Kayla (@kaylalaughsoutloud) has forged quite the TikTok niche for herself recording her forays into the world of secret shopping at various restaurants, like Outback Steakhouse and McDonald’s. She’ll often record her visits to these places before explaining whether or not they passed or failed and why they received these marks.
Recently, she went to a Five Guys location and even though the staff was friendly and the restaurant was clean, she still ultimately gave it a failing grade and shared why in a viral TikTok.
Kayla begins recording her video from the interior of her car where she says she’s about to venture inside a Five Guys location as a secret shopper. She’s looking for a courteous and friendly staff, her food to be made the way she requested, and for the location to be clean and workers to try and upsell her on other items.
She films herself walking into the store and approaching the counter where she is greeted by a worker. Kayla then asks for a “little bacon cheeseburger” with “lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and ketchup” on it. The worker then asks if she’d like a fry and drink with it too while asking if she’d like “anything else.”
The total comes out to $19, which one user who responded to the video called “robbery.”
Kayla and the worker also engage in a little more back and forth, which is initiated by the Five Guys employee who seems to compliment her dress. Kayla gets her small drink cup and walks to a Coca-Cola freestyle machine where he pours her beverage. She then sits at a table and waits for her food until she’s called to go and get it.
After sitting back down, she unpacks her meal, ripping open the bag of small fries, which she turns around to reveal an overflowing cup of the cooked potatoes. Kayla then extricates her burger, which is wrapped in foil and placed at the bottom of the bag, and places it on the table. She unwraps it and shows the burger to the camera.
Back in her car, Kayla gives her assessment of the place, stating that “unfortunately there were a couple issues” that she thinks “they’re gonna fail on.”
A less than stellar experience
The mystery shopper says that while it was “overall friendly” and “super clean” in the restaurant, there were some issues she wanted to highlight. The first is that although she was immediately greeted when she entered the establishment by the manager, who was cleaning up the dining area, the actual ordering process could have been better.
Kayla says the worker looked like a “chipmunk” storing nuts in her mouth when she approached the kiosk to place an order because the employee had a mouthful of food when taking her order.
The Secret Shopper explains why this was such a big no-no: “She took my order with her hand over her mouth chewing. You do not eat behind the counter especially if you’re in…the food industry, you never, ever do that. You eat outside of the counter or in the back where I cannot see you.”
@kaylalaughsoutloud @Five Guys #fyp #mysteryshopping ♬ original sound – 😂 Kayla Laughs Out Loud 🤣
Kayla did say that to the employee’s credit, however, she never placed her hands on any part of her meal. However, it bothered her because it was “really gross.”
She adds, “I still think it’s inappropriate and gross to eat behind the counter and then take someone’s order.”
In terms of high marks Kayla could give the store: Both the dining area and the bathrooms in the store were “clean” and the alacrity in which she received her meal, she states, was deserving of praise as well: “It took less than seven minutes for them to make my order and hand it to me.” However, she did say ketchup was missing her burger.
Kayla says she thought there may’ve been issues with the location’s air conditioning unit, noting that “two portable AC’s” were in the restaurant when she visited. She also states that she’s shopped at this location two other times before and ordered the same exact thing each time, but on this third time, the meal was $2 cheaper. She states that “Five Guys Corporation will have to figure that out.”
All of these problems led Kayla to mark the restaurant down as a failure, “especially because the young lady behind the counter was eating when she wasn’t supposed to be, especially behind the counter.”
Viewers weigh in
One user in the comments section pushed back at Kayla’s assessment stating that the ketchup on the burger seemed to have been placed on the bottom of it: “It looked like there was ketchup on the bottoms of burger when u twisted it towards u and lifted the bun top am I insane there’s a red liquid there.”
Mostly, however, people were just shocked that her meal cost nearly $20 for a single person: “I heard $19 too!!!! Whoa!”
“19 dollars! Now I know why I’ve never been there,” another said.
However, Kayla doesn’t seem to think it’s such an obscene amount to pay for the food the restaurant serves and how the business operates: “They pay their employees a decent wage and have quality food without preservatives. This is what that looks like…”
One person said that they believe air conditioning issues are somewhat of a hallmark when it comes to Five Guys locations: “Seems like five guys have a/c issues everywhere. I’ve visited in several states and have cone across this a few times.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Five Guys via email and Kayla via TikTok comment.
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