Five Guys Burgers and Fries is just that.

You got burgers. You got fries.

No nuggets. No drive-through. No gimmicks. No clowns.

The look is all retro red and white tile. The menu is just as old school.

How can the Washington, D.C.-based franchise recently landed in the thick of the fast food vortex that is North Academy Boulevard survive the onslaught of Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr.’s, Good Times and Fat Burgers? By doing burgers and fries better than anyone else. Way better.

Five Guys is what burger joints were before corporate streamlining squeezed all the soul out them.

The kitchen is a gleaming steel galley frantic with cooks and sizzling meat. There are no computer screens or headsets. There is no freezer.

The hand-formed burger patties are fresh beef tossed on the hot steel when you order.

You wait for your food instead of the other way around. And the fries – hand-cut, double-fried and served ridiculously hot, spilling from overfilled cups – are pure potato heaven.

Don’t get me wrong. I love McDonald’s fries, perfectly golden outside encasing a steamy, starchy mantle. But, as one friend said as we waited in line to order at Five Guys, “They’re more of an engineering feat than a potato.”

At Five Guys, the potato stars.

Heavy sacks of spuds waiting to become lunch are piled, bunker-style, in the dining room. A white board by the counter announces where that day’s potatoes were grown – always some tiny Idaho crossroads you’ve never heard of. The whole thing is kind of a shtick. But it’s a delicious shtick.

The burgers have no shtick. You can order a single irregularly shaped patty ($3.29) or a double ($4.39). Add the regular toppings, plus a choice of grilled mushrooms and onions, green peppers or sliced jalapeños for free. Bacon and cheese are $1.40 extra. Your burger goes on when you order, the grill master presses it down once after turning, then the slightly charred, juicy patty lands on a bun, which is wrapped in foil, which is dropped in a plain brown paper bag spotted with grease from overflowing servings of fries.

All this takes a few minutes, giving diners time to read the accolades from publications across the country tacked up on the walls.

Five Guys has more than 300 locations, mostly on the East Coast, and it piles up awards.

When’s the last time you ate at a burger joint rated in Zagat?

Five Guys offers bulk boxes of peanuts to shell and nibble while you wait, which shows, in our peanut-paranoid society, just how old school the place really is.But who cares about all the retro handmade style and potato pedigrees unless the food is good?

Don’t worry, it is. The burgers have the real, meaty flavor of fresh beef.

When I asked a burger connoisseur wearing an In-n-Out Burger T-shirt at the table next to me if it was as good as the legendary West Coast burger chain, he took a minute to think while chewing a fry. Then said, “It’s probably better. Especially the fries.”

Seriously. These are true fries – some crispy bronze, some chewy ochre, some replete with their skins, and all available with every fry aficionado’s favorite condiment, malt vinegar. A regular ($2.59) is plenty for two. A large ($4.19) is ludicrous.

Five Guys also does a very nice hot dog, split long-ways, then grilled until slightly crisp along the cut.

The place costs more than its fast-food neighbors. A burger, fries and a drink will set you back $8. But judging by the crowds I’ve encountered at all hours, people think it’s a fair price for putting the old school soul back in burgers and fries.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries**** (habit forming)

Address: 7252 N. Academy Blvd. No. 120Phone: 264-6400Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. dailyEntrees: $3.29-5.79Vegetarian: Fries and grilled cheeseAlcohol: NoCredit card: Yes

Shelby Holden becomes emotional as her school, Irving Middle School, is talked about during the District 11 board meeting. Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette

Jerilee Bennett