By AMY JONES / Associate Editor

HOOVER — Five Guys Burgers and Fries, which opened in Lee Branch in late January, has had no trouble fitting right into the busy shopping center.

“We’ve been overwhelmed with the response,” said Jennifer Reagan, spokesperson for Monument Restaurants, which owns the Lee Branch Five Guys location. “We’re just getting a lot of business from that whole area, from up and down 280. It’s been great.”

Five Guys is based around the concept of simple burgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs and all the free toppings customers want. However, Five Guys’ commitment to freshness sets it apart from other burger joints, Reagan said.

“We don’t even have a freezer at Five Guys. All of the meat is top choice beef brought in fresh every day. All the ingredients are brought in fresh every day. The fries are cut fresh every morning,” she said. “The hot dogs are great all-beef hot dogs. That’s my favorite. I don’t even touch the condiments. Just a hot dog, cheese and bun, and it’s to die for.”

Reagan said Monument Restaurants officials chose to open the franchise at Lee Branch because of the vibrant community around the shopping center.

“It was just a great area and had good communities. The schools are really great,” she said. “It had the right amount of population for what we were looking for to put a franchise there.”

Workers at the restaurant are getting ready for the warmer months, with county schools getting out for summer break in late May.

“Now that school is about to be out, there will be more people shopping in the area during the day,” Reagan said. “We get a lot of phone-in and fax-in orders from businesses around that community, so we stay pretty busy.”

Reagan said Monument Restaurants has no current plans to open more Five Guys franchises in Shelby County.

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. every day. For more information about the Lee Branch Five Guys Burgers and Fries, call the store at 991-0335.