Did a shop today and got my usual: little burger, little fry, small soda. It came to $17.36! I usually leave a tip on the way out if the service has been good. It was, but I'm not dipping into my fee (which was today a little less than my usual, but I used it to fill a small route) any more than the overage already did. The little fry was $5.49! I think that's a lot. On top of that, the food, which is usually outstanding at this location, was just average today. I was there right at the lunch hour, and was one of only three or four other customers who came in for pick-ups. None of the locations I've shopped recently have been busy.

If I weren't shopping them, I don't think I'd eat there on my own dime. When the food is good, it's great, but for almost $20, I can get a regular sit-down meal at a good burger place.

My area once had three locations right in and near the city. Now there's one. I wonder how long it will be before they have some mass closings. Or do people love the food so much that they'll pay exorbitant prices?

I went to a Five Guys about an year ago while I was out of town.. (It was a shop).. They were pretty busy around lunch time.


Then about two months ago, I was looking on line and I notice they had closed... I am not sure if it was because of COVID, or they could not afford the rent any more or what... It was in a shopping center on an busy street.

In fact, there were 2 other restaurants in the same shopping center that had closed in the last few months in the same shopping center.



There was also a Luby's in another shopping center about 5 or 6 miles up the street that had close... But I heard a -lot of them are closing also even before COVID...


I sure do miss Luby's

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2022 12:58AM by Isaiah4031a.

Prices have been rising crazy fast. A whole lot faster than the government's stated 9%.

On the road, I like to pick up Casey's (a gas station) shop. It's a quick MS. with a very reasonable $5 reimbursement for the inside purchase. I gotta eat when I'm doing routes, and the shops are quick and easy, pay $12 (way, way below my minimum requirement!), but I could get a slice of pizza and a cup of coffee for right at $5.

Last week, the "slice", without the coffee, was $6.57

When I'm on routes, I swear I spend most of my cash on coffee. At home, I drink 8 cups a day. I can't afford it on the road! Some places are over $2 for a small coffee (I'm talking gas stations/c-stores, not Starbucks or some branded coffee place. Never been in one of those, never will.) I've even seen signs at gas stations saying they no longer give a free refill with fuel. How do you calculate the % inflation on something that went from free to $1.98?

I don't know if the prices you quoted for 5 Guys reflects a recent increase -- but I wouldn't be surprised.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Prices have been rising crazy fast. A whole lot faster than the government's stated 9%.

On the road, I like to pick up Casey's (a gas station) shop. It's a quick MS. with a very reasonable $5 reimbursement for the inside purchase. I gotta eat when I'm doing routes, and the shops are quick and easy, pay $12 (way, way below my minimum requirement!), but I could get a slice of pizza and a cup of coffee for right at $5.

Last week, the "slice", without the coffee, was $6.57

When I'm on routes, I swear I spend most of my cash on coffee. At home, I drink 8 cups a day. I can't afford it on the road! Some places are over $2 for a small coffee (I'm talking gas stations/c-stores, not Starbucks or some branded coffee place. Never been in one of those, never will.) I've even seen signs at gas stations saying they no longer give a free refill with fuel. How do you calculate the % inflation on something that went from free to $1.98?

I don't know if the prices you quoted for 5 Guys reflects a recent increase -- but I wouldn't be surprised.

Time for a couple of insulated mugs!

This is only an opinion and I'm quite sure others will not agree, but every 5 Guys restaurant that exists could shutter its doors and it wouldn't hurt my feelings. Their prices are ridiculous, the food is mediocre at best, and I can get a good meal at Logan's or Outback for around the same price. I completed two 5G shops and asked the schedulers to stop calling. I was asked why; I told them that I do not like the restaurant. They haven't bothered me since!

Birdy, I frequently wonder the same thing. I only eat there during shops and I rarely go over reimbursement. I have seen people walk in, look at the prices and leave.

Most of the ones I've been to have had good business. And the prices seem to be all over the place. Some have actually come down. Go figure.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2022 06:53AM by weatherman2111.

A slice at Casey's is currently $3 plus tax. They must have charged you for two slices.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Prices have been rising crazy fast. A whole lot faster than the government's stated 9%.

On the road, I like to pick up Casey's (a gas station) shop. It's a quick MS. with a very reasonable $5 reimbursement for the inside purchase. I gotta eat when I'm doing routes, and the shops are quick and easy, pay $12 (way, way below my minimum requirement!), but I could get a slice of pizza and a cup of coffee for right at $5.

