Eatin' Out 'N' About at Five Guys Burgers and Fries ~ near Northgate Mall in Seattle, WA

311 NE 103rd Street Seattle, WA 98125
www.fiveguys.com (for all locations AND you can order online!)
Check them out on Facebook

My husband had heard about this place from a buddy of his so we popped in after a baseball game to check it out.

Looking at some of the locations, it seems FGBAF doesn't feel the need to eat up real estate with their own lots.  So, because of that, we had to park in a nearby lot.

Below an AMC theater, the inside is similiar to a basement.  In fact, one of the -MANY- posters on the wall promoting itself, said something about the restaurant feeling similar to being in a bathroom.  Taken out of context, that would sound bad but they seem proud of the fact.  It's all tiled in white/red with stainless steel panels on the restroom doors.

Though we came through the front, we have to meander around the drinks dispenser and tables to the back where the order counter is.  Eating somewhere new is always interesting since you don't know what to get.   Dave's buddy said that a Regular Fries (plain or cajun) is enough for three people so since we're STARVING, we order a Large to share, two Regular Drinks (free refills), and since they don't have ANY kids menu, the lady at the counter slipped me a water cup for our 4 year-old's soda.  Dave orders the Hamburger with "the works" but without tomato or mushrooms and I get the Cheeseburger with "the works" but without mayo.  ALL TOPPINGS ARE FREE!!!  Talk about making it how you want it!
After you order, you are given a slip for when they call your order.  It takes longer that I thought so we get our drinks, find seats and use the restroom.  I MUST SAY that my 4 year-old (who was asleep when we got there) declares he does NOT want to be here and refuses to sit with us.  Whatever....the music, sounds of cooking and background noise of the patrons is loud enough that not a single person hears him.

The bathroom, like the rest of the building, are practically wallpapered with laminated signs with every single good review FGBAF has ever had.  Some of these quotes are the highlight of the decorating scheme plastered in large letters around the room.  On their website, it says, "At Five Guys, we don't like to talk about ourselves very much.  We would rather focus on making burgers."  Well, with all the reviews everywhere, FGBAF doesn't HAVE to talk about their own food!  Though, it makes me think of the guy who protested too much???  So here's hoping their food is as good as they are trying to hypnotize you into believing.

Finally they call our number and it comes- no matter if you're dining in or not- in a brown paper bag.  Sure enough, the fries are a VERY generous portion!  Not only is that cup filled, but those fries in the bag is what over-flowed!  I really liked the fries, Dave said they needed salt (we're used to McD) and Corbin wouldn't touch them since they were natural looking.  Oh well, more for us!

I reach in the bag and pull out two over-sized foil bundles.  Little did we know that a Burger is actually a double patty so this is A LOT of meat!  Dave mentioned that the burger itself could be a little more seasoned but you are so focused on how all of the toppings are super crisp, fresh and DE-licious, that you don't notice.

Since I had more toppings than Dave (oh- he soooo misses out not eating all that good stuff!), my cheeseburger is S.U.P.E.R. huge!!!  I -literally- have to take a bite of the top half, then the bottom half since I can't fit my mouth around the dang thing.

As we are almost finished eating, we notice these large bags of peanuts stacked in the middle of the room.  I vaguely remember hearing Dave say something about peanuts and we do see a few people eating them but it's not on the menu....

Of course, it's as we leave that we practically stumble over the low table stacked with boxes of peanuts for people to scoop as they come in (hmmm...with the box being right by the front door, makes me wonder how many homeless people snag some freebies?).  By this time, we are bursting so skip the peanuts.  Guess we'll have to come back! ;)