Since landing on this island almost a decade ago, Five Guys has won an army of fans across Britain. Yes, the American chain's prices are on the steep side - but the freedom to pick your own burger toppings, the extremely generous portions of fries and the overall quality of the food have all proven to be a hit.
So the prospect of a Five Guys at Piccadilly station is a tantalising one for any burger-loving rail passenger. And if the good folks at Five Guys are to believed, it's more than just a prospect, it's a real thing you can enjoy right now.
In reality, the new 'Piccadilly station' branch of Five Guys sits about half a mile away, opposite Piccadilly Gardens at the corner of Oldham Street. A company spokesperson told the Manchester Evening News this week that the official name of the branch is Piccadilly station 'due to proximity'.
But does the name match up to the experience? Can you take a Five Guys meal to your platform at Manchester Piccadilly - and still enjoy it? To find out, I paid my first visit to Manchester's newest branch of Five Guys.
I arrived at the new restaurant at 3.13pm for what was a late dinner (or lunch depending on where your train is heading), placed my order and was handed my cup to use the restaurant's iconic drinks dispenser. Yes I'm 28, but I still get giddy at the seemingly endless drink options, like raspberry Coke or grape Sprite.
Probably the best thing about Five Guys is how it is made to order, exactly how you want it. I went for the hamburger - which comes with two patties as standard - with lettuce, tomato, pickle, grilled onions, ketchup, mayo and mustard.
The burger and fries were ready by 3.22pm and I was all set for my trek to the station. I'm a really quick walker, so I slowed down to a similar pace to others along Piccadilly to make things fairer.
Halfway there, disaster almost struck - something I hadn't even considered. The paper bag carrying my burger and fries started to rip, and I began to worry if my meal would make it to the station or end up all over the floor.
Fortunately I arrived with the bag still intact, after an eight-minute walk. I still needed to get to my platform though - and to do that, I needed a train ticket.
This is one of the key issues with picking up your meal 'at the station' from somewhere half a mile away. If I'd gone to one of the many food outlets inside the station or on Piccadilly Approach - including the brilliant Archie's, which is a true Mancunian success story - I would have got the ticket first.
But here I was, juggling a burger and fries in a bag and a wildly-flavoured beverage, while staring at the touch-screen ticket machine in front of me. There was nowhere else for the bag to go but on the floor.
Once I'd got my ticket, I made my way to where I needed to be - Manchester Piccadilly's legendary platform 14. Anyone who has ever commuted between Piccadilly and towns such as Wigan, Warrington or St Helens will be only too aware of the long ascent up the travellator to a platform which feels like it's in an entirely different postcode.
I made it up to the waiting area, down the stairs and finally onto the platform by 3.35pm - 13 minutes after first picking up my food, and on a day when temperatures barely topped 5C. As I arrived the next train was pulling in, so I hopped on and finally had a chance to sample my meal.
The first thing you should notice when you have a Five Guys is the enormous portion of fries spilling over from the carton. It's not always guaranteed - I've been served stingy-for-Five-Guys portions on occasion - but gleefully my bag had been stashed with loads of them.
I ate the first few and to my amazement, despite the time taken to get here, they were still pretty warm. I was delighted - maybe Five Guys was right about its new restaurant after all?
However, as I opened the foil, it was clear the burger hadn't survived the journey quite as well. With all those toppings, including the three condiments, it had all become a bit of a mess in the dash over to the station - and despite being wrapped up, it had cooled down a lot more than the fries.
Don't get me wrong - it was still very tasty. Five Guys burgers usually are, and for me they are a cut above Burger King and McDonald's. So they should be too, given my meal came to £14.55 - £7.65 for the burger, £3.15 for the fries and £3.75 for the drink.
There lies the biggest drawback to grabbing a Five Guys for the train. The quality of the food is good, but those are restaurant prices, so you really want to eat your meal while it's at its best - not to mention when you can take advantage of those free drinks refills.
My experiment also had a fundamental flaw, which I realised as I was making my way to the station with relative ease. At the time of day I made my trip, Five Guys was almost empty, the street to the station was pretty quiet and the atmosphere inside Piccadilly was far from the hustle and bustle of a 5pm commute.
I made it from the take-away to the train in less than 15 minutes and my food was OK - but a hungry commuter probably wouldn't have the same luck after work. Five Guys at Piccadilly station? Maybe it's best to find something a bit closer.
