The Only Type Of Oil Five Guys Uses In Its Food

Five Guys is, at its most basic, a hamburger restaurant. You can order a cheeseburger and fries just like you would at your local McDonald's and Burger King. It would be reasonable to assume, then, that Five Guys is just your average run-of-the-mill burger joint. After all, if you had one burger from one fast-food place, you had them all, right?

But Five Guys doesn't consider itself an ordinary hamburger restaurant. It almost prefers to consider itself a business dedicated to 'reinventing" the fast food hamburger. This isn't just standard PR talk — even Five Guys employees can attest to the extreme level of care paid to the frying process, including a three-stage grilling process that includes using three different parts of the grill to ensure the juiciest burger (via Insider). There's also the secret menu that Five Guys proudly shares (not so secret really), featuring a wide range of customizable options ranging from cheeseburgers with grilled cheese as the buns to chocolate milkshakes with peanut butter and bacon.

This meticulous attention towards ensuring the best quality food doesn't just stop at specific grilling procedures or customer-designed burgers. Five Guys knows that a burger isn't a burger without a side of fries. So strict is Five Guy's dedication towards serving only the best that only one type of oil is allowed to be used for frying up fries. 

Unlike McDonald's, which uses a "canola-blend oil," Five Guys isn't shy about telling the world that it uses peanut oil exclusively in its frying (via Five Guys). This includes, but is certainly not limited to, the chain's fries. But what exactly makes "100% peanut oil" such a big deal?

According to Chad Murrell, the son of founder Jerry Murrell, the use of peanut oil instead of hydrogenated oil helps give the fries a much better taste and texture. "Lots of people prefer to use hydrogenated oils for a crisper fry," explains Murrell (via Reader's Digest). "But we want that melt-in-your-mouth buttery taste that nonhydrogenated oil offers." While this may be true, the extensive use of peanut oil in Five Guys' kitchens poses one question: What about people with allergies to peanuts?

Stan Phelps Speaks tells us that Five Guys' "peanut policy" states that, while the company doesn't mean to "exclude" certain customers, they also don't want to "disappoint" peanut-loving customers. For Five Guys' part, the chain does have notices outside of its establishments to allow customers to know about the peanut products it uses. Here, Five Guys may find itself in a tough place — change its formula and risk losing customers or not accommodating customers with allergens.

As of now, no signs seem to point towards a change in Five Guys' operations, and peanut oil remains a popular choice for the company.

It's not just peanut oil that Five Guys uses — if you were to walk into any Five Guys restaurant, you'd notice the open boxes of peanuts in the dining area. These peanuts are meant for the customer and can be enjoyed for free while you wait for your food. While snacking on some free peanuts isn't something you can get upset over, you have to wonder just why Five Guys gives unlimited free peanuts to its customers.

According to Mental Floss, the real reason Five Guys offers boxes of peanuts is to keep you occupied. As an employee of the chain explains, customers usually find themselves standing in line or sitting around waiting for their food. As most people who stand around with nothing to keep them busy doing, they tend to fixate on the cooks in the back, watching them as they prepare their food. To keep customers happy and occupied while they wait for their food, Five Guys offers them some peanuts to snack on while they wait. A customer with some food is better than a customer pacing around waiting for their burger.

Unfortunately, while you can eat your fill of peanuts and more at your local Five Guys, you can only do it while in the restaurant. FOX News tells us that you're not allowed to take peanuts out of the restaurant to help prevent anyone with peanut allergies from becoming exposed.