Back in 2016, an announcement stirred up a frenzy among burger-loving folk. Carl’s Jr, the American chain that dishes up huge burgers was coming to Australia—and would be opening 200 restaurants in an aggressive expansion.
Two years later, before we knew what COVID-19 was, Taco Bell made a similar call, that it would return to Australia for its third attempt to make its menu of crunch wraps, burritos, and tacos fly out the door, and open 50 restaurants over the following three years.
In 2024, the picture painted then looks a little different. In the middle of the year, Carl’s Jr announced it would close 24 locations, and Taco Bell made the call to pause the Mexican chain’s expansion in Australia at 27 locations—well short of its target of 50 inside three years.
These particular stories might suggest Australia is a wasteland for the expanding American restaurant. Not the case for Five Guys.
A Considered Expansion
Five Guys just this month launched its second Melbourne location—fourth Australian site overall—and plans to expand to 25 Australian restaurants over the next five years.
I visited the QV Melbourne restaurant, and spoke with Phil Keelan, the Head of Operations for Five Guys Australia. There was no grand announcement of 200 stores inside the five year mark, but the mention of 25 stores definitely surprised me. It speaks to Five Guys’ more considered approach to food.
“What we have seen is a more discerning, dollar-savvy customer who appreciates value over price. Where Five Guys will always win is that we have a restaurant-quality, fully customisable product, freshly made to order and delivered with an experience that complements the quality.
We’re laser-focused on the quality of the product, delivered in a timely manner in the safest way. Customers appreciate this and the more discerning they become they are well informed as to what it takes to produce an amazing burger. We think our product supersedes any American-style cheeseburger there is in the market.” said Keelan.
I’d had Five Guys before my visit, but being shown how everything is put together definitely changed my perception. Everything’s put together there in the restaurant. Nothing’s frozen. Nothing’s microwaved.
Meat patties are pressed when the order is dropped, as are their perfected French fries. Buns are baked specially for Five Guys, and their potatoes are all farmed locally—the ones I ripped into were from Lancashire, Victoria.
While I had previously put Five Guys in a fast food bucket along with others, it’s quite clear that the focus on quality food is a huge point of difference, and there’s genuine care there.
“You wont find a fully-fresh customisable burger with hand-cut boardwalk fries anywhere in the marketplace.
We have no freezers in the joint… I mean none! Everything is prepped fresh daily.
At Five Guys we always ask ‘’Can we do it better?” if the answer is yes then we do it.
Focusing on local produce we have created strategic partnerships with Australian Producers and aligned them to the Five Guys core values and culture of how we succeed through quality and consistency. It’s critical our producers are aligned too,” continued Keelan.
Navigating a Tough Climate
The economic climate in Australia clearly hasn’t been kind to expanding fast food chains as can be seen with the Carl’s Jr and Taco Bell experiment. Discretionary income is down off the back of rising interest rates and inflation, and the humble cheeseburger has become a victim of the cost of living crisis.
“We opened our first Five Guys store in the pandemic in 2021 and this itself offered its challenges. Supply chain, vetoed international training, quarantines to just name a few…
However, no problem was as challenging, or as long-lasting, as the labour market vacuum left in FY 2022/23 as a hangover from the pandemic.
Borders were slow to open, internationals were hesitant to travel, students waiting semesters before they returned. Therefore, staffing a highly labour-centric concept, proved to be the one challenge we that we had to overcome before considering further growth and rather chose a period of learning and consolidation.
QV will be the first store without barriers and allows us a runway to really elevate the operations, offering and brand by having consistency in our crew levels, hopefully for a period of sustained growth.”
The Five Guys team tells me there are more than 250,000 burger variations that can be put together with their free toppings. I’ve got at least 249,999 to go.
Five Guys QV is now open at 228 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.
Related: 7 of Australia’s Most Expensive Burgers
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