Corvallis saw the opening of Five Guys Burgers & Fries on March 14, a line extending out of the front door into the parking lot that lasted nearly the whole day.

Five Guys started in Arlington, Virginia in 1986 and has grown rapidly since, spreading coast to coast. There are 1,500 Five Guys locations now, the chain is known for using only peanut oil, fresh beef and never using freezers.

The Corvallis location has opened at 845 NW Ninth Street and stands where Baja Fresh was. 19 locations now operate in Oregon. Five Guys is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day of the week. 

The fast food mexican chain Baja Fresh closed in December of 2019, but the reason for the closure was not found. A statement on their facebook page said:

“It is with profound regret and sadness that we have to close our doors. We apologize for the inconvenience to our loyal customers. We are seeking a buyer in the hopes that this food restaurant will be able to reopen in the near future, and continue to serve you for many years to come. We thank you for your loyalty and for the opportunity to have been of service.” 

Ryan Coady is the owner of the Corvallis location and is very excited to be finally up and running.

“It’s been a dream of mine to be in Corvallis, I’m a grad from [Oregon State University], I’ve wanted to be here forever [and] it’s taken me 12 years to find a site where we can get in,” Coady said. “Obviously we want to be a part of the community as much as we can, as much as everybody lets us. [COVID-19] is a little bit restricting right now with our indoor dining [but] we’re really just pumped to be here.”

Coady is not the only one excited about the opening. The line leading out the door into the parking lot was full of Corvallis residents and excited students.

Damoni Wright was one of the people waiting to get a burger in the long line.

“It’s a new burger joint in town, good fries, the fries are solid because they’re thick, [they] season them well and if you [don’t] have peanut allergies this is the perfect spot,” Wright said.

Max Kunze, a second year student at OSU studying sociology said he is excited to get a Five Guys burger as well. 

“I am all for Five Guys coming to Corvallis,” Kunze said. “Not only will it help boost the local economy by adding another business and creating more jobs and more products for consumers, but it will also be bringing some pretty delicious burgers to the people in Corvallis. Another burger joint in Corvallis only helps with jobs being created and with stimulating the local economy! The closest one as of right now is in Salem so that saves a lot of time, money, and gas for getting a burger.”