In-N-Out Burger

[Toliver]

Can anyone tell me anything about the secret menu? Like what's on it?

Here it is

http://www.in-n-out.com/secretmenu.asp

One thing not on that secret menu is that you can order the french fries "well done". I am not a fan of their french fries and haven't been back to try the "well done" french fries. It has to be an improvement.

There are two In-N-Out Burger restaurants here in town and there is always a long line at the drive through at both locations even though they've been open for years.

I think part of the popularity of the chain is due to people having grown up around it. It's like a touchstone to glory days gone by.

[heidih]

Thanks Toliver- I never thought to ask for the fries to be well done- makes sense. I drove past one yesterday around noon and the drive thru line was insane. Perhaps the parking is even more insane thus making a long crawl in the car still preferable to parking and walking in. I see the same thing at Starbucks drive thrus.

[OliverB]

(lots of great sounding food mentioned)... damn they are delicious!

Those do sound like places I'd frequent! I don't know if we have any of these chains around here, have to investigate.

We're actually getting two... the one in the contested location you mentioned, and another further down the road.I like In-N-Out, but I'm also originally from the San Gabriel Valley, so go figure.Have you tried The Habit or The Counter in downtown WC yet? Both get good reviews.

oh, one more! I'll pass, but I yet have to try the two you mention, The Counter is supposed to be quite good, just haven't made it there yet, haven't heard about The Habit (fun name!) but have to investigate. (off thread note, we just had dinner at Sasa, great food! loud restaurant, try for the back room if you can, but I recommend it)

I'll probably get stoned for this but I just don't get all the In-N-Out love.

you'll probably have to get stoned to get it ;-)

I don't get it either, was the most blah burger I've ever bought, but others swear by them religiously.

I go alone since the spousal unit blames I & O for a bout of food poisoning. The source is still a debatable issue in our household.

I was not gonna mention it, but since you rolled the ball.... My wife had the same experience years ago, we were on a road trip and went to one of the first ones that opened here (somewhere towards Sacramento). I wasn't all that impressed and about half an hour after eating my wife got quite sick (I'll spare the details, but it involved pulling over quickly a couple times) which she (quite rightly I guess) blamed on said food. Needless to say, she won't go back either.

Personally they just don't do it for me and I won't be bothered remembering silly nonsense like "secret" menus, and the drive through lines are always way too long. Of course all this burger talk now has me craving a burger, see what you've done eGullet!

Have to check out one of those new fancy burger places in town soon...

[jsmeeker]

First two In-n-Out locations in the Dallas area will open in late May

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/headlines/20110324-in-n-outs-dallas-area-debut-set-for-frisco-and-allen.ece

[KingLear]

I live in an area that does not have I+O. However, work takes me to LA on a regular basis. My first order order of business after landing is to steer (pun intended) my rental car to the I+O on Sepulveda right at the east end of the north runway at LAX and watch the big birds land as I enjoy my animal-style, extra toast.

[jsmeeker]

The In-n-Out madness in Dallas is approaching a full boil. The first two stores are set to open up tomorrow morning.

[gfweb]

Reminds me of the furor when KrispyKreme moved North.

[jsmeeker]

Reminds me of the furor when KrispyKreme moved North.

They moved into Texas, too. It was nuts. But I suspect In-n-Out will be crazier. Also, I suspect it will be far more sustainable than a donut place.

[Jaymes]

How will it fare in Texas? I think pretty well. As this article points out, because all In-N-Out burgers are cooked to order, you can even have yours med rare, if you want. There are a lot of things this chain does right. Most important, to me anyway, is that everything is fresh. It will be fun to see what happens in Texas.

The In-N-Out story.

[jsmeeker]

How will it fare in Texas? I think pretty well. As this article points out, because all In-N-Out burgers are cooked to order, you can even have yours med rare, if you want. There are a lot of things this chain does right. Most important, to me anyway, is that everything is fresh. It will be fun to see what happens in Texas.

