One of the first things that many people do when they come to California is seek out the nearest In-N-Out Burger. Founded in 1948 in the Baldwin Park suburb of Los Angeles (now headquartered in Irvine), In-N-Out Burger is pretty much the exact opposite of McDonald’s, the other famous southern California fast food hamburger chain. They are still a family owned business, one that has grown slowly over the years (there are now stores in Arizona and Nevada), primarily via word-of-mouth, with very little advertising. Also, they keep their menu very simple, with just a few items, all of which are made fresh on location, not delivered to the store frozen. For example, they hand cut potatoes which are then made into fries. Here are some photos I shot on a recent trip with Lori to the Millbrae, CA In-N-Out Burger.
One of the things that helps perpetuate In-N-Out Burger’s cult like following is their secret menu, which includes making things “animal style” where secret sauce, onions and melted cheese is added. John Marcotte (Badmouth) has a great write-up on their secret menu, including a PDF that you can download and take with you on your next visit.
The secret menu also includes various burger/cheese slice combos that can be ordered, like a 2×4, 3×3 and 4×4 and the Wikipedia article on In-N-Out Burger has a stunning photo of a 20×20, but it doesn’t stop there. In October 2004 blogger What Up Willy! and his crew, which included Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh, successfully challenged a Los Vegas In-N-Out Burger to make a 100×100 burger. Here’s their full write-up and video of this amazing story about how they ordered and consumed their 19,490 calorie hamburger.
Another interesting thing to note about In-N-Out Burger are the references to Bible verses that they print in hidden locations on their food packaging, like the infamous “John 3:16” that is printed on the bottom of their cups.
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I LOVE THIS!!! Thanks, Scott, for the awesome memories! When I was in college there was an In-N-Out just off campus and we made many a late night run. I have many a fond memory of those delicious In-N-Out burgers, the tantalizing grease, the fries, the grilled onions … there was a reason we called it “Sin-N-Shout.”
I NEVER knew that about the Bible verses, though. Never noticed it before — I wonder if that’s a fairly new thing? Sadly, I no longer live in California and In-N-Out is just a sweet memory from the past…
It’s ALL about the Double Double Animal style! Their grilled cheeses aren’t bad either but man they have some craptacular fries. I don’t care how fresh they might be they still suck ;-) Great post!
Man I love In-N-Out. It’s great to see that a chain can do fast food, and make it taste good, and train their employees correctly. It’s very rare for an In-N-Out employee to be rude; they are seemingly always happy, friendly, and having fun, even when it’s packed and they’re all running around in the back like mad.
Thanks for writing this up.
Now we just need to get Tommy’s Burgers up here….
Ah yes. My standard In-N-Out order is double-double, animal-style and fries well-done.
Darn! Just got back from L.A. and Pixelodeon. If I’d known I would have done the in-n-out!
Ahh!!! Now I’m hungry! In-N-Out is one of the few things that we *really* miss about California. There are still none in Texas :(
Thanks for the write up – and the memories…
Cheeseburger grilled onions
Fries
and a chocolate/strawberry shake. yum.
I love In-N-Out, but they’ve made changes in the last year. You can no longer get anything bigger than a 4×4. It’s been quite a let-down. At Caltech I helped to eat the 666×666 that was made for a ditch day stack, and now those days are gone forever.
I’ve heard that observant Muslims have also become fans of In-N-Out. While not strictly halal, the fact that the packaging contains biblical references is blessing enough, apparently.
I have to admit, having grown up with fast food, I still indulge from time to time. In-N-Out is definitely my preferred junk food destination.
in-n-out and Baha Fresh are probably my 2 favorite fast food places on the planet. We make almost yearly trips out there to visit our friend Jon, and since he introduced us to them, stops at both are now requirements of the trip!
Dang, I is hungry now. I was up in Sacramento yesterday, and this girl from Orgon commented that she must go to an In-N-Out while she’s in town!
great food, i love taking out of towners for their first experiences.
the bible verses are a little troubling but not enough to keep us atheists away from the great grub.
sf people, you don’t have to go all the way to l.a. for in n out. your loving little friend in the central valley, fresno, has 4!
as for the bible verses, they’re in several places. like, if you open up the bottom (outside seam) of the double double wrapper, there is a verse from nahum. they aren’t anything new to in n out packaging though. the founder, r.i.p., was a Xian and although i’m not sure if they’ve always been there, they have been there for quite some time.
Thanks for this! I ate regularly at the “second” In-N-Out. It’s still there on Lower Azusa near Santa Anita in El Monte, CA. Near the El Monte airport. There’s another at the “top end” of Santa Anita, near the 210 freeway.
Anyway, I may have missed it, but… not “pop culture” thing in the 80’s was the cut down bumper sticker:
In-N-Out
urge
Oh, and reading the Wikipedia article makes In-N-Out look like a walk-in restaurant. I’ve only seen one, and not till 5 years ago. Must be a Norteño thing… The one depicted in the intro animation at http://www.in-n-out.com/ is the real deal.
