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With fast food!

http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/05/news/companies/burgers-us-london/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

I have not had either of these chains but I hear they are both great as far as a fast burger goes. It all starts with 1 Five Guys Londoners, then its:

"Five Guys has plans to open four more locations across the U.K. before the end of the year, said John Gildersleeve, one of the partners in a joint venture that is leading the company's British expansion. From there, 100 more restaurants could follow, he said."

It has begun.

We'll teach them to call us fat.

Let's see how they like it when their taste buds are overwhelmed by the beauty of the mighty bacon cheeseburger. They'll be putting around in their overburdened rascals in no time *evil laughter*

I can honestly say that I've eaten in Five Guys once, and found their fries to be better than their burgers **ducks**

This is news?

We already have:
McDonalds
Burger King
Taco Bell
Pizza Hut
Domino's
Papa John's
KFC
Nando's
TGI Fridays
Wendy's
Wimpy's

And that's just the chains I can think of off the top of my head that were in America first, however small. There are American *themed* chains (that actually are really no such thing, but people fall for it) like Frankie and Benny's, Coast 2 Coast and we had Fatty Arbuckle's once upon a time too. Then there are the dozens of cheaper kebab and pizza places and good ol' fish and chip shops.

We've had fast food longer than I suspect most people here have been alive, myself included.

Well yeah, we know you have the major chains, but we don't even have a shake shack in Seattle, which is a pretty major city, so these are like "exclusive" fast food joints.. So for you guys to possibly get hundreds is clearly a fast food invasion!

We sent in Whoppers and Big Macs as front line assault troops to absorb the initial brunt of the citizens unwillingness to eat "American Fast Food" and once they have established a foot hold and softened the bellies of all but the most strong willed Brit, we send in the "exclusive" burger joints for the kill!!

Its all coming together now. *Rubs hands together and laughs softly*

Yea 5 guys makes superior food compared to the gak you listed

Ed's Easy Diner?

I think there could be room for another "premium" burger place in central London because we have so many tourists. But the market is already pretty full. It's hard to believe there is a recognisable difference between a burger from Five Guys and from Byron's or Gourmet Burger Company.

Well we DO have the Gourmet Burger Company. But they've kinda failed to make headway. If I'm honest, 5 Guys will likely go the same way unless they launch a MASSIVE marketing campaign.

GBC have about 50 locations from memory, hardly no headway.

Their milkshakes are awesome.

Plus I thought Wimpy was British anyway?

I don't get 5-guys.

Its like a wanna-be gourmet burger trying to be fast food at the same time. Utterly confused IMO.


In-n-out is vastly superior in the burger department, I'll give 5-guys the fries though.

But being the selfish Americans we are, In-n-out policy prevents them from being more than 24 hours away from their corporate headquarters by truck.

 notprop wrote:
GBC have about 50 locations from memory, hardly no headway.

Their milkshakes are awesome.

Plus I thought Wimpy was British anyway?

Correct on both counts. My bad! I've never come across an actual GBC then... I've seen one named something similar that was obviously a chain, but were nothing particularly special. Maybe "natural burgers" or some such.

Are their burgers processed gak like in McDonalds/Burger King/every chippie ever, etc? I've been looking for a place that sells decent burgers lately.

Oh and not too rough either. That's what gourmet apparently means to most restaurants around here. =/

You guys need Chipotle. Now that is some awesome fast food.

 Bromsy wrote:
You guys need Chipotle. Now that is some awesome fast food.

Moe's is better.

A chronicler mentioned that in London there were places where you could buy pieces of meat cooked on sticks. All you needed to do was pay a coin and you would be given a stick of hot meat there and then!

Apparently this was a new idea to England, in the eleventh century. Fast food came in with the Normans.

 Orlanth wrote:
A chronicler mentioned that in London there were places where you could buy pieces of meat cooked on sticks. All you needed to do was pay a coin and you would be given a stick of hot meat there and then!

Apparently this was a new idea to England, in the eleventh century. Fast food came in with the Normans.

You forget that here in America, history only consists of what is being played on the news, so the above event is clearly propaganda from the right to discredit the gains that have been made in England.

 Wyrmalla wrote:
Are their burgers processed gak like in McDonalds/Burger King/every chippie ever, etc? I've been looking for a place that sells decent burgers lately.

Oh and not too rough either. That's what gourmet apparently means to most restaurants around here. =/

There are three types of hamburgers:

1. The McDonalds processed type.

2. The good quality processed meat served at Byron's etc. This is what is meant by gourmet hamburgers. Most mid-range restaurants serve a hamburger of this style alongside their other offerings. The difference of Byrons, etc. is that they don't bother with the other offerings, they are just hamburgers, and give more of a casual diner experience.