The In-N-Out story.

I think they will do GREAT here. The concept it SIMPLE. It's a basic fast food burger, done right. It's going to make everyone in the country that is NOT in In-n-Out's traditional far western states very, very jealous that Texas and Dallas became the place they chose to expand to first.

[Carlton]

I've lived just outside Los Angeles my whole life so In-n-out has always been readily available to me and I've never tired of it. It may be that it has become comfort food for me, but I also don't go in expecting a gourmet meal. $5 gets me a burger, fries and a soda and it's always worth the $5. Yeah they have a secret menu but it's not like hot dogs and steaks, it's just various takes on the normal menu items people have come up with over the years that got popular and adopted company wide. I highly recommend the Neopolitan shake. The french fries are probably the most inconsistent item there, they will be soft one day and crispy the next. I'm glad my friends in Texas will get to share the love now. I hope they open locations in Austin in time for SXSW next year. I had heard Whataburger was good but went there last time and wasn't impressed.

The Habit isn't bad, we have one in town but I rarely go. The Counter on the other hand is one of my favorite burgers. It's a build your own style place. When you walk in they hand you a clipboard and you can select your protein, beef, chicken, turkey and veggie. They make their own veggie burgers and I'm not sure what turkey they use but it is always more juicy than most turkey burgers i've had. You can get 1/3lb 2/3lb or a 1 pound burger, all are after cooked weight. You can choose from about 15 different cheeses, 15 sauces, 20 regular toppings (4 included) , 12 premium toppings (like bacon, ham, fried egg etc $1 each). Every month they have a special list of local ingredients you can substitute like bison, mozzarella, pretzel buns. The fries are good, the sweet potato fries better. It's become a challenge among friends to eat the one pounder. My first friend who tried failed miserably and suffered months of teasing after. I had to finally try it myself to back up said teasing. I prepared as much as I could for it and went in with that same friend. We split an order of fries and fried pickles and then polished off our burgers in under 10 minutes. I figured the longer I took the more full I would get so I just kept going. I actually ate at the Counter outside of Dublin once when I was over there as I was in the UK for a couple weeks and craving a good burger which I was having a lot of trouble finding.

[Pierogi]

The opening of In 'N' Out in Texas is the lead story on the CBS-affiliate's 11:00 news in LA tonight.

Jus' sayin'.......

And was teased on their sister station's 10 o'clock news.

Enjoy your double-doubles, Tejas !

[jsmeeker]

The opening of In 'N' Out in Texas is the lead story on the CBS-affiliate's 11:00 news in LA tonight.

Jus' sayin'.......

And was teased on their sister station's 10 o'clock news.

Enjoy your double-doubles, Tejas !

People are going nuts for them. A friend of mine "camped out" overnight on Tuesday to be amongst the first in line when they opened Wednesday. He got there at about 6:00 PM. They were running a private "soft" opening/party for friends/family/VIP types. They actually invited the campers in, so by 7:00 PM or so, my friend had already had his double double animal style. But like a good trooper, he stuck it out overnight for the official public opening.

They wound up opening at like 8:30 AM (10:30 AM is normal opening time). Friend and his wife were 7th and 8th in line for dine in (there was a separate line for drive thru). They got THAT meal comped, too. Reports were that the wait got up to 3 hours by lunch time and stayed that way through the night. Note that there was also heavy rain in the area yesterday late afternoon.

Check out this video of the lineup of cars for the druve thru at one of the locations that opened.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=942969848915&saved

[OliverB]

I don't understand people camping out for the next iphone or ipad, but for a burger? Really? Or wait THREE hours for a burger? What planet do they come from?

If the French Laundry had a day of free dinners, yes, I'd camp out for a week, but come on, for a mediocre fast food burger? Nothing better to do?

But that aside, did somebody up thread mention "fried pickles" at The Counter?????

