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Five Guys CEO says he gave a $1.5m bonus to his workers so he wouldn’t get shot in the back
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2026
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Wikipedia says 5000 employees. $300 each. On $2.2b sales in 2024.
What’s his personal incentive?
That's sales not profit. 5 guys is very successful but not to profitable. They use high quality ingredients, prine locations so rent is very high. Their bread is only made ina. Few locations and goes bad in less than a week. It's a tight ship they run. I was a GM there for a while. Seen the PNL every month for my bonus. Labor cost and food cost was about the only thing I really could control, everything else was through the roof.
And yet, I can still get a better burger for cheaper from half a dozen mom and pop shops in my town that all pay their people more than minimum wage.
Seriously, 5 Guys is high on my list of most disappointing burgers.
Yep.
Just stupidly expensive.
Currently, where I am, I can get a cheaper, and better, burger and fries meal... from a local diner... than from any chain fast food restaurant in the city.
And honestly, in about the same amount of time, as well.
Better is relative in this case. Yes, there are amazing local (typically brewery around me) places, usually but not always at higher price point.
But sometimes that greasy, made the way I want it, perfectly soaked bun is the only thing that will do.
And for consistency in both service and food across any and every location I've been in, at this point they are unmatched on their space. For someone with a sensitive stomach, I can eat their burgers without future repercussions - no other fast food can do that. Not even whatabuger.
If I see a 5Guys when traveling it's like an oasis.
Indeed. I tried it once and it was a clammy mess that really needed the tinfoil to hold it all together. I don't get the hype. It's better than McDonald's sure but everything is better than that dry processed gunk.
There's some really amazing burgers from local places that are actually worth the money and cost less than five guys.
Ps the whole thing with the normal burger being the double was confusing too.
Let me take a page from Democratic advertising geniuses: hey, at least it's not McDonald's amirite
Everything is better than McDonald's. Their patties don't even resemble a real hamburger anymore.
And, did you raise the food cost, so that everyone can get decent pay? And why not?
Thank you for your service.
5Guys is an institution and no 5Guys slander will be tolerated in our home.
This story does highlight how hard it is to scale bonuses across organizations. Even after knowing the realities of the P&L I fantasize about generating enough extra to windfall people. "If we just had a spare $2m we could..."
.. then when you see the math per head, even cutting executive staff, numbers like that turn into a one time $100 distribution which, after tax is like $70.
The game be the game. Quality, Service, Price, pick two.
5Guys is a rare example of hitting all three imo.
High quality ingredients?
Doubtful
Edit: I guess I have to be the bearer of bad news. Five guys is greasey garbage with sugary peanut flavor.
They use fresh beef and peanut oil for their fry oil. They could save a lot of money using frozen patties and soy or canola oil.
Quality is relative. For fast food in America, Five Guys is high cuisine. And, at least from the four or five locations I've been to, they're extremely consistent.
And his wife still thinks he was stupid for that
I would be surprised if his wife said any of that. It was probably all just said for the interview.
Yeah, totally agree... but what a shitty thing to say about your wife.
"Haha, my wife is such a selfish bitch she would rather another fur coat than giving money to hard working employees! Hilarious!!"