13 Things You Didn't Know About Five Guys Burgers & Fries

If you're a burger fan, you most likely have strong feelings about Five Guys. Some are cultishly devoted to its never-frozen burgers and heaping piles of fries, while others deride it as too greasy and too expensive. But no matter your opinion, you have to admit that it's made quite an impact on the national fast food burger scene. 

The "five guys" the name refers to were originally founder Jerry Murrell and his four sons, Jim, Matt, Chad, and Ben. When a fifth son, Tyler, was born in 1988 Jerry bequeathed the title of "fifth guy" to him. All five sons are involved with the company: Jim and Matt visit stores throughout the country, Chad oversees all training, Ben chooses franchisees, and Tyler oversees the bakery. 

Mark Moseley is the best kicker in Washington Redskins history, and after his career ended he went to work for a franchise development company called Fransmart. He first got involved with Five Guys after the fledgling chain hired them to assist with their expansion, and Moseley did such a good job that the chain ended its relationship with Fransmart and hired Moseley to be its full-time director of franchise development, a position he still holds. 

Five Guys' expansion was astronomical. Within one year of it first offering franchises in 2003, more than 300 had been sold. By 2012, more than 1,000 locations had opened. 

Oddly enough, both Five Guys and Shake Shack opened their first U.K. locations within one day of each other. The locations are a few blocks apart from one another, on Long Acre in London's Covent Garden. 

You can eat all the free peanuts you can handle while you're on premises, but you're not allowed to take them outside. "Although it is rare that a casual encounter with peanuts will cause an allergic reaction," the chain says on its website, "we want to limit the risk of someone unknowingly coming into contact with peanuts."

If you notice something a little different about the buns at Five Guys than the ones at other burger chains, you're right: They contain almost twice as many eggs as standard buns, and also leave out the chemicals and dough conditioners found in other buns. The only ingredients in the buns are flour, eggs, milk, sugar, water, salt, oil, yeast, and sesame seeds. 

Ever wonder why sacks of potatoes are scattered around just about every location? In most cases, they're not for decoration; storage is limited, so in public view is the only place to put them. 

Regular employees wear red t-shirts, shift leaders wear white t-shirts, and general managers wear white polo shirts. 

A plain "little hamburger" (just one patty on a bun) contains 480 calories and 26 grams of fat; a bacon cheeseburger contains 920 calories and 62 grams of fat (and 29.5 grams of saturated fat); and a large fries contains more than 1,300 calories.

Founder Jerry Murrell was always against the idea of milkshakes because of his no-freezer policy, but he caved in 2014 and rolled out customizable milkshakes with a wide variety of add-ons including bacon, Oreos, and salted caramel. Several hundred stores offer milkshakes so far, with more in the works. 

Thanks to its single or double patty option and selection of 15 toppings, if you do the math there's about a quarter of a million ways to order your burger. Don't ask for medium-rare, though; they're all served well-done to ensure food safety. 

Think about it: Have you ever seen an advertisement for Five Guys on TV, the internet, or anywhere else? You haven't, because the company doesn't advertise!

According to a survey conducted last year by Morgan Stanley in which Millennials were asked which fast food chain they were most likely to visit in the next six months, Five Guys fared the most poorly of all. Chains including Shake Shack and Potbelly fared the best.