http://www.elevationburger.com/EB.php infinitely better then Five guys. Plus they have shakes, a Vegan and a Veggie burger, and fries cooked in Olive Oil... Yum! :-p
http://www.elevationburger.com/EB.php infinitely better then Five guys. Plus they have shakes, a Vegan and a Veggie burger, and fries cooked in Olive Oil... Yum! :-p
Their fries suck so hard, but the burger is good with some Wild Bill.
The burger at Elevation wasn't better enough to matter, and 5 Guys fries are an order of magnitude better. However, the ability to get a shake does give Elevation a slight edge.
They do a garbage plate type of thing. It's called the Slayer. Also, the Earthride (10 oz. patty, red onion marmalade, bacon jam, canadian bacon, pancetta, bacon), the Led Zeppelin (10oz patty, Pulled Pork, Bacon, Cheddar, Pickles), and the off-menu Bongzilla(10oz patty, two wisconsin brats, relish, mustard, bacon, carmelized onions, wisconsin cheese curds, and some other stuff).
http://www.elevationburger.com/EB.php infinitely better then Five guys. Plus they have shakes, a Vegan and a Veggie burger, and fries cooked in Olive Oil... Yum! :-p
Olive oil is terrible to fry with. It has a very low smoke point and tastes terrible when burned.
Well, terrible for deep frying; it's *generally* okay for pan frying or sauteeing, with some exceptions. Also, like most oils, it's becomes relatively toxic (from a food standpoint) after hitting the smoke point. I'm not sure why any restaurant would knowingly fill their deep friers with olive oil. It's dangerous to the health of the customer and tastes like shit when it burns (and a deep frier will burn olive oil, it's just a question of when), would require oil changes frequently, and would be really expensive. There's a reason peanut oil and animal fat are the gold standards for fries: they impart tons of flavor, but have tremendously high smoke points so restaurants need to worry less about carcinogens and changes.
Now, all that said, they could dodge the smoke point problem by using extra light olive oil. Unfortunately, the refinement that olive oil goes through to become extra light olive oil strips it of all of its flavor but doesn't reduce the calories at all. Ultimately, peanut oil or animal fat are better options from all culinary perspectives.
Peanut Oil I can see not being used, due to it's allergy-issues. It's got to be one of the top allergies that restaurants have to worry about. But hey, when I need a high smoke point oil, I stick with Safflower.
Peanut Oil I can see not being used, due to it's allergy-issues. It's got to be one of the top allergies that restaurants have to worry about. But hey, when I need a high smoke point oil, I stick with Safflower.
Straight safflower's great when you don't need to impart flavor, or when there are allergy issues. Most places looking to flavor fries through their cooking use either peanut oil, or some sort of high smoke point oil (safflower, corn oil, etc.) "doped" with animal fat (duck fat, goose fat, beef tallow, pork fat).
McDonald's used corn oil with beef tallow for a very long time until their was an outcry from animal rights groups in the late 1980s. Why, I don't know; using tallow is just part of eating toe-to-tail, and I think it's pretty forward-thinking that McD's did that. Anyway, they removed tallow for a while, and people noticed the change in the flavor! Sales fell a bit and some complained. Shortly thereafter, McDonald's appended their ingredients to have the sentence "may contain animal products" to sate the animal rights groups while staying vague (in other words, neither confirming nor denying the presence of tallow; it could mean eggs or milk). Sure enough, the original flavor came back, and people took note. Pretty cool, huh?
I don't know everytime I've had the fries at elevation burger they are cooked well and have a great taste, I can't say the same for 5 guy fries... Maybe I just like my food to taste good :-p Also Pete, you had that burger, that location just wasn't as good as the one around my house I tried later. (plus Shakes always win)
Five guys has interested me from the restaurant management perspective. They just openned a restauraunt (3 actually) in my town, and I've discerned some tactics I think they are using but I havn't bothered to confirm them. I've never worked in fast food so this could all just be standard stuff, but since their kitchen is more open and one day I was watching it I made some observations.
It seems that they use seperate baskets and fryers for large and small orders of fries. They have the baskets stacked on top of each other and each full about 1.5 to 2 inches deep with fries. And I don't believe they ever cook more than one order per basket. This sort-of explains their rediculous portions.
