Dubuque Five Guys Closes After 10 Years in the Community

It's the end of the line for another chain restaurant in Dubuque. This time, the casualty is a fast casual eatery. On a micro level, it's one less option for lunch and/or dinner in Dubuque. On a macro level, it underscores the difficultly the entire fast casual industry is having at the moment, in conjunction with fast food writ large.

Five Guys in Dubuque, located at 3450 Dodge Street, has closed as of April 26th, 2026. This ended a 10-year run for the restaurant, which opened its doors back in late 2016 within the same month as Chipotle, located next door, per Telegraph Herald.

About Five Guys Closing in Dubuque:

Citing "business circumstances," Five Guys made the move to shutter their Dubuque location after ten years in business. The closure was not only swift, but so was the cleanup, as the Five Guys signage, including the giant logo on the building, has been removed at this time.

Five Guys falls under the category of "fast casual" food. While fast food prioritizes speed, lower-cost menu items, and drive-thrus (IE: McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's), fast casual restaurants predicate themselves on higher-quality, made-to-order options. Think customizable bowls, ala Chipotle and fresh salads (Sweetgreen), which attract more affluent clientele.

With the cost of food, utilities, essentials, and especially gas rising exponentially in recent months, it's gotten incredibly difficult for businesses in all sectors to stay viable. Fast food has been struggling mightily recently, and the higher cost of living has made even more affluent individuals who would frequent places like Chipotle and Five Guys for lunch trade down in their options. This video by YouTuber Established Context does an outstanding job at contextualizing the downturn using empirical data.

Bringing it back to the homefront, while it's unclear how many people were employed by the Five Guys in Dubuque, employees were directed to resources such as unemployment benefits as well as other Five Guys locations that might need extra staff-members.

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Within the last month, Pita Pit in Asbury Plaza has closed, Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom is being replaced by another 7 Hills location, and now Five Guys has reached the end of the line in Dubuque. Do you want to know how the economy is doing? Take a look around at the businesses we've lost in such a short amount of time.

Find out more about when Five Guys opened its doors in Dubuque on the Telegraph Herald's website.