We have one in town for quite a while, never went, but now I simply HAVE to! As long as there's no line

Oh, does In'n Out still have those bible verse numbers or quotes on their cups? An other reason for me not to go there. I don't like being preached to, particularly not on the sly under my coke

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

I would think it was an isolated event, as was hopefully the near fight between a guy in a souped and jacked up truck and some kids in a sedan behind me. In a very nice and expensive area actually, San Ramon or Danville or where it is.

But I like bacon on my burger, so I never went back, as they don't have what I want. The burger I got was rather bland, but I did not know about their "secrets" that aren't on the menu (?). I've never been inside one, I liked that they had two drive through windows and managed where you get your order, that seemed to speed up (the very long and slow) like a bit. And that I did not have to talk to some quacky speaker, but a person with some wireless tablet thing took my order.

I won't be back, if I eat fast food 5 times a year it's a lot, so it doesn't matter to me, there are others that serve what I like to get.

We're actually gonna get one more, against the protest of all the people that live around that empty lot, and I know plenty people that love them - to each their own

The San Ramon In-N-Out is kind of funny. Half the time my family goes there it's over run by the local high school kids. Once a drunk backed into my husbands minivan in the drive through there late at night. That was funny (just a bump).

Actually, we're getting two In-N-Outs in our area. The empty lot one, which is reasonable walking distance from my house, and the one near the "stay away during Christmas shopping season" intersection in the same city.

I like burgers with bacon too., but for me In-N-Out is a nostalgia thing. A double double animal style (onions grilled in mustard and pickles) hits the spot every time. I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, home of the first In-N-Out.

I joke with my husband, a Bay Area native, that if I could have a Nations burger with In-N-Out fries, that would be perfect.

[Jaymes]

Check out this video of the lineup of cars for the druve thru at one of the locations that opened.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=942969848915&saved

Wow. Don't get me wrong, I like In-n-Out as much as the next person. We lived in Southern California for a couple of years and that was our family's "I-don't-want-to-cook-tonight" burger go-to. And it's still our favorite fast-food burger, for sure. But that line is just crazy. There's got to be some other motivation for waiting that long, especially if your car is using up $4 a gallon gasoline the entire time.

Maybe a status thing? So when somebody says, "I heard that In-n-Out just opened in Dallas." one can say, "Oh, I know. I already went."

[jsmeeker]

Check out this video of the lineup of cars for the druve thru at one of the locations that opened.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=942969848915&saved

Wow. Don't get me wrong, I like In-n-Out as much as the next person. We lived in Southern California for a couple of years and that was our family's "I-don't-want-to-cook-tonight" burger go-to. And it's still our favorite fast-food burger, for sure. But that line is just crazy. There's got to be some other motivation for waiting that long, especially if your car is using up $4 a gallon gasoline the entire time.

Maybe a status thing? So when somebody says, "I heard that In-n-Out just opened in Dallas." one can say, "Oh, I know. I already went."

While the initial huge crowds have died down, things are still going strong. The first location located within th city of Dallas opened a few weeks ago. I drive by it over the weekend and they had police directing traffic and had cones marking off the driving through lane out onto the US-75 frontage/access road. Parking lot full. Line of people out the door for inside dining. Also drove past the Allen location on Sunday. Busy, but nothing backed up onto the streeet. Looked like a typical busy day at a SoCal store that had been in operation for a long time.

Progress is being made on the location nearest to me.(LBJ at Coit) Large crew of workers toling away in the heat. Dunno when it will open, but it's not *TOO* far off.

[jsmeeker]

The In-n-Out nearest me opened on Thursday. I just went for a late dinner/

Behold the awesomeness that is the Double Double.

[avaserfi]

I recently went to an In-N-Out for the first time while in CA and ordered a double double animal style. The cashier didn't have a clue what I asked for. I got a blank stare then she asked me what I wanted. I repeated myself to no avail, she just asked if I wanted onions on the burger. So I got a double double with onions.

