This video was adapted from an article written by Beth McMurray for Mashed.com It's the battle of the burger titans! In the red corner, it's Five Guys. In the blue corner, it's Shake Shack. Who's the winner? Let's find out!
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00:00This video was adapted from an article written by Beth McMurray for MASH.com.
00:05It's the battle of the burger titans. In the red corner, it's Five Guys.
00:09In the blue corner, it's Shake Shack. Who's the winner? Let's find out.
00:14There's one thing you'll never see in a Five Guys kitchen — a freezer.
00:18Each morning kicks off with a flurry of activity as patties are shaped,
00:22veggies are sliced, and the crew prepares for that day's service.
00:25They're not prepping for tomorrow or next week, either. It's all taken one day at a time.
00:30So whatever day you walk into a Five Guys,
00:32you know you're getting a cheeseburger made from the freshest ingredients.
00:37I love coming to a place that's got real hamburger meat that's fresh in the morning.
00:41If I can find those places, that's where I'll stop every time.
00:44The chain's standard cheeseburger is a double whammy of deliciousness — two beef patties with
00:49two slices of American-style cheese melting in between. This two-patty approach originates from
00:54the early days, when the Murrell family was perfecting their soon-to-be-legendary burger.
00:59They realized that a large burger dries out on the inside, because it takes so long to cook.
01:04The solution? Two thinner patties that balance a crisp exterior with a juicy interior.
01:09Each patty is served up on a toasted sesame seed bun with your choice of toppings and sauces.
01:14Want onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, relish, jalapeno peppers,
01:18green peppers, or mushrooms? You've got it.
01:20How about mayo, mustard, ketchup, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, or A1 sauce? It's all yours.
01:26Meet the star of Shake Shack — the Shack Burger.
01:30This burger comes as either a single with one beef patty or a double with two.
01:34Each patty comes from a proprietary blend of 100 percent all-natural Angus beef,
01:39raised free of added hormones and antibiotics. The company earns high grades for its meat, too.
01:44In a 2018 joint report from the Center for Food Safety, Consumer Reports,
01:49and other organizations, Shake Shack received an A grade for sourcing beef raised without
01:54antibiotics. Along with BurgerFi, it was one of only two burger chains to receive this grade.
02:00The default Shack Burger also comes with melted American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and Shack sauce.
02:06And like so many of the best cheeseburgers, that creamy, zesty sauce is shrouded in secrecy.
02:11While the actual recipe remains a mystery, rumors murmured in culinary circles have suggested that
02:17dill pickles are the secret ingredient in Shake Shack's sauce. The Shack sauce adorns a toasted
02:22potato bun, and for no extra charge, you can also add pickles, sliced onions, and a side of Shack
02:28sauce if you like extra. While the menu has plenty of options, polls show that the Shack Burger ranks
02:33as fans' favorite sandwich at Shake Shack.
02:36Five Guys and Shake Shack both throw down with patties made from fresh, never-frozen ground beef.
02:41Both chains have also mastered the art of the smash burger technique.
02:44Patties pressed firmly on a sizzling griddle, creating a caramelized crust
02:48that seals in the juicy goodness and flavor. But the flavor of one of these patties
02:52far outmatches the other.
02:54We really harness everything that's great about comfort food and amplify it."
02:59During my taste test, I found that, while both restaurants cook patties that are largely similar
03:04in size, color, and texture, Shake Shack's beef is just that much better. Five Guys is great,
03:10but side-by-side, the beef in a Five Guys cheeseburger comes off tasting a little dull.
03:15So what gives Shake Shack patties the edge when it comes to flavor?
03:18It could be the custom 100% Angus beef blend. A favorite premium beef in the United States,
03:24Angus is celebrated for its marbled meat. And as any burger connoisseur will tell you,
03:29marbling means flavor.
03:31You can't talk about cheeseburgers without talking about cheese.
03:35Five Guys have stuck with Kraft American Cheese Slices since first opening for business in 1986.
03:42The restaurant likes this cheese for its creamy melt and mild flavor that never quite overpowers
03:47the two beef patties in a standard cheeseburger. Five Guys' standard cheeseburger includes two
03:52pieces of cheese, but the chain does something quite unusual with the cheeseburger's construction.
03:57Instead of a patty with cheese stacked on another patty with cheese,
04:00cooks place the two pieces of cheese between the two patties.