Last week, the "slice", without the coffee, was $6.57

When I'm on routes, I swear I spend most of my cash on coffee. At home, I drink 8 cups a day. I can't afford it on the road! Some places are over $2 for a small coffee (I'm talking gas stations/c-stores, not Starbucks or some branded coffee place. Never been in one of those, never will.) I've even seen signs at gas stations saying they no longer give a free refill with fuel. How do you calculate the % inflation on something that went from free to $1.98?

I don't know if the prices you quoted for 5 Guys reflects a recent increase -- but I wouldn't be surprised.

Five Guys goes up in price almost monthly by me. A little burger (without cheese) will put you at 16.50 total with the fries and drink. That's about a dollar over reimbursement. They raised the starting fee by a dollar around here, but not the reimbursement. In my area, I take them at a fee of $19. It's rare I can get over that anymore because I am in a highly populated area. I would never pay the prices on my own dime.

The last shop I did, I ordered exactly the same thing, and the total was $16.50, too. TBH, I'd order a cheaper sandwich (I love the grilled cheese with tomato), but the burger in a bowl is actually the healthiest/lowest calorie option. I have dietary restrictions, so I'm limited in what I can order.

They need to up that reimbursement again!

I think at this point their main customers are us doing mystery shops.

It's wild to wonder what FiveGuys pays their MSC too. If they're paying $25 plus $15 per shop to the shopper -and then the MSC has their cut ($200? $300?) who knows. And then there's spillage, spoilage, theft, etc. Then, as other's have said, it's an expensive place!

And then we think of giants like ATT who were paying for weekly mystery shops with hundreds of dollars per location in the entire country. Wild!

As the recession deepens, I suspect a lot of work will dry up. Why would companies spend millions on enhancing customer service when they're struggling to make a profit? Every single smaller restaurant I go to has been feverishly changing their menus with new printed menus or temporary stickers. Some have given up entirely, and just don't post prices! Places like El Pollo Loco are simply raising their prices every time I visit. Soon we may see 'Market Price' for restaurants.

As for FG?

I am happy to get the work here and there, but prefer quicker shops with less work and more profit. Why spend travel time email time sign up time report time and dine in time chiseling $20-$25 from the MSC when I can do a quick drive thru shop for 10 minutes shop and report time for the same price?

Yeah, I have that. But I have to get refills to the mug, and even a refill is now over $2.

As far as a slice at Casey's being $3, not where I was. I always ask for a receipt and check it. I asked the cashier, and I checked the receipt.

The sign on the door said a slice and any small drink for $5 "with Casey's rewards". The cashier tried to help me sign up for the rewards, but we couldn't manage to do it.

@olympia tennenbaum wrote:

@ceasesmith wrote:

Prices have been rising crazy fast. A whole lot faster than the government's stated 9%.

On the road, I like to pick up Casey's (a gas station) shop. It's a quick MS. with a very reasonable $5 reimbursement for the inside purchase. I gotta eat when I'm doing routes, and the shops are quick and easy, pay $12 (way, way below my minimum requirement!), but I could get a slice of pizza and a cup of coffee for right at $5.

Last week, the "slice", without the coffee, was $6.57

When I'm on routes, I swear I spend most of my cash on coffee. At home, I drink 8 cups a day. I can't afford it on the road! Some places are over $2 for a small coffee (I'm talking gas stations/c-stores, not Starbucks or some branded coffee place. Never been in one of those, never will.) I've even seen signs at gas stations saying they no longer give a free refill with fuel. How do you calculate the % inflation on something that went from free to $1.98?

I don't know if the prices you quoted for 5 Guys reflects a recent increase -- but I wouldn't be surprised.

Time for a couple of insulated mugs!

I often wonder (the economics don't make sense usually) if the mystery shopping programs that these companies field are also marketing programs meaning that they know they are going to make $5-10 on each evaluation. And I don't want to sound like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino but "A lot of young people don't like eating alone". Five Guys knows this and is banking on young-uns saying, "I have a shop but I don't want to go alone...go with me...." So they essentially get a customer they may not otherwise get a full price and offer a discount to the evaluator...and they get some feedback in the process.

If the Five Guys near me is any indication, they take my report and flush it down the toilet. The windows outside of the location near me have had green mold on them for like 2 months now. I report it every time... oh well.

Good burgers though.

I got ticket #2 last shop at about 1:30. I asked if they had gone around since the numbers go to 99. She said they had. I could not believe that since there were only two other people in the store. My guess is they just resume where they left off the night before.

That is correct. The number in the morning continues from where they left off. I asked.

@wrosie wrote:

I got ticket #2 last shop at about 1:30. I asked if they had gone around since the numbers go to 99. She said they had. I could not believe that since there were only two other people in the store. My guess is they just resume where they left off the night before.