The thrust of this company is to promote Xtian thinking IMO. Perhaps it started out strictly for business, but the insidious placement of references to Bible passages on package containers can only be interpreted in one way: “Spread the Word, even by involuntary carriers.”
I cannot abide such deception, and therefore do not patronize them even to go hungry instead.
I love the In and Out…which makes living in Texas suck because they are so far away.
Last time we went out there we ate at In and Out for lunch, dinner, breakfast, at least 2 times a day if not more.
Then again, now that I think about it, it is a good thing I live so far away, because I would surely be dead by now, clogged veins and all.
They’re Mormon, I think — not Christian.
“Nahum” is not one of the books in the Christian Bible & it’s on the packaging along with John 3:16.
I know this because in my Evangelical Christian junior high school, for detention we had to write out all the books of the Bible FIVE HUNDRED TIMES.
And of course I was in detention hall a LOT.
Nahum is indeed in the Christian Bible. It’s after Micah, and before Habakkuk in the old testament.
Mormons believe in the king james bible and most certainly are christians
WOW. This article is awesome, and it’s makin’ my mouth water! We have family in SF, so everytime we go there we eat In-n-Out ALOT! I’m from Texas so it’s always like a “special treat” that is very pleasing! Thanks for the links and the video! :o)
Nahum is most definitely in the Xian scriptures. it is part of the Hebrew Bible, commonly referred to as the Old Testament. Nahum was one of the prophets. in your standard Xian Bible, Namum follows Micah and precedes Habakkuk. Not that most people care, just thought i’d throw it out there for those that were wondering if Summer was correct. it appears that her junior high school missed a book or two, or that she forget. ;}
(and if wiki’s right on this one, the definitely attribute the Bible verses to the Xian (not mormon) beliefs of the founding family. not that anyone cares.
i care.
Why would SF people go to Fresno for In-N-Out? There’s one in San Francisco, one in Oakland, and one in Daly City. And the walk-in In-N-Out’s aren’t a NoCal thing–you can find them down south (Anaheim is one, there are others). OTOH, the In-N-Out in San Francisco might just be the only one in the entire chain without a drive-thru.
Actually there are three. In-n-out was actually the very first restaurant to have a drive thru at all. And for a long time Drive thru’s and walk up’s were the only In-N-outs that existed. There weren’t any In-N-Outs with dining rooms or sit down areas. now about half (give or take) of them have dining rooms, and only 3 don’t have drive thru’s.
A lot of people complain about how long the drive thru takes at in n out. but imagine this. You have 3 grills, each grill can take up to 32 meat patties. you have ten fryers. but you only have enough employees to run two of the grills. so on a busy thursday night you have a constant stream of customers coming in the dining room. one of the grills is used strictly for dining room. and one grill is used only for drive thru. You have to have two people on each grill because there are so many customers and you only want each order to take -5 to 7 minutes to make and hand out. That means for the drive thru, you have on person taking the order and handing out the food and making the drinks. two people making the burger, and one person making the fries. that means there are four people making your food as fast as they possibly can. and some customer want to order 7 cheeseburger meals. holy shit! and the drive thru has 11 cars total. it takes 4:15 to make a burger, not including wrapping and packaging. and approximately 5 to make the fries. but if you are have a line out the drive and a line out the counter, suddenly what you believe should take 5 minutes, take a lot lot longer. and if you feel in n out needs to figure out a way to make it much much faster, then you can get hired there, figure out all the workings of it, and fix it yourself. otherwise, don’t complain. those people don’t just genuinely care about you individually. (and each associate does care about you) but they are doing everything in there power to make you happy, and get you your order as fast as they can. the fact that in n out is so busy it takes thirty minutes to get you your order, is a good thing. it might suck to wait that long. but they are that busy for a reason. if in n out sucked, they wouldn’t be busy. :)
My friend used to live next to the 3rd In n’ Out franchise in Bellflower. I ate there ALOT when I lived down there. They always had alternate bible verses on the different size drink cups.
It didn’t do much good though.
In the early ’90’s, ‘92 or ‘93 I think, the corporate jet crashed on the way back from the company Xmas party in Tahoe on Xmas eve. If I remember correctly, the president , CEO, son of the owners and several of the board of directors died in the crash. Doing the “lord’s work” didn’t stop the irony.
This happened after they changed the sticker design so no one could easily alter them to say “In N’ Out URGE” because it was an un-Xtian message.
God may have a sense of humor after all, if it exists.
Good old In ‘n Out – apparently they are more reliable than the Sacramento PD, given the fact that someone handed my lost wallet into an In ‘n Out restaurant rather than give it to the police.
