Five Guys is expected to return to College Park this fall, over a year after its Route 1 location closed in March 2018.
The fast-casual restaurant’s new location will be in the College Park Shopping Center next to Cava and Starbucks. It’s set to come amid an effort by the city and university to make the city a top-20 college town and will replace The Greek Store, a clothing and apparel shop that recently closed. The restaurant filed for a permit to hang their sign in the space in the last three months, said Ryan Chelton, the city’s economic development coordinator.
Many students, like junior Blaise Martineau, are excited about the restaurant’s return and new location.
“We were missing a good burger place,” said Martineau, an aerospace engineering major. “It’s the best fast-food burger place. It was my favorite place to eat in College Park.”
The 33-year-old burger joint features a variety of sandwiches, burgers and milkshakes. The closest location is currently in Hyattsville, about three miles from campus.
Read more: [College Park wants to be a top-20 college town. Here’s how close it is to getting there.]
Erick Herrera, a sophomore computer science major, said the former Five Guys on Route 1 used to get a reasonable amount of business, and the campus is in need of a replacement.
“This is a good place for a burger place,” Herrera said. “Nothing really does burger in this general area.”
However, Herrera is a bit hesitant about the cost of dining at Five Guys, where a hamburger and a small order of fries costs about $12.
Though the area has had a number of developments in the Discovery District in recent years — including a new WeWork, the Capital One Tech Incubator and The Hotel at the University of Maryland — several local eateries have shuttered, including Slices Pizza Co. and Pizza Mart.
Read more: [Ten Ren’s, Bentley’s among College Park eateries with health code violations last month]
Still, College Park is currently dominated by pizza restaurants such as Blaze Pizza, Lotsa Stone Fired Pizza and Pizza Kingdom. Route 1 also has Asian food restaurants such as Ten Ren’s Tea Time and Shanghai Cafe, which is closing at the end of the year for city hall construction.
Five Guys opened its first location in Arlington, Virginia, in 1986 and currently operates in almost 1,500 locations worldwide, including spots in the Middle East and Europe, according to the company’s website.
Five Guys did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Mayor Patrick Wojahn said in an email that he was excited about the restaurant’s return.
“I think that the Five Guys will offer another good restaurant option in College Park at low cost and continue to bring more people into downtown College Park,” he wrote.