Courtesy:FiveGuys
Five Guys Burgers and Fries has built a loyal following over decades by keeping things simple fresh beef, hand-cut fries, and a no-frills approach to fast food that resonates with burger lovers across the country. But even a brand this beloved cannot fully escape the pressures squeezing the restaurant industry right now. Five Guys store closures in 2026 have now touched at least 7 states, with at least 14 locations confirmed shut or on their way to closing before the first half of the year wraps up.
The closures reflect a broader struggle playing out across the American dining landscape, where rising operating costs and more cautious consumer spending have forced even popular chains to make difficult decisions about which locations can survive.
Where Five Guys has closed in 2026
California has taken the hardest hit. The state accounts for the largest share of this year’s confirmed closures, a pattern that tracks with the notoriously high cost of doing business there from labor expenses to commercial rents that have climbed steadily in recent years.
But the closures have not stayed contained to the West Coast. Five Guys has also shuttered restaurants in 6 other states this year: Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Georgia and Nebraska. The geographic spread signals that the pressures driving these decisions go beyond any single regional market. Whether a location sits in a dense urban center or a smaller Midwestern city, the math of running a restaurant in 2026 has grown harder to make work.
The confirmed count of at least 14 closures may not tell the full story. Tracking shuttered locations for a privately held company requires piecing together local media reports, online review platforms and changes to the brand’s own store locator — none of which paint a perfectly complete picture.
Why restaurants are struggling right now
The conditions pushing Five Guys and its peers into tough choices have been building for several years. Ingredient costs remain elevated. Labor costs have risen sharply in many states following minimum wage increases. Meanwhile, consumers facing their own affordability pressures have pulled back on discretionary spending, and dining out particularly at fast-casual chains where a burger and fries can easily run $15 or more per person has felt that pullback acutely.
Five Guys has never positioned itself as a budget option, which makes it more exposed than some competitors when wallets tighten. The chain’s commitment to quality ingredients and generous portions keeps fans devoted, but it also means prices that can give cost-conscious diners pause when they are trying to cut back.
The bigger picture for Five Guys
Despite this year’s closures, Five Guys is not a chain in retreat. According to a franchise disclosure document from last year, the company ended 2024 with a net gain of 37 locations compared to the year before. That same document confirmed 14 corporate-owned and 14 franchised restaurants closed during 2024 a figure that mirrors the 2026 closure count so far and suggests some level of annual attrition has become part of how the brand manages its portfolio.
Five Guys operates more than 1,900 locations worldwide, a footprint that reflects genuine global demand for what the chain does. Individual closures, while meaningful to the communities that lose them, do not yet suggest a chain-wide contraction.
Whether 2026 ends with a net gain or a net loss in U.S. locations remains to be seen. Five Guys did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: Fast Company
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