Five Guys

My family and I ate at Five Guys Burgers and Fries with some friends last night. The food was good, but I was very impressed with the operation. They have been open for about a week, and they are handling the crowds like they have been doing this forever. I remember that when we first opened Holy Smokes BBQ, we were struggling to get through the slowest days. Things are a lot better, but it particularly impressed me that this company was handling amazing crowds out of the gate.

You might be able to blame this on the fact that it is a franchise and they have experience. A couple of doors down, the new Steak and Shake didn't have the same success. Legend has it that they had a number of employees walk off the job the first weekend because the store couldn't handle the amount of business.

I was also impressed with the decor of Five Guys. It had a great, upbeat atmosphere. The staff acted like they wanted to be there which, in my opinion, make customers want to be there. The really amazing part was that there was no major expenditure on interior decorations or fixtures. They had the same cheap tables and chairs that we have in our restaurant, and they had signs up around the room with quotes that newspapers have made about their food across the country. Nothing major, just music and a lot of smiling faces.

My conclusion is that the people make the atmosphere much more than furniture or decorations do. If you are greeted by a smiling face in an empty white room, you'll leave happier than if you walked into a lavishly decorated place but the person you meet is sullen and seems unhappy. The guy that did it for me was the guy that gave me my food. He seemed excited to give it to me and tell me that the numbers on the sandwiches match the numbers on the receipt so that I know who's sandwich is who's. I walked away feeling good because of him.