East Coast Burger Joint Begins to Expand Around LA

Photo of a Five Guys Burger by mrmatt via Flickr

Five Guys Burgers & Fries, the much raved about East Coast based burger chain, now has two locations in Southern California, albeit not in the direct Los Angeles area. The first one opened in Carson six months ago with the second opening last week in Cerritos. Another was set to open in La Habra, but that ran into problems.

But with the rights to open 30 locations, the franchise owner hints towards a Los Angeles location when speaking to Nancy Luna at Orange County Register: “We’re closer to another Los Angeles location,” he said told her. “I really wanted to be in La Habra, but that didn’t work out. We’re scouting around (in O.C.). We’ll find something.”

Luna, who blogs at Fast Food Maven, nicely describes the joint's concept: “Every meal is made from fresh, not frozen, products. So there’s no freezer in the kitchen. All burgers are hand-pressed into 3¼-ounce patties made from 100 percent ground beef. The fries, perhaps the best I’ve ever eaten, are cut from potatoes and blanched on site. By doing this, the fries — which are fried in peanut oil — come out crispier.”