Are you considering Five Guys for your next meal? The burger joint is one of the most popular fast-casual chains on the market even though it was founded less than four decades ago in 1986. Five Guys has become famous for its menu items including cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and French fries with five guys calories. Most locations also serve free roasted peanuts. You can also sometimes get breakfast items like bacon/egg/cheese sandwiches, BLT, and hot coffee. However, these items are only served at special locations like airports.
If you’re tracking calories, carbs, fat, etc. different figures are depending on what you order at Five Guys. For example, the bacon cheeseburger will have more calories, carbs, and fat than the little hamburger. That’s also true when comparing items like the hot dog and bacon cheese dog. If you want to make your meal healthier you can go with options like the Veggie Sandwich. You can also add more healthy toppings like lettuce, green peppers, and mushrooms. These items add more nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Even tweaks like no mayo can help to reduce calories and fat.
What’s the Story of Five Guys?
Five Guys is a popular fast-casual restaurant chain that was founded in 1986 in the state of Virginia. The “Five Guys” in the restaurant’s name refers to the founder and his four sons. It’s become one of the most popular burgers and fries chains in the USA. The restaurant was founded by Jerry and Janie Murrell. The name “Five Guys” refers to Jerry and the couple’s four sons.
Five Guys now has 1,500+ locations (2016) in various nations including:
- USA
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Hong Kong
- Saudi Arabia
The first location was opened in Arlington, Virginia. The original location was closed and replaced by another location in Alexander, Virginia in 2013.
The restaurant chain focuses on customized hamburgers that are offered with different items like bacon and American cheese. Besides burgers and fries, you can also buy kosher-style hot dogs, vegetable sandwiches, and grilled cheese.
The burgers are all offered in options including regular and little. The little burgers are ideal for dieters, snacks, and kids. Besides the bun size, there’s also a difference in the number of patties. The regular size includes 2 patties and the little size includes 1 patty.
Another key menu item is Fresh French fries. They’re fresh-cut and are available with regular or Cajun-style salt. The Cajun fries are a good option if you want some extra spice.
Five Guys customers can also customize their burgers with 15 free toppings. This offers more options in terms of the number of varieties and different flavors/textures you can add to your burgers.
You can also order breakfast items at some locations. They include BLT, bacon/egg/cheese sandwiches, and coffee. These items are usually only offered at certain locations like airports.
An interesting offering at 5 Guys is roasted peanuts. You can get them at most locations and they can only be consumed on-site at the restaurant.
Five Guys: Calories and Nutrition Information
The nutrition info differs based on what you order.
For example, if you order a little hamburger you get:
- Calories: 480
- Protein: 23g
- Carb: 39g
- Sodium: 380mg
The calories are quite low since it’s under 25% of a 2000-calorie diet. It’s important to watch your calories for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, the high-protein is a plus since it’s good to add quality protein to each meal.
The carbs are quite high at 39g. For example, Keto and Atkins only allow 50g of carbs per day. So with a small burger, you’re getting 80% of that figure from just the burger. However, some other offerings are much higher in carbs so the figure isn’t too bad.
Here’s what you get from the bacon cheeseburger:
- Calories: 920
- Protein: 51g
- Carbs: 40g
- Sodium: 1310
There are some takeaways from this option. The calories are quite high and makeup almost half of the daily calories on a 2,000-calorie diet. The protein is also higher since you’re getting two patties instead of one. It’s also worth noting that the protein is red meat, which you should try to eat in moderate amounts.
The sodium is quite high at over 1300. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a maximum sodium intake of 1500mg. So, in this case, you’re getting nearly all of that in one burger.
Here’s what you get from an order of regular fries:
- Calories: 950
- Protein: 15g
- Carbs: 181g
- Sodium: 960
The calories and carbs are quite high. You’re getting about ½ your daily calories on a 2,000-calorie diet and over 3x more carbs you’re allowed on a single day of Keto/Atkins. The sodium is also high since you’re getting about two-thirds of the daily recommended sodium.
There are options to reduce the carb count of your meals. You could go with small fries or share regular fries.
Healthy Five Guys Burger Toppings
LETTUCE
There’s a low-calorie (4) topping that’s a low low-carb at 1g of carbs. This is the perfect diet food for these reasons and others. Lettuce is also high-water so you get lots of benefits from the high H2O content. Another plus of lettuce is it adds some munch-crunchy goodness to your burger that pairs well with the chewy burger.
TOMATOES
Fun Fact: Tomatoes are fruits since they have seeds. You get just 9 calories and 2g of carbs. Tomatoes are also high in nutrients like antioxidants including one that gives tomatoes their famous red color.
JALAPENOS
If you want to add some zing to your burger then try jalapenos. They have just 3 calories and a total of 0g of carbs. Spicy peppers can also provide other benefits like increased metabolism and body detox. Jalapenos also pair well with cheese since the dairy product helps to balance out the spicy pepper.
BACON
Bacon is healthier than it seems. On one hand, it’s a pork product and highly-processed. However, the two slices are also high in protein (4g). The calories are somewhat high at 80 but the carbs are 0g. Sodium is at 260mg. This is somewhat high so it’s important to watch your salt intake for the day.
CHEESE
This is a good source of protein (4g). There are 70 calories so it’s somewhat high but that’s due to the high amount of healthy fat you get. There’s also 0g of carbs so sliced cheese is a good option for people on a low-carb diet.
MUSHROOMS
You get just 5 calories from the fungi. Carbs are also rock-bottom at 1g. Meanwhile, mushrooms are also high in nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. You also get a tasty flavor that’s different from many other veggie toppings when calculating five guys calories.
