Five Guys closes in Uppsala after just over a year

Five Guys has closed its restaurant on Dragarbrunnsgatan in central Uppsala after just over a year in business. Its last day of trading was 31 October 2026, reports Swedish property publication Fastighetsvärlden. The closure leaves the American burger chain with two restaurants in Sweden, where its franchise partner had previously planned further openings.

Last burgers served on 31 October

The Uppsala restaurant opened on 1 September 2025 in premises owned by property company Castellum. Trading ended on 31 October 2026, meaning the restaurant was open for 426 days, according to Fastighetsvärlden. Its presence proved short-lived: just over a year after opening, the chain has left the city.

The 386-square-metre premises on Dragarbrunnsgatan had previously housed a Burger King. Five Guys therefore took over a site already used as a burger restaurant. This is a concrete detail about the site's history, but does not in itself explain why the new business did not continue.

The chain's explanation is brief. The business “has not performed as expected”, Five Guys told local newspaper UNT in a comment quoted by Fastighetsvärlden. The statement confirms that expectations were not met, but does not specify which aspects of the operation prompted the decision.

It is therefore not possible to establish from the statement whether sales, costs or other factors were decisive. What is confirmed is the closure of one restaurant and the chain's acknowledgement that the site did not perform as planned.

Two restaurants remain in Sweden

Before the closure, Five Guys had three restaurants in Sweden. Following its departure from Uppsala, the remaining sites are at Sergels torg in central Stockholm and in Westfield Mall of Scandinavia in Solna.

The Sergels torg restaurant was the chain's first Swedish outlet. It occupies the fifth of the Hötorgsskraporna tower blocks, now owned by property company Wallenstam. The Solna restaurant is in Westfield Mall of Scandinavia, a shopping centre owned by Unibail Rodamco Westfield.

The chain's Swedish presence is thus once again concentrated in Stockholm and neighbouring Solna. Uppsala was the only one of the three sites outside those two municipalities. The closure therefore changes both the number of restaurants and the chain's geographical reach in Sweden.

Elsewhere in the Nordic region, there are two Five Guys restaurants, both in Copenhagen, according to Fastighetsvärlden. The Uppsala closure should not, however, be confused with an announcement that the chain is leaving Sweden: the publication lists the other two Swedish restaurants as still operating.

A setback following earlier expansion plans

Fastighetsvärlden has previously reported that Five Guys' franchise partner was targeting several more sites in Stockholm, as well as restaurants in Gothenburg and Malmö. The Uppsala closure therefore follows reports of ambitions to broaden the chain's Swedish presence.

It is important, however, to distinguish earlier expansion ambitions from confirmed openings. The reports concerning Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö describe what the franchise partner was aiming for. They do not mean that new restaurants have opened or that firm opening dates have been announced in connection with the closure.

Equally, the Uppsala closure does not in itself mean that all previous plans have been abandoned. The confirmed development is that one of three Swedish restaurants has closed. How this decision affects the chain's next steps in Sweden is not clear from its quoted comment.

For Sweden's franchising community, this distinction matters. The performance of an individual site and a brand's long-term expansion ambitions are two different things, even when they need to be assessed together.

Global reach, but a local outcome

Five Guys has nearly 2,000 restaurants in around 30 countries, according to Fastighetsvärlden. The chain's major expansion began in 2003, when it started offering franchises. Its Swedish operations are therefore a small part of a much larger international restaurant network.

Uppsala nevertheless illustrates the contrast between international scale and the lifespan of an individual Swedish outlet. Here, the business lasted 426 days, despite the brand's extensive presence in other markets. This is not a basis for general conclusions about all Swedish Five Guys restaurants, but it is a clear local setback.

Practical takeaway: Anyone considering opening a franchise should assess the local site and operating conditions separately from the brand's global scale. It is also important to distinguish announced expansion ambitions from openings that have actually taken place.