Jason E.

Well, I've taken my time getting round to this place, but I'm glad I did, there was a tiny queue outside, me, and after I walked in, a slightly less tiny queue and help yourself fresh peanuts. The menu here is refreshingly simple, vegetarian orders aside and really why would you go to a burger bar for a veggie thing, you order a burger, cheese burger or cheese & bacon burger with or without fries, either cajun or normal. Everything that goes in tht burger is down to you lettuce, pickle, tomato, mushrooms, fried or fresh onion, mayo sauces etc. Then you wait with everyone else while they prepare your brown bagged waist extender. It has a clean fresh ambience and of all the funky signs in there, the one that I liked the most said there wasn't a freezer on the premises. I picked up my brown bag and as it was full upstairs, went down, where there was a lot more space, bigger tables and booths. I had ordered my cheese and bacon burger with all the salady type stuff, pickle, mushrooms, ketchup and mayo. It was vast. Vast and delicious. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that in this area, it just beats the Meat Market Dead Hippy, the Byron Burger and the Smoke Shack. There was a wow factor about it, a simply "F*** this is big; F*** this is good" factor. Cajun Fries are skin-on and dusted with what I think is salt and cayenne pepper. They are also excellent and plentiful. Plentiful as in if you finish your burger, you are probably not going to be able to finishe the fries. I left not thinking that I had just spent over £11 on a burger and chips. I left full, happy and wondering who I could bring here that doesn't already know about it. In the end, I guess it doesn't get much better than that.

Ela T.

I like this place, a lot. However, the reason it's not 4 stars but 3, is because, I don't think its burger is all that good, and that's terrible for a burger joint which came over here all the way from the US! If you like gadgety things, this place is great. It has the coke freestyle machine, which is widely available in the US but this machine is the first time I've seen one in the UK. What is a Coke freestyle machine, you cry? Well, it's a machine where you have lots of options to choose from, lots of cola drinks and flavours to choose from, and you can mix and match everything to your heart's desire, from Fanta to diet coke and vanilla coke and Raspberry this...to create either the best or worst drink ever. It's on tap by the way, so we are one step closer to matching the obesity crisis in the US! You get free peanuts while you wait, this is not new, they have them in GBK too but I think they must go through more crates here than in GBK. Their peanuts are nice and fresh, and makes waiting that much less painful. On the topic of waiting, you really shouldn't be waiting in the queue outside. The smart person would download the Five Guys UK app and order at least 10 minutes in advance (paying in advance), then casually stroll past the queue and go to the collection desk and query about your takeaway. OK, the moment of truth is the food. There are bazillion and one choices about your burger. You can add sauces, tomatoes, lettuce etc to your heart's content, or leave them out. The portions are US portions so I would recommend that you practise saying the word "little" rather than normal here if you have a small (aka UK) stomach. I gave this review 3 stars because the hype outlived the burger. It came in a foil wrap and by the time my party of 5 got our order, the burger/the bread seems to have shrunk a little under the heat. It was average tasting, but the feeling of eating a shrunk burger spoilt the experience. I cannot fault their cajun fries however, this is the best bit about this place other than the Coke Freestyle machine. The fries are very very addictive, although sometimes they are on the dry side. I have taken to ordering fries here and getting my burger from elsewhere at lunch. One last thing about their PR skills, I can say it was top notch. I actually queued for 1.5 hours here on the day of opening and then because my lunch time was over I had to give up. Their app was jammed by 1pm and you could not pre-order for takeaway using their mobile app. It was frustrating standing in a queue that wasn't moving whilst people who pre-ordered at around 12pm keep walking straight in. I wrote an email to complain and they offered us a free meal, literally a limitless tab, which of course, was a great gesture and a great response to their faulty opening date on 4 July 2013. Ok one last regret about this place, they do not have the secret menu like in the US, I wanted cheese fries! The Five Guys lady in the queue on the first day agreed with me, she also wanted cheese fries! Alas, they do not have it.

Julie E.

Love love love this place. We went 3 times to a five guys when in America this year so I was really excited when heard it opened in London. The burgers are just delicious, juicy and I love how you can add lots of different things to it to make it just how you want it. They always give you tons of fries so I would recommend only getting a small portion. The soda fountain is also great fun...the choice is huge!