Giant boxes of peanuts exposed to the air in the middle of the restaurant? Isn't that dangerous? But hey, free peanuts...
Also I'm not sure if the ones near me have "cajun" fries. If they do I might go back.
It seems that they use seperate baskets and fryers for large and small orders of fries. They have the baskets stacked on top of each other and each full about 1.5 to 2 inches deep with fries. And I don't believe they ever cook more than one order per basket. This sort-of explains their rediculous portions.
As someone who used to work in fast food that is a tactic to ensure the fries don't spoil. Once fried fries have a really short shelf life (reason wy eating fries an hour later tastes like shit). Most fast food chains anticipate a rush, cook more then needed and divy out the god with the crap knowing idiots customers will come back.
Smart places cook just enough at any time to ensure the quality of the food to be at its max to maximize freshness ergo better food to eat. Therefore a repeat customer with little to no waste.
Also they all have Cajun fries and they are quite good.
Also this. The Geordies are fond of garlic mayo, curry sauce, or sweet and sour. All three are excellent options that I haven't really seen in the US.
The Netherlands exposed me to putting spicy Thai peanut sauce on fries. And in croquettes, with chicken (Thanks, Fedo!). The Dutch never cease to bewilder me with their genius.
Basically, what I'm getting at is that the US is absurdly limited in its fry condiment options for a nation that wolfs down more fries than anyone else.
I think you just don't go to the right restaurants. There are plenty of burger joints with all sorts of condiments for the fries in NY. Japadog that just opened on St. Marks has, like 10 different sauces you can put on your fries. I have had all sorts of Mayo, curry flavor, wasabi dip, vinegar, etc. at all sorts of places.
Yeah, except everywhere here has these condiments. In the US, you need to go somewhere decent. The shitty chippy down the street here has at least five different things to slather your order in. Even McDonald's offers garlic mayo (at least in Newcastle, dunno about elsewhere in the UK).
Also this. The Geordies are fond of garlic mayo, curry sauce, or sweet and sour. All three are excellent options that I haven't really seen in the US.
The Netherlands exposed me to putting spicy Thai peanut sauce on fries. And in croquettes, with chicken (Thanks, Fedo!). The Dutch never cease to bewilder me with their genius.
Basically, what I'm getting at is that the US is absurdly limited in its fry condiment options for a nation that wolfs down more fries than anyone else.
I think you just don't go to the right restaurants. There are plenty of burger joints with all sorts of condiments for the fries in NY. Japadog that just opened on St. Marks has, like 10 different sauces you can put on your fries. I have had all sorts of Mayo, curry flavor, wasabi dip, vinegar, etc. at all sorts of places.
How many times have you been to Japadog already? Are you eating like two meals a day there?
I only went to Japadog one time! I didn't order all the different sauces. Bare Burger has Chipotle and curry sauces, and a whole bunch of other places I went with my coworkers had good fry sauce.
Yeah, except everywhere here has these condiments. In the US, you need to go somewhere decent. The shitty chippy down the street here has at least five different things to slather your order in. Even McDonald's offers garlic mayo (at least in Newcastle, dunno about elsewhere in the UK).
Arby's has: BBQ sauce, Horseradish Sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Cheezey sauce, Mayo, and sometimes Vinegar. Wildwood Boardwalk fries have similar variety. I think you are over generalising. Just because American chains don't have condiments you like does not mean they don't offer variety.
I like all of the condiments most American joints offer. The fact remains that at most places I go that aren't dedicated burger joints in the US, I can't get malt vinegar, and most places don't have that many condiments at the ready. I'm not exclusively talking about certain types of places, or just burger places. I'm talking about anywhere that sells french fries. In my experience, I'm not over-generalizing.
I don't know everytime I've had the fries at elevation burger they are cooked well and have a great taste, I can't say the same for 5 guy fries... Maybe I just like my food to taste good :-p Also Pete, you had that burger, that location just wasn't as good as the one around my house I tried later. (plus Shakes always win)
I've never had anything but totally fucking delicious fries from 5 Guys. Olive oil fries? Meh.
