Five Guys closures hit 7 states. Is yours on the list?

Five Guys has become many people’s idea of the perfect burger, but for a growing number of customers, the price of a standard meal has become too hard to justify. That tension is showing up in store closures, and the count is rising.

At least 14 Five Guys locations have closed or will close during the first half of 2026, spanning 7 states: California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Georgia, and Nebraska. The closures are concentrated most heavily in California, where 4 specific locations have been documented through state filings, resulting in a combined 55 job losses.

The 4 California stores closing in 2026

The confirmed California locations being shut down are:

1. Merced, with 13 job losses
2. Hanford, with 14 job losses
3. Whittier in Los Angeles County, with 13 job losses
4. City of Industry in Los Angeles County, with 15 job losses

Five Guys cited financial hardship and rising business costs as the reasons these locations cannot stay open. California’s fast-food minimum wage jumped to $20 an hour in 2024, and that labor cost pressure has hit the state’s restaurant industry broadly.

Why prices are driving customers away

Despite these closures, Five Guys is not collapsing. The chain still operates more than 100 locations in California and nearly 2,000 worldwide. In 2024, it ended the year with a net gain of 37 locations globally even while closing 28 others. The overall footprint is still growing.

But the closures are arriving at a moment when consumer frustration with fast-food pricing has reached a genuine boiling point. A typical Five Guys order of a burger, fries, and a drink runs around $25. The same meal at In-N-Out costs roughly $10. That gap has fueled a steady stream of online criticism, with former customers describing the chain as overpriced and noting they stopped visiting years ago because of costs.

Ironically, the brand’s quality has never been more recognized. Five Guys recently topped a national YouGov survey ranking America’s favorite fast-food burgers, finishing ahead of In-N-Out, Burger King, and Wendy’s. Customers love what Five Guys serves. The math of what it charges, for certain locations and certain customer budgets, is where the problem lies.

What comes next for the chain

Five Guys is privately held and does not routinely disclose financial data, which makes it difficult to assess the full scope of its current challenges. The 14-location closure count for 2026 may not represent the complete picture.

The broader context is an industry navigating elevated operating costs and increasingly selective consumers. Where Five Guys built its reputation on quality without emphasizing value, it now faces a market demanding both. Retail observers note that some locations may simply no longer make financial sense given the combination of high labor costs, rising food expenses, and customers who can choose something cheaper down the street.

The closures are a real setback, but Five Guys remains one of the most recognizable names in the burger space. Whether that recognition translates into sustained traffic at its current price point is the question the chain will have to answer location by location in the months ahead.