A woman is going viral on TikTok after expressing her shock over being asked to tip at Five Guys after she spent a small fortune on a meal.
Sabira Evans (@sabiraevans), a singer and songwriter, says she recently visited the fast-food chain to get a meal for herself. After paying an exorbitant amount for her food, Evans claims she was asked to drop even more money—on gratuity.
“Five Guys just asked me if I wanted to tip,” Evans says. “Mind you, I just came in and got my own food.”
Her meal—a bacon cheeseburger, a small fry, and a strawberry milkshake—cost her $26.07.
“I should have went to the grocery store,” Evans says.
She alleges that, for the same cost, she could’ve bought ingredients to make the same meal for seven days.
“And they asked me if I wanted to leave a tip,” she repeats, clearly dumbfounded. As of Tuesday, Evans’s video had amassed more than 336,300 views.
Five Guys has always been pricey
Compared to some other burger joints, customers have long complained that Five Guys’s food is way too expensive.
In March 2024, one customer claimed he similarly spent $24 on food for just him. He shared a photo of his receipt, which showed that a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a small soda cost him $24.10.
“Five Guys prices are out of control,” the content creator captioned his post.
Reddit users have similarly complained about the chain’s ridiculous prices. In 2023, one Redditor from Ann Arbor, Michigan, provided proof that the price of a cheeseburger with ketchup had increased from $7.79 to $10.79 in a year.
According to TODAY.com, which cited data from MoneyGeek, a burger, fries, and small soda McDonald’s would cost $6.19 in 2022. Five Guys, by comparison, had the same meal priced at nearly $20.
Mashed says that Five Guys is more expensive, in part, because it uses fresh ingredients and offers various toppings for no extra charge. In addition, the chain uses peanut oil for its fries, which is more costly than other cooking oils.
Tipflation is out of control
Content creators have said they’re increasingly burdened by the expectation to tip every time they make a purchase.
Several people have said they don’t understand why they’re asked to tip at self-checkout kiosks or the hair salon, especially if stylists can set their own rates.
Meanwhile, one woman said in May 2024 that a “kitchen service charge” was added to her bill without her consent. She accused the restaurant of employing a “shady” business tactic to increase pay for kitchen staff without prior notice.
Even Evans says she’s tired of the notion that customers should always tip.
In the caption of her Five Guys video, she wrote, “Tipping is getting out of control.”
@sabiraevans Tipping is getting out of hand #tipping #fiveguys #tippingculture #america ♬ original sound – Sabira Evans
Viewers dunk on Five Guys’s prices
In the comments section of Evans’s video, many users said they’re tired of the chain’s comparatively high costs.
“They are ridiculously overpriced,” one person wrote.
“I stopped eating there because of the prices,” another added. “I can get a steak meal for the same.”
“Overpriced, overrated place,” a third user said of Five Guys.
“Five Guys is ridiculously expensive! Never eating there again,” a fourth viewer echoed.
Others, meanwhile, exposed similar restaurant chains that also ask for tips for self-checkout purchases.
“$6 for a single scoop of ice cream at Baskin Robins and they asked for a tip,” one woman says.
“Picked up pizza tonight [they] asked how much am I tipping? What? I [drove] 20 minutes one way, paid full price, AND picked it up after waiting 15 extra minutes,” another added. “Nope.”
“The fast food tipping started with Starbucks and now has just gotten out of hand,” a third viewer commented. “Fast food or takeout should not have tips, even on the credit card machine.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Evans via TikTok comment and to Five Guys through email.
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