Residents Flock to Five Guys Opening

After months of wondering, waiting and questions from burger-lovers, the Hillsborough location of Five Guys Burgers and Fries opened Thursday, ready to greet a host of hungry residents.

 “I will tell you the lines are somewhat long, but it is worth it,” Owner Lisa Teach said when answering a call on opening day.

Lines snaked through the restaurant, located in the Shops at Woods Tavern at the corner of Amwell Road and Route 206, and out the door within two hours of it opening.

“Relieved,” Lisa Teach, Five Guys owner, said. “It’s kind of hard to describe because it took so long for us to be open.”

Despite the people filling the tables, the popularity was a welcome surprise.

“I had no idea it was going to be like this,” Teach said. “We definitely prepared the crew should something like this happen. But I know I’m pleasantly surprised.”

With the storefront displaying the franchise sign and “Opening Soon” signs on the corner, opening day was a question many resident burger-lovers found themselves asking. Converting the building to accommodate a restaurant was just one of the reasons for the delay, according to Teach.

“It’s a combination of a few things,” Teach said. “It’s a pre-existing building and you have a franchise and a restaurant coming in. We have a lot of HVAC going in. We wanted to get it right, even if it meant delaying the opening a little bit.”

The Hillsborough Five Guys location is not Teach’s first venture into the franchise, she said. She also owns a Five Guys location in Watchung.

“I like the fact that it’s a very simple operation,” she said. “The goal is simply to put out great burgers and fries. We do burgers and fries and we do it really well.”

The franchise’s approach to fresh food means there are no freezers or microwaves at any Five Guys location.

“The potatoes that we cut are the ones that you see in front of you,” Teach said.

Opening in Hillsborough was an east decision, since Teach and her family live in Somerset and already visit the town for various activities.

“I love this site,” she said. “It’s right on a nice, busy corner. It’s across the street from the busiest shopping center I’ve ever seen.”

Her hope for the business is that it continues to grow.

“We have 50 employees here,” she said. “I would like to keep 50 employees here for as long as I can.”

As her employees assembled orders, cut and cooked fries and cooked the burgers, Teach said the delay likely helped draw the opening-day crowds.

“The wait,” Teach said. “As much as we didn’t want to wait to open, I think it built up a lot of anticipation.”