Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Five Guys Burgers and Fries
The Pavilion at Port Orange
5543 South Williamson Blvd.
Port Orange, FL 32128
(386)675-6594
www.fiveguys.com

It has been a long anticipated wait for the Five Guys to open in the Pavilion at Port Orange. There are a number of Five Guys locations over in the Orando area, but I really don't get over there that much anymore and it is a little far to go just for a burger. I'll go that far specifically for barbecue because we don't have many great places in Daytona Beach, but you can find good burgers over this way. However, Five Guys has always been one of my favorites and I was happy when they finally opened.

I decided to give them a couple of weeks to run through all of the curiousity seekers around here and avoid the crowds a bit. They had been open for about three weeks when I finally had the opportunity and desire to head down there with my friend Kelly for a burger. The surprising thing I first noticed when upon arrival was the Red Robin right across the street from Five Guys, the Mom & Pop pizza parlor right across from the Red Brick Oven pizza shoppe and the frozen yogurt location right across the street from the Cold Stone Creamery. Has anybody ever heard about category exclusivity at the Pavilion?

Kelly and I decided to meet a little early to beat the regular lunch crowd we expected to start around noon, so we met at 11:30. Well, Kelly got there at 11:30, but I was running a little bit late. When we entered, we could see they were already getting a little crowded, but not so much that we could not get a table. We placed our orders and went to find a table. The cool thing about Five Guys is they also have free peanuts for you to snack on while you are waiting for your order.

We snacked on a few peanuts and chatted for about five minutes before they called our numbers. As always, the burgers and fries were hot and made just as we ordered them. The only issue I have with Five Guys is all their burgers are cooked well. I can understand it as they are trying to serve food quickly and my guess is if people are ordering all over the place, it would slow down there operation. I have found that even cooked well, their burgers are still juicy. The meat has a great flavor and all of their toppings seem to be very fresh.

We ate our burgers and fries while checking out the arriving crowd and enjoyed our meal. Five Guys continues to be one of the most consistent burger joints around. Although, I will interject here that my buddy Nick started out as a fan of their fries when I took him to his first Five Guys, but then turned against them. However, he recently shot me a note and told me a recent visit to Five Guys in NYC has him back on the fries again.

If you have never been to a Five Guys location and live in the Daytona Beach/Ormond Beach/Port Orange area, I suggest you get there soon for one of the best burgers in the areas. Oh yeah, their fries are not to shabby either.

For my first visit to our now local Five Guys, I have to give them four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry