Can Quality Last?

Read this first:
How Five Guys Got Us Eating Its Burgers

Now, I don't know if Five Guys has ventured to Lansing yet, but the first time I ate at the East Coast staple, I was hooked.  I was left to wander around Pitt's campus for dinner during a business trip a couple of years ago.  After a very disappointing sushi stop, I came across the simple red and white restaurant.  I passed the large stacks of peanut bags and had no expectations when I looked at the basic menu.  When I opened the foil wrapper, the condiments and grease dripping off didn't make for an attractive burger.  But the first time I tasted the freshness of the meat, I was sold. 

Five Guys has grown so quickly (there are at least 2-3 in the Columbus area now) because of the "word of mouth" from its fanatical customers.  I love that their CEO respects their competition and sees the value that they bring to the table.  During discussions of our competition, my company's leadership often makes fun of other companies and degrades their offerings.  The mindset is that we should not respect our competitor's offerings because we need to clearly communicate the superiority of our own products when speaking with potential customers.  In reality, if our competitors weren't doing something right, they wouldn't still be in business.  (It was funny how quickly the tone changed when we bought one competitor in particular). 

I always enjoy reading about business philosophy and how other companies conduct their business.  Five Guys' core competency is clearly quality and consistency.  They have a simple menu, but provide customers with a lot of options through their wide variety of toppings.  I completely agree with the comparison to Chipotle and Panera; they all fill that "fast casual" niche between fast food and table service restaurants.  I am not sure about the CEO's comment that they don't worry too much about food prices.  The cost of ingredients can fluctuate dramatically due to spikes in gas prices or severe weather.  I think there can be a balance between quality ingredients and cost management.  I am not sure that they will be able to keep up that philosophy, especially when their skyrocketing expansion slows down and they're trying to maintain profit margins.

This also sparked my imagination as to what the next widely successful "fast casual" restaurant could be.  Taco Bell has Chipotle, McDonalds has Five Guys, Subway has Panera... I think Pizza Hut could have a gourmet pizzeria, like a California Pizza Kitchen to go (although frozen pizza kinda fills that void).  Thoughts?