I agree, the prices are outrageous. Even a simple donut can be about $2.00. I use my stars for SB coffee by the cup and also for the pound bag of whole bean coffee to make from home. For the most part I make it and fill up my Thermos' to take with me as I MS. I went to 5G's on my own dime the other day to get a little burger and it was $11.26. I wanted the fries, but like BirdyC stated, they were over $5.00, so I declined. And even at Walmart the 20 oz. bottles of soda have gone over $2.00, but much more at a gas station where they heavily advertise the slightly reduced price for purchasing 2. And do not get me started on the price of apples or oranges, my usual snacks. I have had to double up on bananas.

The economics are fascinating. Like how much cheaper would they be if they weren't paying for a massive mystery shopping program? Are they counting on shoppers to make their stores look full or to boost their sales numbers to show investors?

@metro25782 wrote:

I often wonder (the economics don't make sense usually) if the mystery shopping programs that these companies field are also marketing programs meaning that they know they are going to make $5-10 on each evaluation. And I don't want to sound like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino but "A lot of young people don't like eating alone". Five Guys knows this and is banking on young-uns saying, "I have a shop but I don't want to go alone...go with me...." So they essentially get a customer they may not otherwise get a full price and offer a discount to the evaluator...and they get some feedback in the process.

If the Five Guys near me is any indication, they take my report and flush it down the toilet. The windows outside of the location near me have had green mold on them for like 2 months now. I report it every time... oh well.

Good burgers though.

It looks like the price of little fries has increased since I did a sit-down shop at Five Guys a few weeks ago. I have another one on Sunday. I had a regular sized burger, little fries and a small drink - I don't recall the exact total, but it was a couple of dollars less than the total amount of reimbursement plus shop fee. I did not tip because there was no table service. I'm only doing this shop because I love a good burger, and my favorite burger place Ruby Tuesdays has closed all its locations in my area. The report is kind of tedious and all you get is basically a free meal.

Seriously, the locations are not crowded due to mystery shopping. In my area, they are open from 11 AM to 10 PM seven days a week. That is 11 hours a day for 7 days, or 77 hours a week. Each location is generally shopped twice each week (lunch and dinner), and I will assume that each shopper stays for 30 minutes each time. One hour per week works out to 1.3%. Mystery shoppers are not making 5G look crowded or busy. We may not understand why people are going there to eat, but they are.

I went to Burger King last week for lunch during a short MS road trip. I ordered a Whopper (no onions, no cheese), a small order of fries, and a small drink. The total came to $10.87. My most recent order at 5G cost me $15.50 and consisted of a Little Burger (no onions, no cheese, with tomato, lettuce, ketchup, grilled mushrooms, grilled jalapeno peppers), a small order of fries (much larger than the small order at BK), and a small drink (much larger than the small drink at BK). Considering just the burgers and fries, I think I got more value for the dollar at 5G. I can remember when a Whopper at BK was $0.59 (1970). I can remember when a hamburger at McD was $0.15 (for a long time; didn't get to $0.30 until 1980). They have all gone the way of gas at $0.17 per gallon (1960; full serve in NJ and they checked the oil and cleaned every window; still full service in NJ but they no longer check the oil and very rarely clean the windows).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2022 09:00PM by myst4au.

Almost $11 for that toilet bowl BK? I would gladly pay$4 more for 5 guys. I can't remember the last time I went to BK. They have to be near the bottom of my list of fast food burgers. There isn't really anything wrong with the Whoppers, but the overall place is depressing. Colors, Uniforms, ambience.

I only do 5G occasionally and I always go over the reimbursement, but I don't care that much. I'm doing the shop for no less than $25 (and sometimes $30 or $35), so if I "lose" a couple of dollars to get the bigger burger, I'm okay with it.

@myst4au wrote:

Seriously, the locations are not crowded due to mystery shopping. In my area, they are open from 11 AM to 10 PM seven days a week. That is 11 hours a day for 7 days, or 77 hours a week. One hour per week works out to 1.3%. Mystery shoppers are not making 5G look crowded or busy. We may not understand why people are going there to eat, but they are.

I went to Burger King last week for lunch during a short MS road trip. I ordered a Whopper (no onions, no cheese), a small order of fries, and a small drink. The total came to $10.87. My most recent order at 5G cost me $15.50 and consisted of a Little Burger (no onions, no cheese, with tomato, lettuce, ketchup, grilled mushrooms, grilled jalapeno peppers), a small order of fries (much larger than the small order at BK), and a small drink (much larger than the small drink at BK). Considering just the burgers and fries, I think I got more value for the dollar at 5G. I can remember when a Whopper at BK was $0.59 (1970). I can remember when a hamburger at McD was $0.15 (for a long time; didn't get to $0.30 until 1980). They have all gone the way of gas at $0.17 per gallon (1960; full serve in NJ and they checked the oil and cleaned every window; still full service in NJ but they no longer check the oil and very rarely clean the windows).