Maybe it was the lack of the animal style burger, but I was very underwhelmed.

[weinoo]

Wow. Don't get me wrong, I like In-n-Out as much as the next person. We lived in Southern California for a couple of years and that was our family's "I-don't-want-to-cook-tonight" burger go-to. And it's still our favorite fast-food burger, for sure. But that line is just crazy. There's got to be some other motivation for waiting that long, especially if your car is using up $4 a gallon gasoline the entire time.

Maybe a status thing? So when somebody says, "I heard that In-n-Out just opened in Dallas." one can say, "Oh, I know. I already went."

Perhaps the people in Dallas haven't figured out that you can park in the lot, go inside and order a burger, and take it with you.

Well, everyone but Jeff.

[Jaymes]

Wow. Don't get me wrong, I like In-n-Out as much as the next person. We lived in Southern California for a couple of years and that was our family's "I-don't-want-to-cook-tonight" burger go-to. And it's still our favorite fast-food burger, for sure. But that line is just crazy. There's got to be some other motivation for waiting that long, especially if your car is using up $4 a gallon gasoline the entire time.

Maybe a status thing? So when somebody says, "I heard that In-n-Out just opened in Dallas." one can say, "Oh, I know. I already went."

Perhaps the people in Dallas haven't figured out that you can park in the lot, go inside and order a burger, and take it with you.

Well, everyone but Jeff.

True that.

You still have to wait in a line, but at least your car's not idling the entire time. And it's often quite pleasant to sit out on the patio.

[jsmeeker]

Wow. Don't get me wrong, I like In-n-Out as much as the next person. We lived in Southern California for a couple of years and that was our family's "I-don't-want-to-cook-tonight" burger go-to. And it's still our favorite fast-food burger, for sure. But that line is just crazy. There's got to be some other motivation for waiting that long, especially if your car is using up $4 a gallon gasoline the entire time.

Maybe a status thing? So when somebody says, "I heard that In-n-Out just opened in Dallas." one can say, "Oh, I know. I already went."

Perhaps the people in Dallas haven't figured out that you can park in the lot, go inside and order a burger, and take it with you.

Well, everyone but Jeff.

It's Dallas. People love the drive through here.

ACtually, at this time, the dine in was much busier than the drive through. But it was still very quirky. And people WERE sitting outside. It was an unusually cool day given the weather we have been having the past month and a half.

I think the extreme nuttiness is dying down. No one was camped out at this newest location. The people that were really really dying to go have already been to the existing locations. Also, I think with the ones that opened later, there was little, if any, press. Maybe word of mouth will get out and they will actually be busier several days after the initial opening.

[Honkman]

This post responded to a comment in a discussion of MacDonald's sirloin burgers, and has been moved here, where it is relevant.

 

I have not tried it. I most likely won't.
 
 But the ultimate burger around here (yes, it's fried) is In'n'Out. Their slogan "Quality you can taste" is spot-on.

 
The only thing which makes an In'N'Out remotely edible is their animal style sauce. They get their beef from the "normal" sources where McD and other fast food restaurant also get it.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Mjx (log)

[Porthos]

From In'N'Out's website:  "We own and operate our own patty-making facilities in Baldwin Park, California; Lathrop, California and Dallas, Texas."

 

The web page with the information:  http://www.in-n-out.com/menu/food-quality.aspx

[Honkman]

From In'N'Out's website:  "We own and operate our own patty-making facilities in Baldwin Park, California; Lathrop, California and Dallas, Texas."

 

The web page with the information:  http://www.in-n-out.com/menu/food-quality.aspx

That just states that they grind their beef themselves but says nothing about the source of the beef. But it is well known that the main source for In'n'Out beef is from Harris Ranch the largest producer of CAFO beef in California (which also provides beef to McD and others). Harris Ranch area along I-5 is also known as Cowschwitz and was one of the reasons Pollan started to write Omnivores Dillema