Five Guys vent

[dis-happy]

We have 14 Five Guys in Charlotte....definitely into the saturation point for our market. By comparison, Chik Fil A has 24 locations (and that includes mall locations) and they've been around a whole lot longer.

Portland, Ore. has 4 in a 25 mile radius while Minneapolis has 2. No surprise that stores in those areas are more packed. Maybe they will be smarter about the amount of growth in the future.

 

[Lanshark]

The 5 Guys in my area has multiple signs before you enter advising that there are peanuts inside.

 

[bgirldeb]

Well, I guess you could look at it from this perspective. Would you expect places to stop serving seafood because people might be allergic to it and not come there? I realize they don't have seafood sitting around in open boxes like with the peanuts, but a piece of seafood could easily fall to the ground and not be picked up, right? Now it's laying there, for any little kid with a seafood allergy to find... you can't expect restaurants to stop serving seafood because some of their *potential* customers are allergic.

 

[DizBelle]

Do they also have signs listing all of the ingredients of all of their menu items? For any ingredient they might use, there is someone out there that is allergic.

 

[Art 1]

I have tried 5 Guys two times and didn't care for them either time. A burger from Checker's is much better to me.

As far as the peanuts go, I don't get the whole throw the shells on the floor thing.

 

[taylor3297]

The only 5 Guys I have been to that doesn't have the sign is the one that is in a food court at one of the malls. The mall won't allow that store to serve the peanuts. There is a sign stating the fries are cooked in peanut oil.

 

[Christine]

My son has a peanut allergy and LOVES Five Guys.

We either go right at the start of lunch (11:00 a.m.) when no one has started eating the peanuts. If it is crowded we just go out and eat in the car. It's a pain but it is what it is as they say. My son is 15 so we do go inside--I wouldn't have done that when he was younger. He also eats the fries.

 

[Green Tea]

I think Five Guys has great burgers. And they do have a sign on the door alerting to peanuts on premises. I have a food allergy too, equally severe. But not a common one. At least peanuts gets a warning.

 

[maraki527]

I went there and dont see what the big deal is about them. I would rather go to Red Robin and there were signs all over about the peanuts

 

[Hoodie]

This thread has made me want a Five Guys burger for dinner. Yum!

And I'm with the others - every one I've been to has signs all over the door warning about the peanuts. I don't think they'll change it anytime soon. It's a formula they've had a LOT of success with and peanut allergies are a very small percentage of possible customers. To be blunt, they don't need them.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

This thread has made me want a Five Guys burger for dinner. Yum!

And I'm with the others - every one I've been to has signs all over the door warning about the peanuts. I don't think they'll change it anytime soon. It's a formula they've had a LOT of success with and peanut allergies are a very small percentage of possible customers. To be blunt, they don't need them.

Me toooooo... *homer simpson drool*

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I have tried 5 Guys two times and didn't care for them either time. A burger from Checker's is much better to me.

As far as the peanuts go, I don't get the whole throw the shells on the floor thing.

I don't get it either. I don't love peanuts, but sometimes I'll eat a couple. If I do, I throw them away.

 

[si-am]

I feel badly for those with peanut allergies. But I don't think they should be eliminated from all public places because some people happen to be allergic.

 

[tw1nsmom]

I'm very confused. If anyone, or anyone's child, had a true peanut allergy, why would you ever go to Five Guys?

As has been previously stated, they have signs prominently displayed, and there are peanuts out in plain sight. The topper is that the fries are fried in PEANUT OIL and then placed in the same bag as the burgers. There will be cross-contamination issues everywhere. Oil that is being fried will go in the air to some degree and cover all work surfaces.

Those that say they take their peanut allergic child there and that they love the food but just don't eat the peanuts...well...I would seriously consider having your child tested again. If they're eating fries and burgers that are covered in peanut oil with no ill effects, I highly doubt they're really allergic.

For the OP, no i don't think they need to make Five Guys peanut free. No more than seafood restaurants have to get rid of shellfish to accommodate those allergies, candy stores need to get rid of their chocolate, or ice cream shops not use dairy products for those that are lactose intolerant.

 

[Sparx]

Only 1.3% of the population has a peanut allergy, but even with that small percentage, it is the leading food allergy. Places with popular allergens should have signs posted saying that the allergen is in abundance.

Most food packages lists the popular allergens in it (tree nut, dairy, etc?) so places with peanuts on tables should have a sign outside saying so.

And WHY do people throw the shells on the floor?

 

[hentob]

Which leaves me to ask: what are they thinking?

That people enjoy eating peanuts

 

[dis-happy]

To be fair (and to see how obtuse I might be ), I just now dropped off my son at tennis then drove by the Five Guys to see what the signage situation is. Many people have stated that their FG has numerous signs warning about peanuts; however this one does not have numerous signs all over the place, nor a sandwich signboard out front nor anything else like that.

There is a very big window sign saying "Best in Charlotte since xxxx" and another one that says "Five Guys". There are also large expanses of blank window. When you get to the door there is a small (approx. 7"x5" vertical) sticker down by the handle (not eye level obviously) and the first and largest words are "BULK PEANUTS" written in red, however the red words are faded out to about 50% of pigmentation, with smaller text in black warning about allergies and not taking peanuts out. That's it. There aren't any lights in the area from the parking lot either. A similarly sized sticker states "No Smoking on the Premises" higher up on the door and from 5 feet away it was much easier to read than the peanut sign.

I knew there was probably something that I missed warning about peanuts, but really, it was pretty easy to miss, especially when entering in the dark. Again, I've never been one that expects the world to cater to my son with an allergy (my dh has a killer allergy to horses but we still managed to be horse owners), and I'm not that thrilled with Five Guys in general (it's no where near an In and Out Burger) so nothing lost anyway. But it was nice to share my vent with y'all!~

 

[DisneyKT]

Me, I'm waiting for a Hooters to open up a restaurant with scantily clad men. I was hoping that was going to one of the changes made on that Undercover Boss program .... but no! I was so disappointed .

Thanks for making me laugh today. I needed it. Oh yeah I totally agree with you.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I guess I don't see the problem unless they fail to post a warning that they have an active peanut zone. Our Texas Roadhouse does. It is part of the atmosphere.

While it is a shame that you cannot partake of those establishments due to your child's allergy, it is not their burden to model their business to what you can do.

I'm not sure why you got the order anyway. I would have cancelled it promptly knowing full well that there could have been cross contamination with the food.

The only thing they perhaps could have done differently if they didn't already do so--is post signs at the entrance like Texas Roadhouse.

Otherwise, nothing wrong with serving peanuts.

I've only seen a few Five Guys places--never went inside--and I don't recollect any signage.

 

[marcyinPA]

Our Five Guys and Texas Roadhouse both have signs on the door that state that they have peanuts.

(I've been to Five Guys twice. It's not a bad burger, but it's BAD for you! I wouldn't eat there weekly or anything! )