Americans have spoken on one of the most important items in our national cuisine, the hamburger. According to a poll released May 16, Five Guys is now America's favorite burger chain.
Five Guys snagged the No. 1 spot from In-N-Out, which has been ranked No. 1 in The Harris Poll’s annual EquiTrend category for burger chains for the past two years.
This latest poll was conducted from December 2016 to February 2017. It involved over 100,000 respondents who ranked burger chains based on their familiarity, quality, and consideration, according to the Huffington Post.
This marks the first time that Five Guys has taken the top spot in the study. Shake Shack came in third place, followed by Wendy’s, Culver’s, and Whataburger. I’ve never heard of those last two, but I’m somewhat (pleasantly?) surprised that McDonald’s came in only seventh.
Five Guys was started in 1986 in Arlington, Virginia, by Janie and Jerry Murrell and their four sons, according to the Five Guys website. So really, it should be called Five Guys and One Gal, but that's not quite as catchy.
Five Guys is liked for its no-fuss vibe, its open grill set up, and its simple, delicious and relatively affordable burgers. The burgers are big, toppings are free, and the fries are thick and plentiful. My favorite are the spicy Cajun Style fries.
"It's a simple burger that's filling and delicious in a guilty sort of way. Five Guys is comfortable with that approach -- and it's working," Hollis Johnson wrote in his Business Insider review of the burger chain.
Joan Sinopoli, the vice president of brand solutions at The Harris Poll, said Five Guys has "shed its ‘small regional player’ designation as it expands its footprint and marketing budget along with its fandom, which is a tremendous contributor to brand equity," according to Huffington Post.
As a proud Californian, I'm pretty sad to see my precious In-N-Out bumped to the No. 2 spot. Although In-N-Out is still No. 1 in my heart, writing this article has me dreaming of Five Guys.
Who do you think makes America’s best burger?