Sarah O.

I've heard people raving about Five Guys so as we were in the area looking for a bite to eat and there wasn't a massive queue, we decided to give it a try. I was very impressed. There's free monkey nuts for a start! The burger was a little greasier than I'd like but it was soooo tasty and I'd definitely recommend getting chips - you get loads (we went for large but there were loads more than I imagined) , they have their skin on and they're coated with something delicious - maybe a bit of paprika. You choose the burger you want - hamburger, cheeseburger, burger with bacon etc then as many of the toppings as you want for no extra charge. You can get a drink for £2.50 which you can refill for free too. The restaurant has a fun American diner style and we sat downstairs in a really cute little booth. It's pretty good value for money and really tasty. Next time you're in Covent Garden give it a try if you haven't already!

Lorraine W.

This place seriously does the best burgers in town juicy, tasty and with a load of free toppings to choose from, what's not to love! Five Guys is big in the US and now they're over here and I'm totally hooked! Their regular burgers come with a double patty but they also do 'little' burgers which are singles. You get a choice of hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon burger or bacon cheeseburger and then as many free toppings as you want including pickles, grilled onions, grilled peppers, jalapeños, lettuce, tomato and a few more. The fries aren't like the usual skinny pale fries you associate with American burger places, they're skin on chips which come in huge quantities and taste gorgeous. For £2.50 you get a refillable soft drink and with over 100 flavours to choose from, including raspberry coke and grape sprite, if you're anything like me you'll want to try as many of them as you can!

Lynsey M.

I really wanted to try Five Guys last July when I was in London, however the queue was ridiculous and we had a show to catch, so I never got a chance to go. When I booked another trip to London this July, I was making sure that I'd get to try a Five Guys this time around. We headed to the restaurant for around 11:30 for a really early lunch (and to avoid any long queues). I ordered the cheeseburger (with lettuce, grilled onions and 'lite' ketchup), a little Five Guys fries and a drink. My partner also ordered the cheeseburger but got the little cajun fries instead. I was so excited when our order number got called. I opened the silver foil and inside was a burger that looked like the kind of burgers you see people eating on American TV shows; sloppy and oozing with gooey cheese. It looked perfect. The taste, however, was not so perfect. The patty was quite bland as were the grilled onions. It wasn't the worst burger I've ever tasted but it certainly wasn't worth the price. We paid just short of £30 for the 2 fast food quality meals. There are much nicer burger joints in London for a similar price (or cheaper) and in future I'll be sticking to those when I visit. The fries were good, I think I preferred the cajun ones to the normal ones. Honestly, my favourite thing about Five Guys was the Freestyle Coke machine. I first tried this when I was in Orlando a couple of years ago and it wasn't something you could get in the UK until FG brought them into their restaurants. There are over 100+ combinations to make the perfect Coke drink for you! I recommend the raspberry coke or the vanilla & cherry coke! Actually, if it wasn't for the Freestyle Coke machine I might have just given this a 2 star review.

Nathan D.

If you've read any of my other reviews, you'll know I'm a big meat eater. So when we had 30 mins to kill before heading to another great Yelp! event at The Covent Garden Hotel, it shouldn't surprise you that we decided to finally give Five Guys a try. To start, there was no queue, which I've heard is a rarity. 6pm is obviously an unpopular time to get burgers, but it worked for us! On initial inspection, the burgers seem quite pricey. But if you take full advantage of the number of complimentary toppings available, it isn't so bad. Laura ordered a standard hamburger with lettuce, tomato and pickle, and I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with mushrooms salad and bbq sauce. We also ordered some fries and refillable drink to share. Total bill was about £20. I really enjoyed my burger. The bacon was crispy and flavoursome and the cheese and bbq sauce were excellent. It wasn't until I finished mine, and then ate the rest of Laura's that I realised how unseasoned and flavourless the patties are. They may be pure beef, and yes, there are two of them between the buns, but still, a bit of salt and pepper wouldn't go a miss. The fries on the other hand would benefit from less salt. Maybe if you put the fries IN your burger then it would be perfect?! So salty fries mean you need a drink and this is where Five Guys wins. There were flavours of pop I'd never even tried. Cherry Fanta was amazing! I'd happily go back again, but it still isn't the best burger in London!