That's very odd, since Casey's prices are almost always the same at every Casey's (except for alcohol, which can vary greatly). I don't know how they could have charged you $6 for a piece of pizza. I don't imagine they would sell much at that price.

I always get kids' meals when I eat fast food, but even the kids meals at fast food places are almost $6 with tax now! On the bright side, it has caused me to cut back on fast food and cook at home more!

@ceasesmith wrote:

Yeah, I have that. But I have to get refills to the mug, and even a refill is now over $2.

As far as a slice at Casey's being $3, not where I was. I always ask for a receipt and check it. I asked the cashier, and I checked the receipt.

The sign on the door said a slice and any small drink for $5 "with Casey's rewards". The cashier tried to help me sign up for the rewards, but we couldn't manage to do it.

@olympia tennenbaum wrote:

@ceasesmith wrote:

Prices have been rising crazy fast. A whole lot faster than the government's stated 9%.

On the road, I like to pick up Casey's (a gas station) shop. It's a quick MS. with a very reasonable $5 reimbursement for the inside purchase. I gotta eat when I'm doing routes, and the shops are quick and easy, pay $12 (way, way below my minimum requirement!), but I could get a slice of pizza and a cup of coffee for right at $5.

Last week, the "slice", without the coffee, was $6.57

When I'm on routes, I swear I spend most of my cash on coffee. At home, I drink 8 cups a day. I can't afford it on the road! Some places are over $2 for a small coffee (I'm talking gas stations/c-stores, not Starbucks or some branded coffee place. Never been in one of those, never will.) I've even seen signs at gas stations saying they no longer give a free refill with fuel. How do you calculate the % inflation on something that went from free to $1.98?

I don't know if the prices you quoted for 5 Guys reflects a recent increase -- but I wouldn't be surprised.

Time for a couple of insulated mugs!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2022 07:29PM by mjt9598.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Yeah, I have that. But I have to get refills to the mug, and even a refill is now over $2.

In the McDonalds app you can get any sized roast or iced coffee for .99. That deal is only good 1x per day but it looks like you can use it daily. Plus then you get rewards point that you can use for more coffee. So while you're out and about, it's an option. .99 for whatever their largest size is to refill your mug.

My better half likes to keep himself highly caffeinated so I'm always keeping an eye out for coffee.

I did a Five Guys a couple weeks ago in my rural town. The place was very busy. I don’t get it. The burgers are ok, but I make better burgers at home in my cast iron skillet. Their fries are nothing to write home about either. Way too salty and their Little size is too big for just me. I also hate how the fries are just dumped in the bag. I’ll eat there when it’s bonused but I would never eat there on my dime.

A burger made at home is the best, but I still like 5G's if I do not have time. I can share those fries with someone and use the vinegar to cut the saltiness some. And like @myst4au stated, with grilled jalapeños! But, I do like IN-N-OUT Burger, more.

I am not picking on 5Guys-- because all salted fries are off my list now. I am watching my sodium intake. The 5 Guys fries contain 1,330 mg of sodium per serving. This is 55% of the RDA for sodium. Damn! Those salty fries are good! But they are not good for me. *sigh* As a non-shopper, I could just get the veggie sandwich, or something. But I am eating at home now and altering my cooking style.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2022 03:53AM by Shop-et-al.

Aside from poor staffing issues and this affecting the food, if you get a fresh Whopper or BK Double Cheeseburger, they're just as good in my opinion as 5G burgers. For way less.

@rarararara wrote:

I think at this point their main customers are us doing mystery shops.

That would be funny. That said, from what I've seen delivery and people on the road are their biggest customers in most places, or parents getting a family meal.

Prices have certainly gone up. Little cheeseburger, little fries and a drink at my local 5G is $18.25 [after taxes].
As an experiment, I searched a few other locations that I've shopped previously...
Closest major city downtown location: $18.38 [after taxes]
More rural area, but popular stopping point between 2 major WC cities: $15.35 [after taxes]
My EC home: $17.56 [after taxes]

PurpleIcee,

Im super excited..we got 2 in and outs in the process if being built kind of close to me. Maybe its because I have limited access to them..only had them once when I was visiting Anaheim years ago and once driving through Utah but it was hands down the best fast food burger joint Ive ever eaten at.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2022 05:43AM by dawnhu.