Several of you have sent me to this website for their taste test comparison of burgers at In-N-Out, Five Guys and a new chain in New York I've yet to sample called Shake Shack. It's not exactly a fair contest since they sampled hamburgers that were many hours old and reheated…and I also think that if you're deciding which place to go, you're going to take fries into account. I happen to like Five Guys burgers better than In-N-Out but where Five Guys really takes the lead is with their french fries.
Last night, I dined with Publicist-to-the-Stars Jeff Abraham at the new Five Guys in Culver City, my second visit there. I thought it was great both times, though not quite up to the quality of my first Five Guys, which was in Arlington, Virginia.
I should point out, in case anyone gives a damn about my opinion of hamburgers, that I'm a minimalist. If I go to a place that loads its burgers with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, relish, mustard, mayonnaise, chili, avocado, jalapeno peppers, onions and ketchup, I have them leave off the cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, relish, mustard, mayonnaise, chili, avocado, jalapeno peppers and some of the onion. My idea of a hamburger is meat, bun, ketchup and a small amount of onion, either raw or grilled. (I almost always remove two-thirds of the onion they put on.) Those of you who like your burgers loaded with stuff are playing an entirely different game than I'm playing and my views may not apply.