04:03This approach leads to a unique result. When I opened my cheeseburger, I found a beautiful
04:08cheesy mess inside, with that melted Kraft cheese seeping in, around, and out of the burger.
04:14Shake Shack also pledges allegiance to American cheese, but instead of relying on Kraft,
04:19Shake Shack sources its cheese from Wisconsin, the heartland of dairy goodness.
04:24You'll find one delicious piece of cheese on the Classic Single Shackburger,
04:28and two on the Double Shackburger. Either way, the result is not nearly as cheesy.
04:33as a Five Guys cheeseburger. So while Shake Shack's choice of cheese is arguably better,
04:38Five Guys is the real winner here, if only because they offer the cheesier cheeseburger.
04:44What goes on a cheeseburger besides cheese? Well, at Five Guys, you've got a choice of over
04:48250,000 topping combinations. Bacon does cost extra, but all the other toppings are on the
04:55house, from sauces such as ketchup, mustard, and A1 steak sauce, to veggie additions like lettuce,
05:01tomato, jalapenos, and savory grilled mushrooms.
05:04How do you do it?
05:05Letting the food talk for itself. Freshness, being simple.
05:08Over at Shake Shack, bacon also costs extra, along with a small charge for cherry peppers.
05:14The menu of freebies includes lettuce-tomato pickles,
05:17sliced onions, as well as the company's signature, Shack Sauce.
05:21Though the list is shorter, I found the Shake Shack toppings to have more of that
05:25fresh-from-the-garden vibe. The Roma tomatoes, for example, were a vibrant red,
05:29perfectly sized, and full of flavor, while I also found a lovely piece of green leaf
05:34lettuce draped elegantly inside the bun. Five Guys, on the other hand, used less-ripe tomatoes
05:40and went for hand-torn lettuce, which tended to fall from the bun more easily.
05:44Overall, the toppings tussle is a tough one. Five Guys wins on quantity,
05:48but Shake Shack wins on quality. In the end, it's gotta be a tie.
05:52The Five Guys bun is the restaurant's only proprietary item. Baked fresh,
05:57five days a week, the ingredients include water, salt, sugar, vegetable shortening,
06:01milk, eggs, flour, yeast, and sesame seeds. They're sweeter and eggier than most buns.
06:06Some even say the Five Guys buns are more like cake than bread. The buns also get a nice toast
06:12on the grill, but unlike some other joints, Five Guys skips the butter or mayo coating.
06:16While Five Guys covets its proprietary bun, Shake Shack proudly uses Martin's potato rolls.
06:22These rolls are so popular that you'll find them in thousands of food spots
06:26throughout the United States and beyond. They're soft and buttery and come with the
06:30ingenious Hinge feature, a little connection between the top and bottom halves that helps
06:35keep your cheeseburger together. Before serving, Shake Shack gives the inside of
06:39the bun a toasty, buttery finish. So which bun is better? They both get the job done,
06:44but neither one's stealing the spotlight from the cheeseburger itself.
06:47The Five Guys bun might get a tad soggy if it lounges around too long in its foil wrap,
06:52however. Since the Shake Shack bun holds up a bit better and features that clever little hinge,
06:56it wins the battle of the buns, but only by a crumb.
07:00Both Five Guys and Shake Shack make ordering a cheeseburger easy as ABC.
07:04Both restaurants offer easy-to-use apps and online ordering, with options for delivery or pickup,
07:10including the option to order ahead for pickup at a specified time.
07:14Ordering through the app or online also makes it easy to customize a cheeseburger just how
07:18you like it. If you're a more spontaneous diner, both Five Guys and Shake Shack welcome walk-ins.
07:24But fair warning, this experience can vary quite a bit, depending on where and when you go.
07:29Both restaurants are known for long wait times, for example. Food also takes a while to make at
07:34both Five Guys and Shake Shack because everything is prepared and cooked to order. At a New York
07:39City branch of Shake Shack, it's not unusual to find a line out the door and hungry diners
07:44turning trash cans into makeshift tables.
07:47Well, lo and behold, a hundred people would wait in line. When we opened the second shack,
07:50we realized this was something special."
07:52This is less likely to be a problem at Five Guys, as there are far more of them around,
07:57and you'll also have the restaurant's signature free peanuts to snack on while you wait.