Naila M.

Wow - what a juicy, meaty flavour explosion in my mouth. Everyday I walk past this place and there is a huge line out around the store. It's location right between Covent Garden and Leicester Square has always put me off a bit, purely on the basis of how crowded the area is after work and pre-theatre. I'm glad hunger called and I stopped in this time to give it a go. I ordered a standard burger with the works. And I mean, THE works. Oh and add a side of fries with that. I wasn't even hungry but I devoured the thing. It was delicious. Without the wrapper I probably wouldn't have guessed it was a chain burger. I wouldn't say gourmet, but not a chain. The meat was textured and had so much flavour, the bread was decent (not fantastic) and not soggy, but the fillings and sauces were the best part. Top it up with stuffings of Cajun skin-on fries, free buckets of peanuts in the shells and free refills of soda and you've got a pretty great, quick and casual dining experience. Forget date nights here but a good place for solo or casual friendly dining. I'll be back!

Alex L.

I came here with both great excitement and great anxiousness, as I just moved from the states and have been craving Five Guys for quite a while now. I came last weekend, but the line was too long - so I tried again today... and success! I was already expecting the burgers not to be as good as the ones in America, just because London is at the early stages of a burger revolution and the Five Guys model isn't completely replicable across the pond. But, that being said, it came very close. Burger (7/10) - I would give American Five Guys burgers an 8/10, and this one came very close, though it wasn't exactly the same. As Edward said, it's going to be a sloppy burger, it's going to be greasy... but it's going to also be very good. This is the way a proper American burger should be! Dripping in grease, mayo, mushroom juice, melted cheese... etc. I agree that the price is a bit punchy, but the same thing at other burger joints (e.g. Byron) are easily over £15 per person for a lower quality burger. Fries (9/10) - This is where they got it right. The fries taste exactly the same as they do in the states. With the cajun seasoning, these babies are untouchable. Plus, you get the friendly extra scoop in the bag - so really you only need a small, and potentially a regular to split between two grown men. The taste is spot on, though you might need a drink handy. Drink fountain (10/10) - I was very worried that Five Guys would not bring the retro-futuristic drink fountains over... but they did! Over 100 different combinations of drinks you've only imagined at your fingertips. The only drawback is that the queue might get a bit long because there are so many choices and you want to try everything! In total it cost me £14.50 for a cheeseburger (double-patty), regular fries (enough to feed two), and a drink. Well worth it, and it's about the price that I would pay for this quality burger in London. Will definitely be back.

Nick S.

Let's keep this simple- I love burgers, and I love Five Guys. While London is literally bursting with delicious burger joints, Five Guys is still king in my book. And this location keeps that title going strong. Despite being an ocean apart from its brothers, it's all basically perfect. The bun, the meat - hell, the *mayo* - it's all as it should be. The only caveat is the fries don't seem to be as dark and crispy; maybe they're not double-cooked? Who knows, but it's a small difference in a sea of flawless burger goodness. I've read a few snobby reviews of Five Guys in London, but if you trust your stomach (and the giant line outside) you can't go wrong.

Brian C.

I like Five Guys. They do good burgers and the drinks machine is mega cool. So I feel annoyed with myself for having to knock a star off for this particular trip. Here's why: I've been enough times now to know what to expect. I finally broke and got a hotdog this time (I'd tried it before but never had one to myself) and sadly it wasn't properly hot. From the looks of things it had only been cooked on one side which was not how is seen them done before - and oddly it was cooked much faster than I'd previously seen. Usually it takes longer than the burgers to cook, but strangely this time it was much faster. So that killed a point, along with the floor which is always slippery here! It feels like your walking on ice sometimes. But anyway, I think they had an off day, and I'd normally give them a four.

Pascal B.

There can be quite a line to get in, tip: Order online on your iphone on your way and skip the line - you can still eat in! Finally a place in London with grape soda :-)

Omar A.

Best Burger Ever!!! First of all, i try the little cheese burger and it was awsome. the melted cheese and the juicy burger Although there was a long cue there, the free peanut was a great idea Finally, i highly recommend u to go there for a delicious fastfood dinner