If you've ever been to a Five Guys, you've likely noticed there aren't, in fact, five
guys working at every location. Instead, there's many employees working at nearly 1,500 locations.
This is what it's really like to be a Five Guys worker, according to past and current
employees.
Five Guys is famous for its fries. The sacks of potatoes are piled in the store for all
to see. One Five Guys worker described the ideal Five Guys fry on Reddit, saying:
"They are supposed to be firm and taste like mashed potatoes."
Yet according to a different former Five Guys employee, all the special qualifications of
the fries mean nothing if the wrong person is manning the fry station.
The employee said:
"If the person on the fries station doesn't know what he is doing, they will come out
terrible and inconsistent."
They added that, quote, "even veteran workers" over or undercook the fries sometimes. Then
there's the problem of leaving fries under the heat lamp for too long, which makes them
soggy, or the issue of a worker who has a heavy hand with the salt.
It all comes down to one telling statement from that former employee who said:
"The fries have the potential to be good if the person making them knows what he is doing."
- "The French fries are pretty good."
"French fried potaters?"
"Yep, French fries."
While Five Guys offers up big barrels of free peanuts and you might spot someone throwing
a shell or two, the chain isn't supposed to have a shell-covered floor.
A former Five Guys worker said that working the "House" shift means cleaning all of the
customer messes on and around the tables. In their words it's a, quote, "terrible" duty
and they added:
"[It's] not rewarding because there is always a mess."
This wouldn't be a problem if there were no free peanuts, but the snack is part of the
brand. While Five Guys doesn't explicitly list why it offers free peanuts, a former
employee offered one potential reason on Quora. He explained that the food at Five Guys takes
a little longer to make than other fast food burgers, and the peanuts keep customers occupied
with something to eat while they wait.
Another former employee said the peanuts distract the customers so that they won't stare at
the employees making food.
Continuing with the peanut theme, the signs posted inside Five Guys restaurants make it
clear that peanuts are meant to be eaten on location and not taken outside. Five Guys
doesn't let people take peanuts because, despite the low probability of someone getting an
allergic reaction from a casual encounter, Five Guys, quote, "wants to limit the risk
of someone unknowingly coming into contact with peanuts."
However, exactly how strict the peanut policy is might depend on the location. A former
Five Guys worker said:
"I regularly scold customers that try to take peanuts outside since it says not to take
them on the front door and on the box of peanuts itself."
Many employees and former workers reported various levels of enforcement. One said it's
up to the owner and general manager to decide, and that his location sold peanuts and peanut
oil to customers as well as let people take a small bag home because pleasing customers
is more important.
A former manager said that people aren't technically allowed to take them out of the store because
of liability issues — but, she said:
"Depending on the manager you can usually ask for a small bag and take some home for
free."
At first glance, the Five Guys menu seems pretty straightforward. There's the option
for a hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon burger, or bacon cheeseburger — all with two patties
— or the choice of a "little" version that only has one patty. While it's not quite like
specialty orders at Starbucks:
"Eight double tall lattes, one with no foam. Five ice Venti decaf percent latte with the
long straw. Four caramel Macchiatos. Double up on the cup."
Things can still get a little crazy at Five Guys with all the free toppings.
There are 15 free toppings listed on the Five Guys menu, ranging from basic ingredients
like lettuce and mayo to the somewhat more adventurous like barbecue sauce, malt vinegar,
hot sauce, and A1 sauce.
That leaves a lot of room for customized special orders, and no one knows special orders better
than the people making the food. One Five Guys worker said the most delicious and, quote,
"ridiculous" special order burger is a Little Bacon Cheeseburger on a grilled cheese with
a hotdog inside as well as the burger patty.
To make it even more extra, the worker adds lettuce, pickles, jalapenos, ketchup, and
mustard.
It's not always that complicated, though. Another worker said their usual special order
is a bacon cheeseburger with extra cheese, extra bacon, double extra lettuce, and double
extra grilled onions. What really sets it apart is that everything is in a "bowl" rather
than squeezed between two pieces of bread.
The "bowls" at Five Guys involve no actual bowls, though. Instead, all the ingredients
are wrapped in foil sans bun.
Pretty much everyone loves to be in on a secret, but at Five Guys, there isn't a true secret
menu that's universally recognized by employees. A Five Guys worker confessed that if you order
off a supposed secret menu at Five Guys, you'll likely be met with a blank stare.
One time, for example, that worker was asked for a "presidential burger" made famous by
President Barack Obama from the secret menu. Not knowing what that consists of, the employee
asked what was in it.
Turned out, the customer wasn't all that sure either, which put the staff in a tough spot
because, according to the employee:
"We can't pull out our phones on the line and look up secret menu items."
The lack of a secret menu hasn't stopped some people from trying to will one into existence,
however. There's a lot of potential due to all of the free toppings, and even if some
favorite orders lack a catchy, recognizable name, there are plenty of combinations that
work. You just need to know how to properly order them.
