
How Fast-Food Franchising Actually Works
Almost every restaurant you think of as a chain is owned by someone else entirely. What the franchisee actually buys, and why it explains the price on the board.

Menus and prices in 11 markets, 273 items tracked.
Five Guys carries the widest price spread of any well-covered brand on this site, and it is the single best illustration of what positioning does to a menu price.
A Five Guys cheeseburger is about $3.24 in the Philippines and $16.47 in Ireland - The same named product, across ten markets, at five times the price. Beef does not vary five-fold. What varies is whether the brand is an ordinary better-burger chain competing with peers, or a premium import with a small estate of high-visibility sites.
Five Guys has 21 products in our index despite holding only 246 items in total, which tells you something else: a very short menu travels intact. Nothing gets replaced by a local range because there is barely a range to replace.
Each market has its own board. Prices are shown in local currency and are not comparable across rows - Use the index below for that.
| Market | Items | Cheapest | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Five Guys menu prices
USD |
37 | $0.99 | $6 | USA menu prices |
| Singapore Five Guys menu prices
SGD |
24 | S$4.50 | S$12.93 | Singapore menu prices |
| Philippines Five Guys menu prices
PHP |
21 | ₱49 | ₱124.36 | Philippines menu prices |
| Malaysia Five Guys menu prices
MYR |
15 | RM8 | RM22.80 | Malaysia menu prices |
| Hong Kong Five Guys menu prices
HKD |
21 | HK$20 | HK$76.64 | Hong Kong menu prices |
| Australia Five Guys menu prices
AUD |
20 | A$5.90 | A$15.07 | Australia menu prices |
| Canada Five Guys menu prices
CAD |
33 | C$3.59 | C$8.50 | Canada menu prices |
| United Kingdom Five Guys menu prices
GBP |
28 | £4.15 | £8.47 | United Kingdom menu prices |
| Ireland Five Guys menu prices
EUR |
26 | €2.40 | €7.93 | Ireland menu prices |
| New Zealand Five Guys menu prices
NZD |
21 | NZ$4.50 | NZ$11.15 | New Zealand menu prices |
| United Arab Emirates Five Guys menu prices
AED |
27 | AED 13 | AED 24.89 | United Arab Emirates menu prices |
Prices are in each market’s own currency and are not comparable across rows; for that, use the price index.
Products sold under one name in four or more of our markets, converted to US dollars at weekly mid-market rates.
Every item across every Five Guys menu, mapped onto our dish taxonomy.
In 1986, Jerry and Janie Murrell made a life-changing choice: invest in a burger joint or send their sons to college. The family opened the first Five Guys in Arlington, Virginia, a name nodding to Jerry and his original four sons - Later becoming five when Tyler arrived. Burgers were formed by hand, fries cut fresh each day, and buns baked nearby - No freezers in sight. By 2001, five locations thrived in the D.C. region, and the brand embraced franchising in 2003, igniting rapid growth across North America and beyond.
At Five Guys, every burger features fresh-ground 80/20 chuck, never frozen, ensuring depth of flavor with each bite. Hand-cut fries cook in pure peanut oil and double-fry for extra crispness - A method praised in independent tests. Burgers come with two patties as standard and offer an open-book approach to toppings - Fifteen options at no extra cost. Milkshakes - Built on a classic vanilla base - Are topped with up to eleven free mix‑ins, allowing guests thousands of flavor permutations.
Offering complimentary in-shell peanuts while guests wait and unlimited soda refills from self-serve machines, Five Guys creates an atmosphere of welcome and abundance. Community support runs deep: from employing local staff to giving back through franchise partners’ involvement in charitable events. The brand’s consistency and generosity have built a loyal following - One that spans from humble beginnings to international acclaim.
What started as a family’s bold leap has blossomed into more than 1,700 locations worldwide - Yet the essence remains unchanged: honest food, warm hospitality, and genuine engagement . Whether a first visit or a longtime favorite, every diner finds a place, a flavor, and a story worth savoring.

Almost every restaurant you think of as a chain is owned by someone else entirely. What the franchisee actually buys, and why it explains the price on the board.

Localisation is not adding a novelty item. It is a staged process with a predictable sequence, and the menu data shows exactly how far each market has travelled.

Menu boards are designed documents, not lists. Where the money items sit, what the ordering of panels is doing, and how to find the price you actually want.
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Discussion
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