An American burger restaurant and drive-thru at a destination near Reading that has been years in the making is finally set to open.
An American burger restaurant and drive-thru that’s been years in the making near Reading is finally set to open. Five Guys will launch at the Showcase Cinema site in Winnersh on Monday, January 26.
It will be the chain’s seventh drive-thru in the country, and one of eight to offer the full breakfast menu.
“We’re beyond thrilled to be opening a new store in Reading! “We can’t wait to welcome the community and share our signature Five Guys favourites. “We’re also incredibly proud to be one of the newest Five Guys stores to offer a Blue Light Card discount. “This is our heartfelt thank you to the incredible NHS staff, emergency services personnel, and armed forces – our true heroes – who tirelessly serve our community every single day. We salute you!”
The breakfast range includes bacon, egg and cheese, bacon and egg, egg and cheese, and egg sandwiches.
Five Guys highlights its 15 free toppings, which it says allows more than 250,000 burger combinations. Other menu items include all-beef hot dogs, fries and customisable shakes with mix-ins such as Oreos and peanut butter, plus seasonal flavours like cinnamon bun. Diners can also order their burgers bunless as a lettuce wrap or in a burger bowl.
The Winnersh Showcase site has been planned since 2020 and needed approval from Wokingham Borough Council. Early proposals were for a ‘drive-to’ restaurant, with a drive-thru element added in 2024.
There were concerns about flooding because the site sits in the floodplain of the River Loddon and the Showcase car park flooded last January. The Environment Agency assessed the project and raised no objections, and the plans were approved in November 2024. Work began last year, costing the site about 56 car parking spaces.
The site is anchored by Showcase Cinema de Lux, which has a Costa Coffee inside.
Five Guys was founded in Virginia in 1986 and launched in the UK in 2013 in London’s Covent Garden. The chain’s restaurant at The Oracle opened in August 2013 but moved to the Riverside last year.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
