I've mystery shopped Five Guys for 8 and a half years. Locations all over the US.
Today was my 50th visit...so about 1 shop every other month or about 6 per year. The price was only slightly
above reimbursement.
I've made a lot of noise in the past about their pricing - because I think they're over priced for what they offer,
but now looking over their operation, I am inclined to say that even so, they have their act
together far more than similar eateries.
In all these 50 visits, I have only encountered 1 visit that was really bad and 1 that was just plain bad - and both of those took place during the pandemic and the employees appeared brand new and clueless.
Other than these two, not once have I encountered a dirty FG location, inside or out.
Never have I met a FG crew member who was rude or unhelpful. To the contrary, most are great.
I have had the occasional stale bun or limp fries, but otherwise their food is consistent.
You know what you are going to get - every time....and that's good to know when traveling.
I suspect their MSing program may not be so much about uncovering problems, but more about
gaining support for these positive observations. They want the evidence that they're doing well.
Dollars be damned, apparently.
I wonder how long it can last - as over the years, the dining rooms seem less busy, even during peak hours.
ok and here's the big question:
Have you ever caught an employee not wearing gloves? LOL.

Never.

I'm not sure how many shops I've done over the years, but I've never seen an employee not wearing gloves when they were supposed to be wearing them. But I have seen grill cooks not change gloves after handling raw beef a number of times over the years. I believe I even saw a manager do it once.

The dining rooms are not often busy but they have a steady stream of online orders as does many restaurants these days. I was in one that had an order for 400 burgers for a visiting football team.

And I will add, they are very clean overall but many of them don't understand that sweeping near tables with diners will stir up dirt and dust into the food. I once had the OWNER of a franchise chain I worked for explain this to me.

Five Guys was one of the first shops I did when I started MSing in 2007. There was only one location within 10 miles of me. Now, there are eight. Not much has changed with Five Guys' business model or menu. Consistency has worked well for them. The dining rooms have fewer tables post-Covid, so less customers dining in. Online and take-out orders have increased. Their prices, as with everything else, have also increased. In '07, I could buy a regular hamburger, fries and drink for about $10. Now, depending on location, it's about $19.

A long-gone MSC had the account back then. We used to have to report, among other things, on the use of a patty press, the different stages of the grill, and the number of hanging baskets of fries. And always - gloves.

I did once. Also had my burger served without the paddies. Other than that, no problems.