5 Guys Burgers ~ Kanata ON

Day 2 of my Birthday Gluttony Weekend. 

Friday, 1pm.

Kanata Ontario

Since I am back in the Ottawa region relatively frequently, I try and keep an eye on the food scene. I had heard about the coming of the American chain Five Guys during the summer, and, well its open. Not in Ottawa, but just outside in Kanata (there are more coming to Ottawa soon though).

I walked in and was amazed at the machine that is 5 Guys. First, long line-up, but it moved quickly (I overheard a cashier say it was out the door at noon). Realistically, there are only a few things on the menu, and there is a rapid assembly line with lots of staff all hustling.

I ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger, with a regular Cajun style fry and a drink. I was a little shocked when there were no combos (I've just gotten so used to this at fast food) and my total came to $14.99.

You are given a number while you wait. And while you wait, help yourself to some peanuts. That's right, peanuts for free. And don't forget that the fries are cooked in peanut oil too. And free refills on Coke (self service fountain machine).

Here is my order of fries. This is the smallest size fry they have. Lets come back to that though. You can get them regular or Cajun style. I went with Cajun which meant a ton of seasoning. This was good for the first few fries, but became overwhelming salty after a couple. They did have ketchup, as well as malt vinegar for dipping.

So going back to the fries, the above being the smallest size, but realistically that is a big cup of fries. And that wasn't it.

Here is the bag with all the other fries that were on top of the burger and fry cup. Very generous portion.

Onto the burger. This is a tall one. Apparently a regular hamburger is a double patty. I should have just gone with the Little burger.

Here's the burger breakdown. One correction is the pickles are above the tomato and there is onion in there too. What isn't there is bacon. I got more than halfway through and realized there was no bacon. I thought I must not have ordered it. But when I was done I looked at my bill and I had indeed ordered bacon. Oh well.

The good: simple tasty burger. Meat has nice meaty flavour. Cheese is processed but its good that way. Lots of toppings to choose from and you can have it your way.

The bad: low structural integrity. This burger fell apart easily. It was sloppy. Pilled high but flip flops on itself.

So would I go back? Yes. Here's what I would do differently: Little Bacon Cheeseburger, regular fries, more peanuts. Maybe even trying their hot dog. It was nice to have a change in the chain burger world. But they are not going to topple the competition after the novelty wears off.

Five Guys Burgers

5517 Hazeldean Road, Kanata ON

fiveguys.com