08:01If you're on the hunt for a drive-thru, things get a little trickier. Five Guys is still playing
08:06hard to get when it comes to drive-thrus, though a few locations have introduced mobile pickup
08:11windows for those who like to plan ahead. Shake Shack, on the other hand, has expanded its
08:15drive-thru game recently, allowing you to order from the comfort of your driver's seat. Given how
08:20well that's been going, expect to see more Shake Shack drive-thrus rolling out in the near future.
08:26So, how about nutrition? Well, the Five Guys Little Cheeseburger with One Beef Patty contains
08:31600 calories, 39.5 grams of carbs, 32 grams of total fat, and 690 milligrams of sodium.
08:38The standard Five Guys Cheeseburger with Two Patties contains 980 calories, 40 grams of carbs,
08:4455 grams of total fat, and 1,050 milligrams of sodium. These numbers don't include any of the
08:50many toppings options, of course, some of which will up the sodium count.
08:54At Shake Shack, a single Shackburger contains 500 calories, 26 grams of carbs,
08:5930 grams of total fat, and 1,250 milligrams of sodium. A double Shackburger contains 760
09:07calories, 27 grams of carbs, 48 grams of total fat, and 2,280 milligrams of sodium.
09:13While Five Guys tends to have more calories, carbs, and total fat, Shake Shack tends to have
09:18more sodium. With 2,280 milligrams, the double Shackburger contains more than the daily 2,000
09:25milligram limit recommended by the World Health Organization. Fear not, though. If nothing else,
09:30both Five Guys and Shake Shack cheeseburgers are packed with protein.
09:34Beef also offers many benefits beyond protein. It's an excellent source of iron,
09:39vitamin B12, and zinc. In moderation, beef can be part of a healthy diet.
09:43That's not to say cheeseburgers are a health food, of course.
09:46We might as well appreciate the nutritiousness we can find beneath all that melty cheese.
09:52Five Guys and Shake Shack aren't exactly known for value. Why, you might ask? Fresh,
09:57quality ingredients are a big part of why Five Guys is so expensive.
10:01The restaurant doesn't scamp on portions, either. The standard cheeseburger features
10:05two beef patties and two slices of cheese. And if you get fries with that,
10:09you receive a bag overflowing with them.
10:12You can't have baseball without a bat. You can't have a burger without fries.
10:16Like Five Guys, Shake Shack knows it's not the cheapest place to grab a burger.
10:20The restaurant embraces the concept of fine, casual dining, which aims to offer the food
10:25quality of fine dining without the fuss of reservations or the fear of mispronouncing
10:29the word sommelier. This balancing act means you pay more than you would for a value meal,
10:34but less than the tip alone at some of Manhattan's finest restaurants.
10:38Prices will vary by location, but you'll likely find similar differences between the two chains.
10:43At my local Five Guys near San Francisco, a little cheeseburger costs $9.49,
10:47and a standard cheeseburger goes for $11.99. The pricing at the closest, Shake Shack,
10:52is a tad friendlier, with the Shackburger going for $7.99 and the Double Shackburger for $10.49.
10:58Based on these numbers, Shake Shack wins the pricing war, although not by much.
11:04On any given day, I'd be delighted to eat at either Five Guys or Shake Shack. They both serve
11:09fresh, tasty cheeseburgers, after all. But someone's gotta win, don't they?
11:13When it comes to judging cheeseburgers, two categories in particular hold a lot of weight,
11:18the beef and the cheese. Shake Shack serves the tastier beef, but Five Guys steals the
11:23spotlight in the cheese department. This means each restaurant wins in a major category.
11:28So far, it's a tie. Looking at other categories,
11:31toppings are also important, but this one came out as a tie. Ease of ordering, another tie.
11:36Nutrition? Let's be honest, there's no winner in that category. With everything neck-and-neck,
11:41the better burger is coming down to the lesser categories of buns and bucks.
11:46Notably, Shake Shack won the top bun contest and offered slightly better bang for your buck.
11:51Tallied all up, the trophy goes to Shake Shack, and they're a well-deserved victor.
11:56The beef is exceptional, the toppings pop, the sauce zests just right,
12:00and the bun wraps it all up with buttery comfort. But if it's any consolation to Five Guys,
12:06this was, in the end, a close-run race. One that was almost too close to call.