Day 18: March 11, 2015: Vegan Options at Five Guys Restaurant Chain? - Νηστίσιμες Επιλογές στα εστιατόρια Five Guys;

The other day, we went out to run some errands. This is not an unusual event -- not for anyone.  What was unusual about the day was how the time got away from us.  We went out in the morning, expecting to be away from home for about two hours.  But, once we were out in the stores, the crowds, and the traffic in between each stop… the daylight disappeared.  Before anyone knew it, it was late afternoon, and we had not stopped for nourishment all day.  So, we looked around the plaza where we were, and we decided to go someplace near.  We ended up walking across the parking lot to go to Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

We chose Five Guys for a few reasons.  First, we love the french fries there.  And, since we know they are fried in peanut oil (see FiveGuys.ca), there is no challenge of animal fat in the fries, so we knew they were fine for fasting (oil allowed).  Oh, and the Cajun seasoning is delightful, too… OK, back to the topic.  We went into the restaurant discussing some possible menu choices.  This is not the first time we had been there, so we are somewhat familiar with their offerings.  As we were reading the menu board, we wondered what choices we had for our Lenten restrictions.  Five Guys does offer a grilled cheese sandwich for the vegetarian, but we cannot have the cheese, so are we having a grilled sandwich (bread, basically) with a variety of toppings?  This is when we started to ask the questions and find out, "Is there anything on the Five Guys menu that is appropriate for Great Lent?"  Here is what we found:

Five Guys offers a Veggie Sandwich that has grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, green peppers, lettuce, and tomato for $3.19 (price in Toronto, Ontario, prices may vary). You can add cheese to that for another $0.80, but we are not eating cheese right now.  But these toppings made us feel like we were eating a hamburger without the beef, and that would be very satisfying.  So, we stuck to the Veggie Sandwich without cheese.  We also ordered fries and a drink.  A large fries for two of us to share seemed completely adequate, even at $4.99.  The french fries at Five Guys are delicious.  For one of us, these are her favourite french fries! (sorry McDonald's!)  The fries are plentiful, crispy, just salted enough.  And, the drink washes it all down.

An image from 5 Guys' corporate website showing the topic options that are available.

One of the gimmicks that Five Guys offers is free peanuts while you wait.  On the doors going into the restaurant, there are several allergy warning signs about the peanuts and peanut oils.  On the Five Guys website, they list other allergens (click here) including soy, milk, and eggs.  We had not even thought about the milk and eggs in the bun until we sat down to write this entry.  Now, feeling a little guilty, we wondered what else we missed.  Regardless, while we waited for our order, we snacked on the peanuts.  The nuts are a nice snack while waiting for your order, but they do not make up for a meal.  They are a snack only (and a free one at that!), so we enjoyed a few.  Peanuts are interesting because they have a variety of shapes and sizes, and some are saltier than others.  The down side is that you want more, and you have to really focus to say, "No more!" to yourself.

Our order was finally ready, and we decided to disassemble the sandwich to see what our $3.19 (plus tax) really got us.  We got a very soft and mushy bun, which later we learned had milk and egg in it.  Now, we are reminded to make our own bread or read the labels very carefully.  On this bun, two thin slices of tomato, about 1 Tablespoon each of raw onions, lettuce, mustard, and ketchup (which may have contributed to the squishiness of the bun), two thin slices of green peppers, about 1 Tablespoon of grilled mushrooms, and maybe 1 teaspoon of grilled onions.  One of the advertised toppings was green peppers, and we received two slivers? Hmm.  We were not so impressed with this sandwich.  Good thing there were peanuts to eat.

The veggie sandwich

The veggie sandwich assembled by Five Guys staff.

The deconstructed veggie sandwich and its components.

The french fries were still good.  They are usually good.  Eating the french fries makes us very happy.  But, after reading that the bun had milk and eggs in it, we felt horrible.  We called the Five Guys restaurant near home and asked, "Do you use a separate grill for the grilled onions and mushrooms on your vegetable sandwich?"  The man at the store answered, "No, it is all on one grill." When we continued to ask, "Do you have a separate batch for vegetarians, that is done before any meat touches the clean grill?"  The man on the phone answered, "No, we put everything together on the one grill.  We try to scrape it clean in between orders, but sometimes it's too busy.  Anything else?"  This was our chance to speak freely to tell him, "I wish you had that advertised -- that you cook everything on the meat grill.  For a Vegetarian or a Vegan, this is totally not cool.  Maybe you should put up a notice for those of us who do not eat animals."  And, the man at the store answered, "Yeah, I guess so."

Now what?  We totally destroyed fasting without being knowledgeable about what we were eating.  We thought that we were making a safe choice, but we learned otherwise.  However, by writing this and sharing our experience, we hope to save you the trouble of going to Five Guys Burgers and Fries thinking that you will be enjoying a (vegan) vegetable sandwich -- you will not.  As long as the grilled onions and grilled mushrooms are cooked on the same flattop grill as the burgers, they will never be clean and free of animal product.  Even if they were, the buns are out of the questions, too, so we are left with just french fries and a drink.  That's okay, we really like their fries.  But, this is not the place to have a meal during the periods of fasting.  This has taught us, though, that as Orthodox Christians, we need to be more diligent in our practices and perhaps do a little research before eating out.


"Whoever does not fight the one who despises him, neither in word not in thought, has received true knowledge and demonstrates a firm trust in God." 
(St. Mark the Ascetic, Homilies, 2.119)

Source of quote: http://orthodox.cn/patristics/300sayings_en.htm