5 Guys fries are ok. They really don't stand out above other places though. I've never expressed an active reaction to eating them, and they serve merely as sufficiently edible fries.
It's the burgers, coupled with the lack of much else to offer, that turns me off of 5 Guys. The burgers are one step above MacDonalds. They're a burger of last resort.
5 Guys: "It tasted... okay, I guess. Nothing special. Nothing as special as all the newspaper reviews on the walls around me. Looking closer, I noticed that none of the five star reviews on the walls were by New York food journalists in New York publications. This might very well have been the best burger in Nowheresville, Bumkin County, but not in a big city like New York or Berlin."
5 Guys: "It tasted... okay, I guess. Nothing special. Nothing as special as all the newspaper reviews on the walls around me. Looking closer, I noticed that none of the five star reviews on the walls were by New York food journalists in New York publications. This might very well have been the best burger in Nowheresville, Bumkin County, but not in a big city like New York or Berlin."
Here, Five Guys is the bottom of the barrel of burger places: you're better off getting a diner burger.
Well, it is fast food, just with slightly more effort. I can't slight Five Guys for not being sit-down restaurant quality.
Fatburger is better, though, on the sliding scale of fast food joint quality. White Castle is, of course, the best. I never find myself craving Fatburger or Five Guys. I crave White Castle like an addict craves crack.
I have to agree... Five Guys, for the category of restaurant it's in, is very good. There are better burgers to be had elsewhere, but if you want a good fast food style burger, they're probably up there. Probably right up there with In-and-Out burger, but I've only been to In-and-Out once and it was a long time ago, so it's hard to really give a fair comparison. It's probably the closest we've got to In-and-Out on the east coast.
Comments
They do a garbage plate type of thing. It's called the Slayer. Also, the Earthride (10 oz. patty, red onion marmalade, bacon jam, canadian bacon, pancetta, bacon), the Led Zeppelin (10oz patty, Pulled Pork, Bacon, Cheddar, Pickles), and the off-menu Bongzilla(10oz patty, two wisconsin brats, relish, mustard, bacon, carmelized onions, wisconsin cheese curds, and some other stuff).
Now, all that said, they could dodge the smoke point problem by using extra light olive oil. Unfortunately, the refinement that olive oil goes through to become extra light olive oil strips it of all of its flavor but doesn't reduce the calories at all. Ultimately, peanut oil or animal fat are better options from all culinary perspectives.
McDonald's used corn oil with beef tallow for a very long time until their was an outcry from animal rights groups in the late 1980s. Why, I don't know; using tallow is just part of eating toe-to-tail, and I think it's pretty forward-thinking that McD's did that. Anyway, they removed tallow for a while, and people noticed the change in the flavor! Sales fell a bit and some complained. Shortly thereafter, McDonald's appended their ingredients to have the sentence "may contain animal products" to sate the animal rights groups while staying vague (in other words, neither confirming nor denying the presence of tallow; it could mean eggs or milk). Sure enough, the original flavor came back, and people took note. Pretty cool, huh?
It seems that they use seperate baskets and fryers for large and small orders of fries. They have the baskets stacked on top of each other and each full about 1.5 to 2 inches deep with fries. And I don't believe they ever cook more than one order per basket. This sort-of explains their rediculous portions.
Giant boxes of peanuts exposed to the air in the middle of the restaurant? Isn't that dangerous? But hey, free peanuts...
Also I'm not sure if the ones near me have "cajun" fries. If they do I might go back.
Smart places cook just enough at any time to ensure the quality of the food to be at its max to maximize freshness ergo better food to eat. Therefore a repeat customer with little to no waste.
Also they all have Cajun fries and they are quite good.
It's the burgers, coupled with the lack of much else to offer, that turns me off of 5 Guys. The burgers are one step above MacDonalds. They're a burger of last resort.
Here, Five Guys is the bottom of the barrel of burger places: you're better off getting a diner burger.
Fatburger is better, though, on the sliding scale of fast food joint quality. White Castle is, of course, the best. I never find myself craving Fatburger or Five Guys. I crave White Castle like an addict craves crack.
Evidently, you missed my earlier link.