Five Guys Burgers and Fries started out as a family business in Arlington, Va., and Billy Jacob, owner of a new Baton Rouge franchise, doesn’t want his operation to be any different.
 
The new Five Guys, which opens Monday at Towne Center, is run by Billy, his sons Wes and Cullen Jacob, and Wes’ friends from the University, Justin McNab and Drew Englade.
 
Five Guys is a chain specializing in burgers, fries and hotdogs with more than 625 locations across North America. But it’s new to Louisiana, and Billy thinks there’s a space for Five Guys to fill.
“It’s a step above the fast-food burger place. We’re not trying to intrude on [the burger culture] of Baton Rouge. It’s just that there’s a niche for us,” Billy said.
 
Billy, who plans to open 15 stores across the state, said he has worked in the food business his whole life, including 20 years for the Popeye’s corporate office in Atlanta. But after Hurricane Katrina, Billy said he wanted to get back home and began looking for a restaurant company to bring with him.
 
“We went back to Five Guys [in Atlanta] again and again, and then I said, ‘That’s it,'” Billy said.
 
The choice to bring his sons along with him was obvious, Billy said.
“It’s family. It’s what Five Guys is,” Billy said.
 
Wes, a former University student, said working with his dad, brother and friends and entering business has been a learning experience.
“You’ve got to keep an open mind,” Wes said.
 
Cullen, who just recently graduated from high school, said he has been crashing on Wes’ floor for the past three weeks while trying to find a place to live.
 
“We all get along pretty well,” Cullen said.
 
Wes said he met Englade when they lived in Kirby-Smith Hall together and McNab when they were in the same fraternity.
“I asked him to be in my fraternity, and five years later he asked me to do this with him,” McNab said.
 
What separates Five Guys from other burger places is quality and customer service, Englade said.
 
“It’s pretty simple. It’s burgers, fries and dogs. But that being said, they’ve got to be the best burgers, fries and dogs,” Englade said.
 
 
 
 
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Contact Frederick Holl at [email protected]