The burger chain Five Guys finally opened its long-awaited University City location to customers on Jan. 12.
The new location at 3714 Spruce St., next to the Quad, was first announced in August 2021 with an anticipated opening date of late fall 2021 or early spring 2022. However, the planned opening date was delayed to mid-December 2022 because of supply chain issues and construction at Stouffer College House. The date was pushed back once more to Jan. 12, when the location finally began welcoming customers.
While a sign on the door of the restaurant stated that it would originally open on Wednesday, Jan. 11, the actual opening was delayed another day and the restaurant ultimately opened on Thursday, Jan. 12.
“Although the restaurant opening was delayed until now due to supply chain challenges and construction on the connected building project at Stouffer College House, we are thrilled that Five Guys is opening on Spruce Street for all to enjoy for the spring semester,” Penn’s Executive Director for Real Estate Ed Datz wrote in an emailed statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The new location will be the fourth Five Guys in Philadelphia, following others located at 1527 Chestnut St., 1100 Cecil B. Moore Ave., and 2552 Grant Ave.
Wharton junior Xavier Shankle told the DP he has long appreciated Five Guys' consistently high-quality food and is excited to have another meal option near campus. He explained that while he has been anticipating the opening for a long time now, he understands the many challenges that include construction, labor shortages, and supply chain shortages, and he trusts management has done their best.
“They picked a time to open when they knew people would be back on campus,” he said.
The new Five Guys replaced Beijing Restaurant, which closed in September 2020 after 32 years of operation.
“There was a really good local restaurant in the spot before,” Shankle said. “I hope we don’t get completely drowned out by national brands, but I do hope that more restaurants come in the future.”
Datz previously said that the main reason the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services pursued Five Guys was because Penn lost its on-campus burger restaurant when Bobby’s Burger Palace closed its Walnut Street location two years ago.
Shankle said he is excited to go to Five Guys often, now that it has finally opened.
“They’ll definitely know my name really soon,” he said.
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