yummy noises galore, like the scene in Young Frankenstein - MMMMMMMMMMM... MMMMMMMMMMMM!
This was truly the best burger I have ever had! I never want it to end - delicious! I have found my happy place.
There we sat, enjoying our food and eating way too many fries, commenting about the ridiculous amount of fries, but unable to stop eating them - can't let them go to waste - and we finally come to terms with the fact that there is no way, in heaven or hell, that we will ever be able to finish all of these fries.... so the game of "Not It" begins, with me losing of course, and I get stuck with the fries.
Michael is adamant that we not waste...
Happy and full, we get back into the car - we all smell like fast food restaurant, lucky us and with the bag of fries in tow, the smell is that much worse in the enclosed car... or better, depending on what you like.
The drive home was a food induced haze, I get home and all I know is that I am still full, I still smell like fast food and I have a giant bag of fries - What the hell am I going to do with all these fries?
Then I occurs to me... I can string them on necklaces like macaroni and give them to my loved ones for the holidays :)
P.S. since then, I have been craving a 5 Guys burger, even more than the In-n-Out burger...
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