The Real Reason This American Fast-Food Chain Offers Complimentary Peanuts

Ohh delicious roasted peanuts - The memories of summer baseball games and Five Guys Burgers and Fries!

Five Guys Burgers and Fries started up in Arlington, Virginia in 1986 and within the 30 years that followed, opened up 1,500 locations across the globe. For more than 20 years, each of their locations has huge buckets of peanuts available for customers to snack on as they wait for their burgers.

Peanuts as an appetizer? Seems strange, I know.

Although there is no information of the Five Guys website about why they serve peanuts, I found an article on Mashed that reveals a former Five Guys employee on Reddit claimed that the peanut ploy is designed solely to "distract the customers, so they don't stare at us".

Given the fact that the chain is insistent that their burger patties stay juicy, they tell their employees not to press down on the patties. Therefore, causing a longer cooking time for the burgers, which could result in antsy customers standing around for a while. But if they have peanuts to snack on, it's not a problem!