Five Guys Burgers and Fries stores are becoming as prevalent as McDonald’s. In fact, one is going to be opening just a stone’s throw from a longtime Golden Arches in Towson.

The newest franchise at 936 York Road (in an old Carpet Land store) has a sign out front alerting people of the impending opening. It’ll be interesting to see how it fares so close to Ronald McDonald territory.

Its burgers, made from fresh, never frozen ground beef, and Idaho potato fries, cooked in peanut oil, will certainly make me take a detour. There are now more than a dozen Five Guys in the Baltimore area, and 400 in 25 states. It’s come a long way since in opened its flagship in Arlington, Va., in 1986.