A viral social media post has reignited a debate about the prices of one of America’s top burger chains.
On March 1, X user @WallStreetSilv posted an image of a receipt from Five Guys that quickly went viral on the platform, garnering nearly 25 million views, and started another heated discussion about recent fast-food prices.
“Five Guys prices are out of control,” the user wrote to accompany the image sourced from Reddit. “$24 for one person.”
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Per the receipt, the customer spent $12.49 for a bacon cheeseburger with ketchup and mustard, $2.89 for a regular soda and $5.19 for a small fry. After tax and tip, the total came to $24.10.
“guess I was expecting about $12 to $15 per person for Five Guys. $22 (without tip) just seems to cross a line,” the user added in a follow-up post. “What is the right amount these days?”
Five Guys did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
But the post garnered quite a response on X, with more than 12,000 commenters weighing in on the initial post with conflicting opinions.
“fast food becoming a luxury meal is a sign of the times,” wrote one X user.
“HAH!! This would be cheap in California!” wrote another.
And they’re right: A bacon cheeseburger from a Five Guys in Culver City, California will currently set customers back $14.39.
“That’s not even factoring in how overrated they are. $10 should be able to get you a premium burger from a higher end place. Drink and fries plus $5,” wrote one critic, which garnered a sarcastic response from another user: “What are things like back in 1990 where you apparently currently live?”
But most of the discussion on Five Guys prices is happening on Reddit. There, users are expressing shock, surprise, disappointment and mild infuriation about the topic. In fact, the subreddit r/mildlyinfuriating, where users post the issues that cause them light distress, is speckled with complaints about the chain’s prices.
One user even went so far as to document the rising costs of a cheeseburger with ketchup at their local Five Guys in Ann Arbor, Michigan over the course of a year. According to the post in the Ann Arbor subreddit, the cost of the customer’s go-to meal rose from $7.79 on Feb. 25, 2021 to $10.79 a year later.
There are a few theories as to why Five Guys costs a bit more than the competition. In addition to using fresh and never-frozen ingredients, the chain offers many burger toppings at no additional cost, bigger portions and more. Its fries are fried in peanut oil, which is more costly than other oils, too.
Of course, Five Guys isn’t the only chain facing criticism from customers over increasing prices. Rising prices at chains like McDonald’s and Five Guys have caused customers to reconsider eating out at all, with the former saying it plans on focusing on affordable pricing in the future. Plus, beef inflation caused the average price of a burger to rise to nearly $16 in 2023.
According to MoneyGeek, a burger, fries and soda at McDonald’s costs around $6.19, up 11.5% from 2021 to 2022, while the same order at Five Guys charges costs $19.95 on average, up 13.5% during the same time period.
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