For example, if you want a patty melt, order a grilled cheese, and then add a patty and
any toppings you want. That presidential burger that caused some confusion is better understood
when ordered as a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, and mustard.
Everyone deserves equal pay for equal work. Five Guys regrettably does not have a perfect
record when it comes to making sure that's the case. In 2018, a case was brought against
the fast food chain that stated Five Guys paid its female managers less than its male
managers.
"Women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar
a man earns. That is wrong."
The suit claimed that Five Guys violated the Equal Pay Act, and a former employee claimed
she made $5,000 less as an assistant manager than the male assistant manager she trained.
Additionally, she apparently made $2,000 less than the male general managers after she was
promoted. The judge ruled in favor of the employee and another woman who accused Five
Guys of violating the Equal Pay Act.
Other blights on the Five Guys record include a claim in 2012 in San Diego that workers
were denied breaks and overtime. In 2013 and 2014, a manager at one of the chain's locations
reportedly mocked and then fired an employee with HIV in violation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, according to Ocala.com.
These are just a few of the scandals brought up by Five Guys workers that have plagued
the company over the years.
Timers make working in the kitchen easier. It's not hard to stay consistent, after all,
when everything is cooked for a set amount of time on the same machine. Five Guys kitchens
buck the timers, though. That means, as one former employee wrote on Reddit:
"You essentially have to learn how to cook."
Jerry Murrell, the founder of Five Guys, told NBC that there's a simple reason for the lack
of timers. He said:
"Good cooks know when food's done."
It's just one of the ways that Five Guys trusts its workers to do more than set it and forget
it.
Fries are shaken exactly fifteen times, for example, and the onion and bacon go below
the patty while pickles and tomatoes go on top.
One of the things that makes the no-timer rule a little easier on Five Guys workers
is that the patties are thin, which was a choice Five Guys made early on in the company's
existence. Burgers started out thicker, but they got dry because they have to be cooked
for longer.
The thin burgers make it easy to achieve the right texture and doneness — plus, they're
easier for workers to learn how to cook. To keep the burgers just as filling as one larger
patty, two patties are put on the standard burgers — if you want a single, go for the
"Little" burgers.
The one person all Five Guys workers have to keep an eye out for is someone they don't
even know the appearance of. Secret shoppers are a big deal at Five Guys. One worker said
secret shopper feedback makes it to the store every time, and employees are listed by name
in the reports.
In some regions, Five Guys rewards the locations that score the highest secret shopper average
per quarter with a bonus.
One secret shopper posted on Reddit that they have worked at various Five Guys locations
about 50 times. For that person, Five Guys is the easiest restaurant around when it comes
to evaluations. But that might be because employees have learned to spot secret shopper
patterns.
Employees admitted that there are certain tics they're taught to look out for because
the secret shopper scores really matter. One is ordering a shake with two to three flavors
along with their burger and fries.
Another is to watch for customers who are making eye contact with the employees — especially
if that person came to the restaurant alone and double-checks that the condiments station
is full. And though there may not be timers in the kitchens, secret shoppers often have
them. It's a lot for a worker to keep track of to make sure there aren't any slip-ups.
If you've ever ordered fries at Five Guys, then there's a good chance you're familiar
with a bunch of extra fries thrown in your bag of food. This isn't a case of employees
hooking their favorite customers up.
The extra scoop is standard policy to make people think they're getting a bargain. But
it can be a point of contention for some workers, and some customers complain that it's simply
too many fries to enjoy and they'd rather just have a cheaper meal.
The amount of waste is one aspect of the fry policy that can get on an employee's nerves.
One Five Guys worker posted on Reddit that the majority of people get a little or regular
fry. Still, some kids come in and insist on ordering a large fry for themselves. The worker
added:
"[That's] enough fries for three adults."
The employee also explained:
"[It's a] waste of money, waste of product, and the kid is already starting to make unhealthy
life decisions. Really gets under my skin."
Other employees have said that they've had customers fend off any issues before they
get their order. Customers who aren't regulars are not aware of how many fries come with
each order. One former employee said:
"A lot of people actually asked me not to fill the bags because they get oily and rip."
Five Guys has a college tuition assistance program to help workers achieve their education
goals. The company has a limit on who can join in, so it's not as generous as Chipotle's
well-known college reimbursement program that's available to all workers after a set employment
length.
On the company website, Five Guys notes that only Five Guys Enterprise and Five Guys Operations
employees are eligible for college aid.
For those employees, Five Guys has partnered with Guild Education to enroll workers in
high school and college degree programs. Each is designed to be easy to complete for adults
who work full time, and are done at accredited, non-profit universities.
For those interested in a degree in business administration, hospitality management, or
finance, Five Guys offers 100 percent tuition coverage, as well as up to $5,250 per year
for other select degrees.
College isn't in the books for everyone, though. There is, however, always the benefit of free
and discounted food. The free or discounted meals can be one of the biggest pros of working
at Five Guys. One employee said that free food is the main, and only, benefit of working
at the chain.
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