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Thursday, December 6, 2007 | The Red & Black
Five Guys burgers ‘to die for 5
Burger joint a
hit in Athens
By JULIE LEUNG
The Red & Black
Five guys may be the per
fect formula for a pop boy
band, but they are also the
driving force behind some
monster-sized burgers.
Open since Nov. 29, Five
Guys Famous Burger and
Fries is the latest fast food
joint to grace the streets of
downtown.
Located iat the comer of
Broad Street and College
Avenue, the restaurant returns
the location to its original fast
food purpose when it housed
The Varsity in the 19705.
With its red-checkered tiles
and light wooden chairs, the
decor may lack in sophistica
tion, but that’s only secondary
to the actual food.
“The concept is [to] just
serve a great hamburger and
French fries,” said Mark
Segell, the manager at Five
Guys.
“We don’t have to have a lot
of things on our menu, [we]
just keep it real simple.”
The prices at Five Guys
range from $2.39 for an order
of fries to $5.39 for a bacon
cheeseburger.
While one easily can find
cheaper burgers at Wendy’s or
McDonald’s, Segell stressed
the quality and the quantity at
Five Guys easily surpass the
competition.
“At Five Guys, if you just
say you want a hamburger or
Cheeseburger, you get a dou-
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Courtesy The Wood Brothers
▲ The Wood Brothers, Oliver and Chris, collab
orate on stage to showcase the musical connec
tion that goes beyond their family tie.
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ble,” he said.
When asked what his per
sonal favorite was, Segell
didn’t hesitate with an answer.
“Without a doubt, it’s the
bacon double cheeseburger,”
he said. “But you got to get
the fries. They’re fresh cut and
they’re cooked in 100 percent
peanut oil,” he said. “If you’re
going to have fries you should
have them at Five Guys.”
With roots in Arlington,
Virginia, the original Five Guys
was built in 1986 by retired
insurance salesman Jerry
Murrell and his three oldest
sons.
Given the choice of going to
college or investing in the fam
ily business, all of Murrell’s
five sons opted for the latter.
More than 150 locations and
numerous burger awards later,
Five Guys made its way to
Athens via franchising.
The downtown Five Guys is
the second location in Athens.
The first opened about five
weeks ago at Epps Bridge
Road.
“The Epps Bridge location
immediately became one of
the busiest Five Guys in the
country,” Segell said. “We
anticipate the same thing hap
pening here downtown.”
If the general consensus
last Saturday night was any
evidence, it seems as if Segell’s
anticipations are well founded.
“It’s to die for,” said Michael
Crocker, a senior majoring in
finance, as he waited for his
order.
“They make a real effort to
turn a simple food like a burg
er into a delicacy.”
Crocker said this was his
second order of the day.
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OUT & ABOUT
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FRANNIE FABIAN | The Red a Bock
▲ (Top) Hamburgers wait
to be packaged up for cus
tomers.
(Bottom) Summer Lutz
(left), a junior public rela
tions major, and Bart
Pond, a junior advertising
major, eat at Five Guys.
With weekend closing hours
of 3 a.m., Five Guys could be
the next staple for late-night
food binges.
“We’re really happy to be
open,” Segell said. “Athens has
been very friendly and welcom
ing and we look forward to a
long and happy relationship
with the community.”
Musical brothers connection ‘intuitive’
By ANNA KRAKOVSKI
The Red & Black
Whether their music is
classified as blues, folk
rock or acoustic shouldn’t
take the focus off a more
important thing: The
Wood Brothers know how
to collaborate on two lev
els —as brothers and as
musicians.
“Classifying music is for
historians, not musicians,”
Chris Wood said in a phone
interview last week. “The
genres mean nothing
because everyone inter
prets (them) differently. As
a musician, we’re too close
to our music and it’s too
hard to have an objective
point of view on it when
you’re the one playing it.”
While both musicians
are involved in other acts
(Chris plays with Medeski
Martin & Wood and Oliver
with King Johnson), they
said playing with a family
member goes much deep
er.
“We haven’t lived close
to each other in the last 20
years but when we started
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FRANNIE FABIAN I The Red a Buck
▲ Mark Segell, general manager of Five Guys Famous
Burgers and Fries, prepares a hamburger at the new College
Avenue location.
THE WOOD BROTHERS
With Leslie Helped
When: 7:30 tonight
Where: The Melting Point
Cost: sls
More Information:
meltingpoint.athens.com
playing together two years
ago, we had this connec
tion,” Oliver Wood said.
“It’s an intuitive intangible
connection people
develop that kind of thing
playing for years in a
band.”
“It’s amazing and I feel
very lucky,” Chris said
about working with his
brother. “Not only is there
a family connection, but
(Oliver) is great at what he
does. It’s amazing it
worked out that we have
the same job.”
During the two years of
performing together, the
brothers have traveled the
likes of Bonnaroo,
Wakarusa, Ten Thousand
Lakes, Langerado and
many others.
Although most of these
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festivals are stereotypically
“jam-stivals,” Chris said
The Wood Brothers don’t
resemble the jam-band
scene completely.
“The jam band scene
classified us,” he said, add
ing that the band is a set
list kind of band that likes
to improvise.
“The whole point is to
play it like you’re playing it
for the first time,” he said.
“That feeling of improvis
ing can be a part of a pre
written kind of music.”
Playing the same song
every night can get a little
tiring, but Chris has found
an art to it.
“The deeper the song
gets inside of you, the
more it plays itself and you
can feel the spirit of it,” he
said.
Mark Cervero, a senior
sociology major from, said
he reviewed the duet’s
album “Ways Not to Lose”
for WUOG and has seen
Oliver make a guest
appearance with Medeski
Martin & Wood.
“Their music is
Americana that features
superb instrumentation,”
he said. “Chris Wood’s bass
prowess is on display and
Oliver’s guitar work and
vocals are steeped in the
folk and blues tradition.”
Oliver said he wrote the
songs on “Ways Not to
Lose” before he and his
brother started officially
playing and writing the lyr
ics together. The brothers’
new studio album will be
out this spring and will be
“a lot more instrumental.”
“It’s a lot more flushed
out. John (Medeski) plays
keys and we have a bunch
of guests that joining us on
the record,” he said. “I feel
like this record is more of a
creative collaboration.”
The brothers will play
tonight at The Melting
Point with Leslie Helpert.
“Don’t expect Medeski
Martin & Wood,” Chris
said of tonight’s perfor
mance while looking to
heap praise on his brother
once again. “You really get
to hear how good (Oliver)
is every subtle little
thing he does, you can
hear it.”