{"id":244515,"date":"2011-09-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-02T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/dining-with-frank-sabatini-jr-burgers-on-the-double-five-guys\/"},"modified":"2011-09-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-09-02T07:00:00","slug":"dining-with-frank-sabatini-jr-burgers-on-the-double-five-guys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/dining-with-frank-sabatini-jr-burgers-on-the-double-five-guys\/","title":{"rendered":"Dining with Frank Sabatini Jr.: Burgers on the Double: Five Guys"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dining<\/a>
Expect generous portions at Five Guys. (Photo by Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

670 University Ave., San Diego 92103 (Hillcrest)
\n(619) 299-9105
\nPrices: Burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and fries,
\n$2.69 to $6.59<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve gone this long without pigging out at Five Guys, which recently expanded into Hillcrest, there are three things you should know before surrendering your appetite to the Virginia-based burger chain: (1) The bulk peanuts that greet you in big open boxes are free and it\u2019s okay to discard their shells on the floor; (2) standard-size burgers listed on the menu in singular context are actually constructed with two patties; (3) and a regular serving of fries will cost you 620 calories. (Read ahead for the explanation.)<\/p>\n

At a time when the burger craze is at a record sizzle, the companies flipping them must clearly distinguish their recipes from the joints down the block in order to keep us engaged. The homegrown Burger Lounge, for instance, captivates us with its grass-fed beef served on molasses-kissed buns. Smasburger lives up to its name by applying weights to the burgers as they cook, which in theory seals in their juices. And as any burger aficionado knows of In-N-Out, super-fresh garnishments and a catchy secret sauce have done wonders for snatching a sturdy slice of the market from the \u201cclown\u201d and \u201cking.\u201d<\/p>\n

The magic formula at Five Guys is that customers get super-sized without even asking. Aside from receiving double burgers, a regular order of fries cut onsite from Idaho potatoes far exceeds what an average mouth can consume. Boasting medium thickness and fried in peanut oil, the spuds are stuffed upright into cardboard cups, which are then buried over with more fries. The brown bags used for packaging all of the food orders prove their utility here.<\/p>\n

Burgers are sized just right, not pitifully thin or obnoxiously thick. They come with a decent choice of garnishments at no extra cost \u2013 saut\u00e9ed mushrooms, fresh jalapenos, green peppers, grilled onions and more. Ask for cheese (60 cents extra) and you get Kraft American singles melted between the patties and on top. For those arriving with dainty appetites, the menu offers \u201clittle burgers,\u201d which is Five Guys speak for single patties.<\/p>\n

After several visits, I discovered my blissful condiment combination
\nfor the cheeseburger\u2014raw onions, mayo, mustard and relish from bread-and-butter pickles. The latter adds a wet sweetness to the scheme and a nostalgic flavor that largely goes missing from modern-day burgers.<\/p>\n

Hot dogs are sold four different ways: Plain, with cheese or bacon or both. They\u2019re split lengthwise and griddled to a texture resembling fried bologna. Being a stickler for steamed, concession-style dogs that steep for hours in fatty water, these aren\u2019t my favorite. And if size matters, they measure only about five inches long.<\/p>\n

The concise menu obliges to those occasional vegetarians who get dragged in by their flesh-eating friends. The veggie sandwich allows them to choose any or all of the organics from the list of burger fixings. There\u2019s also a grilled cheese sandwich layered so generously with the yellow stuff that it begs for a bowl of tomato soup, which unfortunately isn\u2019t on the menu. Nor are desserts. For a quick sugar fix, we conclude at Uncle Biff\u2019s Killer Cookies two doors down.<\/p>\n

To those wondering how the 25-year-old burger chain got its name, the business was started by a back-East couple raising five sons. They\u2019ve since encroached on more than 40 states and parts of Canada. And if it\u2019s any coincidence, Hillcrest marks the company\u2019s fifth location in San Diego.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

670 University Ave., San Diego 92103 (Hillcrest) (619) 299-9105 Prices: Burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and fries, $2.69 to $6.59 If you\u2019ve gone this long without pigging out at Five Guys, which recently expanded into Hillcrest, there are three things you should know before surrendering your appetite to the Virginia-based burger chain: (1) The bulk peanuts […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":244516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Dining with Frank Sabatini Jr.: Burgers on the Double: Five Guys","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}