Foodie Review - 5 Guys Dundee Overgate

So Jen and I stopped for lunch at 5 Guys in the Overgate shopping centre in Dundee. Jen didn't want anything (or so she said anyway)

So I ordered a Bacon Cheese Beef Dog and a regular sized portion of their signature fries.

Firstly Beef Dog - Cooked fresh to order but...meh, cheese singles not cheese, beef dog burnt to the point of being flavourless, bacon even more "crisp" (read cremated) than most American style fast food bacon to the extent it might have stopped a bullet it was so hard, it was hot though, which is more than most fast food places manage. Cost £6.50, very steep IMHO and bad value, wouldn't eat again unless it was given and even then I'd only eat it if I was starving and nothing else was available. Big thumbs down for this.

I hear their burgers are better, but I'm loathe to spend the money to try one

Fries - very very good, nicely crisp but still moist inside, flavourful and very tasty, portion generous (Jen ate the "extra scoop" they include) price wasn't too bad either for the size of the portion. Cost £4.50

Restaurant décor was clearly trying to harken to the retro diner vibe, except it came across more as back street greasy spoon cafe than American diner to be frank. I've been to some really nice diner themed restaurants (Pizza hut does a decent take on it in its more modern UK locations)

Bags of Potatoes and crates of oil stacked up next to the door, with a sign above proclaiming where the potatoes were sourced from, whether they had anything in them was another matter. I get your trying to demonstrate your sourcing, but having stock piled up at the front of the outlet, looks like you just got a delivery and your staff couldn't be bothered putting it away and just left it laying on pallets. Sloppy and downright trying to be faux "working class chic" Put me off to be honest but I had heard good things about them, but it still niggled.

Lots of plaudits all over the walls that people have given them but little real "soul" to the place, to a degree it reminded me of a narcissist - constantly talking about themselves but no real substance - if they are a NYC originated chain, then why no NYC vibe? There are 101 ways this could be accomplished, but there seems to be no effort shown to this at all.

Instead its like sitting in a 1980s cafe with red and white wall tiles, walls plastered with glowing reviews, even the music was just UK pop dirge, rather than anything inherently American or chosen to suit the outlet. I don't get the hype around this chain, I really really don't, there seems to be no vision or urge to do things well in terms of decor or music choice.

Table also wobbled, which in a restaurant that opened not that long ago is appalling. Also the staff member wiping down surfaces appeared from the back with just a cloth, no spray bottle, nor anything to rinse the cloth out in and given the amount of surfaces he was wiping down with it....that's concerning in regard to the possible health implications, particularly due to the potential to spread contamination between surfaces, something that's eminently possible in a high traffic area accessed by the general public.

Very cold as no air curtain at the door, allowing freezing cold air from outside to howl in everytime someone opened the mall door opposite 5 Guys, big oversight tbh and one that could be relatively easily rectified, though with all the other hype they have going on, this might be by design, trying to pretend they are a back street cafe who can't afford to put the heat on or whose heating is broken.

Would I eat there again? If I wanted some of their fries then maybe, but I think £4.50 is a bit on the high side, even with their quality, the ambiance is terrible even by fast food standards, even McDs and BK have a far far better interior finish standard and that's something that's a baseline standard and particularly so for a vendor charging premium prices.

At the very least I'd have expected not to be sitting in a gale and a "dog" that wasn't half way to cremated.

Dog 2/10
Fries 8/10
Restaurant ambiance 2.5/10
Total 4/10

John