Northpinellas: Popular burger joint popping up everywhere

Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries is staking a claim in Pinellas County - all of it.

Virginia businessman John Nguyen is bringing the popular restaurant, noted for its burgers and fries, to shopping centers and plazas throughout the county.

He opened the first restaurant recently at the Shoppes at Park Place in Pinellas Park. The second restaurant opened Feb. 20 at 3700 Ulmerton Plaza on Ulmerton Road near Largo. An April opening is planned for the third in a building that already displays the Five Guys name in large letters at Westside Center on Walsingham Road in Largo.

Nguyen is also planning two restaurants in St. Petersburg - Shoppes at the Royale in the Tyrone area and the Progress Energy Tower - and one in East Lake in North Pinellas.

He said he expects to open about 18 branches in Pinellas in the next five or six years.

"We plan to hit the main arteries in Pinellas and then branch out to the beaches," said Melisa French, an independent Clearwater broker who assists Nguyen and other franchisees in Pasco, Hillsborough and Sarasota counties in finding restaurant sites.

It features burgers with all the trimmings, fries, kosher hot dogs and veggie or grilled cheese sandwiches. Nothing is frozen and everything is prepared fresh each day. Even the buns are baked in-house.

Customers can munch on free peanuts while awaiting their orders. All the restaurants have red and white checkered tile on the walls and are decorated with copies of news stories and customer quotes. Customers can eat in or take out. The restaurants don't have drive-through windows and don't deliver.

When Jerry and Janie Murrell's three oldest sons - Chad, Jim and Matt - were about to graduate from high school, the couple offered them two choices. They could use the money set aside for them for college or they could use it to start a small hamburger and fries business. They took the money and became "Five Guys," including their younger brothers Ben and Tyler in the name.

The first Five Guys restaurant opened in 1986 in Arlington, Va. It developed a cult following and, after winning awards, the young entrepreneurs had enough capital to launch several more restaurants in northern Virginia. They began to franchise in late 2002.

Today, there are 249 restaurants in 18 states. All but 30 are franchises, said Molly Catalano, who is Five Guys' public relations manager.

Franchisees pay $45,000 for the rights to the franchise, Catalano said, and then invest $250,000 to $600,000 to open their restaurants.

All seven members of the Murrell family still work in the business, Catalano said.

Nguyen ate his first hamburger at a Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries restaurant two years ago. It changed his life.

He enjoyed the burger so much he decided to buy a franchise. "I thought I cannot go wrong if I join Five Guys," Nguyen said.

Where: 3700 Ulmerton Plaza (across from Stoneybrook Drive and the old Airco golf course).

Prices: from $4.19 to $5.19 for large burgers, $2.99 for small ones and $2.79 for the hot dogs. Fries are $3.89 for a large portion, $2.29 for a regular size.

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Comments on this article

by tom	03/01/08 09:25 AM
for mass-produced, Five Guys makes a tasty burger. A lot better than anyplace with a drive-thru !

by B	03/01/08 12:00 AM
Chattaways...Bar none. El Cap is garbage in comparison

by Scorps	02/29/08 09:46 PM
Yea Kim, and they should use gluten free buns too... I am sure the beef is free range organic but what about the non-beef eaters.. OH THE INHUMANITY! OK, for the normal people the food is pretty good. Try the Cajun fries.

by Karen	02/29/08 09:33 PM
Ryan - there's a Cheeburger in Sarasota if you're willing to drive a little!

by Glenn	02/29/08 06:48 PM
Over-priced and over-rated. The reader who says the atmosphere is mass chaos is right on target. Much preferred the old Fudruckers.

by Ken	02/29/08 05:27 PM
No burger for you!

by Ryan	02/29/08 05:13 PM
I liked their grub, but still prefer Cheeburger Cheeburger. I wish they had locations in the bay area, because it is good stuff!

by KJ	02/29/08 04:33 PM
Kim, some of us go there because we prefer french fries cooked in peanut oil. Just because some people are allergic to peanuts doesn't mean the rest of us who aren't should not be able to enjoy it.

by Paul	02/29/08 04:22 PM
I've never been to El Cap but have heard great things about it. Then recently a few people told me that it changed hands or had a differnt cook and now the place stinks. Any truth to this ?? Thanks

by Clenched Cheeks	02/29/08 04:15 PM
El Cap is now the El Crap. It has the 50 foot rule. Meaning, you better find a bathroom before walking more than 50 feet from the place. Every order should come with a roll of TP and toilet seat cover!

by Mike	02/29/08 03:21 PM
I went to high school and law school in St. Pete. Ive eaten at a rive guys before...does not touch El Cap or Chattaways.

by Tom	02/29/08 02:56 PM
Sorry hungry healthcare person....cult of scientology would never allow such a thing in Clearwater.

by Married to the Media	02/29/08 02:05 PM
I recently ate at one in Atlantic City. Took a while, but it was very burger-y, and the fries were good, and plentiful. And greasy. (About $9) I would only get the food to go. Inside was just a cold space. Free peanuts away while you wait. Weird.

by Debi	02/29/08 01:51 PM
When I read the headline, I thought you were going to report that another Evo's (4th St. N.) was opening up. This is the healthy fast-food alternative for hamburger/fries lovers, and is a pleasure to visit.

by Matt	02/29/08 12:23 PM
Five Guys is a circus. The food is ok, the service is decent enough, however, the atmosphere is non existant, and the mass chaos is overwelming. For central St. Pete, El Cap is 100 time better.

by Kim	02/29/08 11:32 AM
Its too bad they cook in peanut oil - they are losing a lot of business from those potential customers who have allergies!

by Mike	02/29/08 11:12 AM
Hands down best burgers in the city. I hit the one on kennedy on the way to bolts games when ever I can.

by Allison	02/29/08 10:52 AM
This is, in my opinion, the East Coast's answer to California and Nevada's In-N-Out Burger. IMHO, it may even be BETTER than In-N-Out :)

by A hungry healthcare profession	02/29/08 09:22 AM
Mr. Nguyen, please open a store near Morton Plant Hospital in downtown Clearwater. All of us that work here are tired of the food in the cafeteria!

by Ray	02/29/08 09:09 AM
yeah there going to hit the "arteries" allright. Thats the most greasy food I have ever seen. There bag of fries can't make it home there's so much grease the bottom of the bag comes apart. Nasty

by jay	02/29/08 08:50 AM
I tried Five Guys in Marion County and the burger is much like you pictured it: a greasy tasteless mess. The fries were just OK. Overall, I'd rate it as mediocre.

by Bill	02/29/08 07:10 AM
What about mentioning Hillsborough. I ate at a Five Guys 2 weeks ago at Brandon Mall, and one is opening 1 block from my house. Yet the St. Pete Times keeps trying to solicit customers in Hillsborough even though they do not even mention us.