Fairhope has a new burger spot. Five Guys opened Saturday, April 15 and is one of just a handful in the nation where visitors can order ahead and pick up at a drive-through window.

The fast service chain got its start in the Washington D.C. area in 1986 and in 2003 the brand began offering franchise opportunities. Today, there are over 1,700 Five Guys stores worldwide.

The three Five Guys restaurants in Baldwin County are owned and run by Gellert Hospitality Group out of New Jersey. The group owns over 60 Five Guys locations in 10 states. Bill Gellert, managing director for Gellert Hospitality Group, said the Fairhope location is one of five locations brand-wide, with a mobile order pickup window.

"One of our things (Five Guys) is we prep everything fresh, cook to order, you can customize your order and that takes time," Gellert said. "Five to eight minutes is what we typically allow once you have completed your transaction til we are done. Can you imagine sitting in your car and if you have kids or someplace to be and waiting five to eight minutes would be insanity."

To utilize the mobile order window, customers can place an order online at www.fiveguys.com or with the Five Guys mobile app. Place an order, pay for it and pick a time to pick it up. Gellert said if you enable the tracking function in the app, the store can see as you get near and start preparing your order.

"The idea is to move it much quicker than a typical drive-through with the caveat that you place your order ahead of time," Gellert said. "There are maybe five others in the entire country, so it is really pushing the boundaries. We are trying to make ourselves more accessible to people with busy schedules and time constraints to make us more convenient."

The interior is everything you come to expect from Five Guys: white and red tiles, boxes of peanuts for customers to enjoy while waiting and bags of potatoes ready to become French fries. The exterior of the location is fresh and modern with patio seating.

New to Five Guys?

The menu is simple with burgers, hot dogs and a few sandwiches (grilled cheese, BLT and veggie are your choices), fresh-cut French fries and milkshakes. The unique part about Five Guys is you can add any of the 15 toppings to your burger at no additional charge. The same principle applies to the 10 different milkshake mix-ins.

Why Fairhope?

Gellert said the company felt like the market in Fairhope was differentiated enough that it would not greatly impact the Daphne or Foley stores.

"We felt like if we are going to do this, we are going to do it right and make a long-term play. We tried to build something attractive and built to last. Those were really important things to us," Gellert said.

The store opened to the public Saturday, April 15 and has been busy.

"We have done very well the first three days. I would say it is ahead of expectations and I think there have been a lot of people using the window," Gellert said. "It is going to take some time for people to understand that you can't just drive up and place an order. There will be a little community education that will have to go on."

Five Guys Fairhope is at 241 South Greeno Road, Fairhope. The hours of operation are Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.