3. The insanely expensive processed wagyu meat, topped with foie gras, etc. served as a gimmick at a few fine dining type restaurants. Which frankly would be better eaten as a steak.

I don't really get the concept of gourmet hamburgers. There isn't much you can do to make a hamburger "gourmet" other than make it from good quality ingredients. I've eaten at GBK and Byron a few times and it's OK, but I didn't think it was genuinely worth the mark-up.

http://pickyglutton.com/2012/08/28/where-to-find-the-best-indie-burgers-in-london/

The Dirty Burger from the above is/was pretty awesome IMO.

I'd quite like to try the Korean style ones

http://pickyglutton.com/2013/01/30/kimchi-cult-review/

Personal favourites for me are the Hawksmoor ones -- the triple fried or beef dripping fries are awesome and the cornflake milkshake should be tried at least once -- and the
Meat Liquor

http://www.meatliquor.com/

specifically the Dead Hippie

http://www.burgerac.com/2011/11/meat-liquor-dead-hippie.html -- language warnings !

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
I can honestly say that I've eaten in Five Guys once, and found their fries to be better than their burgers **ducks**

And you get So Many Fries too. I had a very low food budget one wargaming con weekend and two of my meals ended up consisting of just everyone else's extra fries and the free peanuts.

They say you can tell a lot about a nation by the food it eats. Given that American food is bright, cheap, tastes good, but is ultimately bad for you, what does that say about the Americans?

 Bromsy wrote:
You guys need Chipotle. Now that is some awesome fast food.

We have it - but I *THINK* we only have it in London. I've made a mental note to try it next time I'm there.

I'm quite partial to Fatburger, I only have one once per month though.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
They say you can tell a lot about a nation by the food it eats. Given that American food is bright, cheap, tastes good, but is ultimately bad for you, what does that say about the Americans?

You would be happy to be judged by the Deep Fried Mars bar or Pizza?

[Two reasons why the Scots should be granted independence and sent packing!]

 Bromsy wrote:
You guys need Chipotle. Now that is some awesome fast food.

I'm sorry, I prefer to not poop liquid fire every time I eat a certain food.

Same goes for Taco bell. I don't know how people eat that. It kills your stomach

5 Guys. Greasy inner-city burger that you pay 3 times the value for.

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

 Bromsy wrote:
You guys need Chipotle. Now that is some awesome fast food.

I'm sorry, I prefer to not poop liquid fire every time I eat a certain food.

Same goes for Taco bell. I don't know how people eat that. It kills your stomach

When I started reading your post, I was like "WTF, it doesn't do that to me." then I thought about all the years I lived in Korea and ate street-vendor food (and 3 separate bouts of food poisoning) and realized my stomach's been dead for years.

 agnosto wrote:

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

 Bromsy wrote:
You guys need Chipotle. Now that is some awesome fast food.

I'm sorry, I prefer to not poop liquid fire every time I eat a certain food.

Same goes for Taco bell. I don't know how people eat that. It kills your stomach

When I started reading your post, I was like "WTF, it doesn't do that to me." then I thought about all the years I lived in Korea and ate street-vendor food (and 3 separate bouts of food poisoning) and realized my stomach's been dead for years.

Yeah... people always complain about Taco Bell, White Castle, etc...

Those of us who've spent a signficant amount of time in Asia... we're always curious at what their talking about.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
They say you can tell a lot about a nation by the food it eats. Given that American food is bright, cheap, tastes good, but is ultimately bad for you, what does that say about the Americans?

So what does British food say about you?

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
They say you can tell a lot about a nation by the food it eats. Given that American food is bright, cheap, tastes good, but is ultimately bad for you, what does that say about the Americans?

So what does British food say about you?

Yeah, I can't make myself eat some brittish food, it's like someone 300 years ago tried to make bad food more interesting by giving it interesting sounding names. Spotted dick, love in disguise, stargazing pie, kidney pie, angels on horseback, cullen skink, toad in a hole, bubble and squeek, welsh rabbit (a grilled cheese of all things).

That British people are the refuse of the world with a thin veneer of sophistication? Because your food certainly tastes it.


Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks are French, the mechanics German, the lovers Italian and it's all organized by the Swiss.
Hell is where the chefs are British, the mechanics French, the lover's Swiss, the police German and it's all organized by the Italians.