Five Guys moves ahead with plan for Huber Heights location

The Dayton-area franchisee for Five Guys burger restaurants confirmed this week that his team is moving ahead with plans to open a location on Old Troy Pike (State Route 202) in Huber Heights.

The coronavirus pandemic had prompted a pause in the plans for the Five Guys restaurant coming to a portion of the former TGI Fridays at 7777 Old Troy Pike. But Tom Gunlock, the co-franchise owner for Five Guys in the Miami Valley, said his team has applied for a building permit to complete the renovations to the space on the north end of the free-standing building in an outlot in front of the Waynetowne Plaza. The space most recently housed Al’s Smokehouse barbecue restaurant.

“We hope to start construction in February, with an opening in April,” Gunlock said.

The 2,430-square-foot restaurant will have a pick-up window — different from a drive-through window in that it will serve customers who have placed their orders in advance online — and will have seating for 36, Gunlock said. It will employ about 20.

“We have always wanted to be in Huber Heights,” Gunlock said.

Five Guys currently operates five restaurants in greater Dayton, although none is in the northern half of Montgomery County. The existing restaurants are on Brown Street near the University of Dayton, on Pentagon Blvd. near the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek, on Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Washington Twp., in Austin Landing in Miami Twp., and on Bechtle Road in Springfield.

Gunlock said he is looking to open a sixth Five Guys in the Dayton area but has not chosen a location.

TGI Fridays shut its doors in September 2017 after a lengthy run. Al’s Smokehouse opened in March 2019 but had vacated by early January 2020, and the space has been vacant for a year.

Five Guys, also known as Five Guys Burgers and Fries, was founded in Washington D.C. in 1986 and is headquartered in northern Virginia. It now operates more than 1,600 locations across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Its restaurants offer hot dogs and ice cream shakes in addition to the signature burgers and fries.

The first Dayton-area Five Guys Burgers and Fries opened in 2009 on State Route 725 in Washington Twp.