Five Guys was still a relatively new arrival in London when Barry
filmed this short visit in August 2016. The American burger chain had
opened its first British restaurant in Covent Garden on 4 July 2013,
bringing its red-and-white dining rooms, made-to-order burgers, generous
portions of fries and boxes of complimentary peanuts to the capital.

This Roberts London archive film records the experience only three
years later. It is a compact visit rather than a full restaurant review:
Barry enters the busy restaurant, orders at the counter, explores the
drinks machine and sits down with a burger and fries. Menus, prices,
branches and equipment may have changed since filming, but the film
preserves the format as London customers encountered it in 2016.

Inside Five Guys London

The interior is immediately recognisable. Red pipes and pendant
lights run across the dark ceiling, while white tiles, red checks and
bold signs give the room the direct visual character associated with the
chain.

The restaurant is busy, with customers moving between the counter,
drinks area and closely arranged tables. The open layout means that
ordering and food preparation remain part of the atmosphere rather than
disappearing behind a conventional restaurant kitchen.

Ordering at the counter

Five Guys builds its menu around customisation. Burgers are ordered
at the counter and assembled with the customer’s choice of toppings.
Barry’s order becomes a substantial double-patty burger with salad and
vegetables, wrapped in foil rather than presented in a box.

This was part of what made Five Guys distinctive in London in the
middle of the 2010s. It occupied the space between familiar fast food
and a more expensive restaurant burger: counter service remained quick
and informal, while the cooked-to-order format made each order feel more
individual.

Complimentary peanuts while
waiting

One of the chain’s most unusual details is the self-service supply of
peanuts. Small cardboard trays sit beside the open boxes so customers
can take a portion while waiting for their food.

The peanut station is not merely decoration. It helps define the
waiting period and connects with the restaurant’s use of refined peanut
oil for its fries. For anyone with an allergy, that visible use of
peanuts is also an important feature of the environment.

The Coca-Cola Freestyle
machine

Barry spends time exploring the touchscreen Coca-Cola Freestyle
machine. Instead of choosing from a short row of taps, customers select
a brand on screen and then move through different flavours and
variations before filling the cup.

In 2016 the machine still felt novel enough to justify a section of
the film in its own right. Barry moves through the interface, tests the
choices and fills the checked Five Guys cup. The technology turns an
ordinary self-service drink into another customisable part of the
meal.

Fries served in the bag

The order arrives in a tall brown paper bag with the drink and a cup
of skin-on fries. Five Guys prepares its boardwalk-style fries from
fresh-cut potatoes and cooks them in refined peanut oil. The portion is
deliberately generous, with additional fries commonly tipped into the
bag around the cup.

The simple presentation suits the restaurant: paper cup, brown bag,
foil wrapper and wooden table. Nothing attempts to disguise the meal as
formal dining.

The finished burger

Unwrapped on the foil, the burger is the centre of the visit. Two
beef patties sit beneath lettuce, tomato and pickles, with the soft
sesame bun compressed around the fillings.

Barry’s reaction is positive, and the short film succeeds because it
concentrates on the practical experience: how the restaurant looks, what
happens while the order is prepared, how the drinks machine works and
what finally arrives at the table. Seen now, it is also an archive of an
American burger brand during its early expansion through London.