A Recent Trip To Five Guys Burgers and Fries Elicits Cheers From My Children

The heat today was unbearable. It felt like the walls in my house were going to melt and taking a couple of showers just wasn't cutting it. And those faces. My kids were begging to do something fun. So after a trip to the Y where we played some hoops and swam in the pool, I told them I was taking them to Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Let me just say that my ears are still ringing. They cheered, loudly, like I'd never heard before...even more than when I told them we were going to Disneyland a few years back. I mean that was a vacation, so maybe I shouldn't compare. What's really strange was that my son, who is 6, was just as excited as my daughter, and he's not even a burger eater! Anyway, it seemed like a good idea to give them a little treat.
Basically I assumed my son was just going to eat the fries, those delicious, fried in peanut oil spuds, but to my utter amazement he declared that he wanted a Hot Dog. "A Hot Dog?" I said. "But you stopped eating Hot Dogs last year when you went exclusively to eating Spaghetti." Literally the boy eats pasta for every meal. Not breakfast, he likes bagels.

The Fried Dog: Rarely Seen in The Jungles of NYC

So me and my daughter, eating our Cheeseburgers smothered in extras, sat and watched as he devoured most of the Fried Dog that had been smartly cut in half. You see to properly fry a dog you don't throw it in with the Fries and submerge it in oil until it is done, no, no, no. You must cut it and lay it flat in a pan or a surface fryer...way better taste. Now there was nothing particularly special about the dog, and since my little boy doesn't like anything on it, it was as plain as can be. However I always find it a pleasure to sometimes go simple and just eat one plain, still a little mustard couldn't hurt. No ketchup on dogs, that's my motto. So of course I waited for that moment. The moment when my son looks at me and says he is full, that's when I pounce. One of the great privileges of being a parent is the over abundance of leftovers. But before I could snag the rest of his Hot Dog he said to me..."Dad, Five Guys is better than McDonalds." It's a moment I may never forget, my little boy is growing up.
Over the last couple of years I've resided myself to the fact that Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and Shake Shack to an extent, will be the closest thing to In-N-Out burger I'll ever get on the East Coast. Five Guys is really good. Their Fries are exquisite, and I love how they dump a little extra in your bag. Shake Shack is really an experience, waiting on those long lines. You just have to try it. However nothing has the same feeling, taste or experience of going to an In-N-Out burger. It is truly unique and special, and until you've been there you won't really know what I'm talking about....