Vegas has a lot of indoor seating and the Placentia location does not have a drive thru at all. I used to go there as a student nearby at CSU Fullerton. It’s where I first learned about the alternate menu, ironically from a vegetarian and later they had a kiosk that explained about 3×3, 4×4 and animal style.
Since you had to sit there (or take out), I used to call it “In and In and In…’N Out.” Which I guess sounds dirtier than the altered bumperstickers of my ’80s youth.
When did they get SF locations? There weren’t any when I lived there.
Summer says Nahum is not a book in the Christian BIble.
Somebody must have pulled a trick on her by cutting it out of hers! Why I could not say.
In-and-Out founders were not Mormons but regular Christians.
I grew up in La Crescenta, Ca and In N Out was the friday night hangout. It had I think six drive thru lanes and some outdoor picnic tables. This was in the eighties so there were no indoor sit down restaurants in the chain. There was a secret style called “doggie style.” Not the dirty sexual way either. We did giggle sometimes while ordering though. Since it was a drive thru guys would go through in a pick-up with a dog in the back. The double-double was two uncooked patties with all the fixins thrown into one of those cardboard serving boxes they have. One friends dog regularly ate the cardboard box as well as the delicious, fresh burger.
I grew up near Arrow Highway and Grand In-N-Out. I remember a guy named “Red” that worked there in the early 60’s. I always wondered if he became a manager. I love the double double and have forever and the fries are the best. I remember when they use to drain them out in cheese cloth type towels, it was fun to watch. When I moved from Arizona they had just put them there now I am in Colorado and I miss them. Please come to Pagosa Springs Co, we are just a wide spot in the highway but you will always be busy. Thank you for great childhood memories.
YES I MUST SAY , WHEN EVER WE GO TO CALIFORNIA , WE MAKE A LIST OF THE FOOD PLACES WE WANT TO GO TO , AND IN-N-OUT BVURGERS IS ALWAYS ONE OF THEM . WE SURE MISS THEM IN VANCOUVER , WA. PLEASE COME AND PUT ONE OUT HERE , YOU WILL LOVE OUR SEASONS . BLESSINGS
For you bay area folks, there is an In-N-Out in Petaluma, Pinole, Pittsburgh, Union City, Stockton and also in Tracy. So you are not too far from them.
In-N-Out was my first job. I worked at #4 in Covina, #1 in Baldwin Park, and a little bit of time at the Mansion during special events. Wish I had stayed. Managers are pulling in over 100K. DAMN.
Oh well at least I can still savor the flavor.
hey
the main reason native San Franciscans visit Fishermans’ Wharf
plus they pay over minimum wage here
P.S.
on Paul Oakenfold’s website in a web chat
he mentions that In-N-Out is his favorite burger
In case anyone is interested, from what I’ve found, the closest thing you can get to an In-N-Out burger on the east coast is Blue 9 burger in the lower east side NYC.
Check it out. A far cry from the splendor of the west coast chain, but if you really have a hankering it can totally satisfy…and the fries are actually delicious!
I’ve been a suffering In-N-Out devotee since we moved from LA 15 years ago. It’s always the first stop when we leave the airport.
For those of you in Colorado, check out Goose Gossages place south of Denver. It’s as close to the real thing I’ve had outside the In-N-Out geographical area!!!
We’ve sinced moved overseas and I’m jonesing for a double double REAL BAD!!! I wonder how one would taste after being fed-ex’d over to Europe?!?!?!?!
WOW I Love In-N-Out I am doing a project for school on it. but just for fun I think I may get some of my friends together and go for a 125X125. this should be easy if we get at least 15 – 20 people… but I bet we’ll get about 10 – 15… hmm if we do it I we’ll film it and plaster it on youtube for sure. would be AWESOME!
Back in the day, I lived behind the Covina Drive In and just around the corner from the In N Out on Arrow Hwy. My best friend, Ken Sears, lived next door & he worked at the In N Out on San Bernadino Rd in Baldwin Park. I miss those double doubles and fries! WOW, I think i’m having a In N Out urge!
well dad guess you could always come to phoenix for a visit…. we now have them all over the place!!
I live right next to the In N Out on grand, less than half a mile, I used to walk down there each thursday grab a burger, and cruise the car show each week(car show sponsored by in n out). 3×3 xlg chocolate shake=moo ftw, its astounding to see how busy it gets at times, often will have a couple cops or ambulance drivers sneaking in for a burger during their shift, and a line that goes out of the drive through itself more often than not. Only in n out i’ve seen that makes the indoor+outdoor covina one look tame that ive seen is the West Covina stand, granted theres no outdoor space, but the line for drive through has gone to the street a couple times, and the indoor dining area is usually packed. Definitely a “Californian” place to go, palm tree, hot rods, retro 60s feel to each store, hmm well since Texas has the tequila worm… California should have the Neopalitan shake test.
This is the best DAMN hamburger i have ever ate in my life. I could eat this burger for the rest of my life. I have never had a chesseburger expirence like that in my life. TGHE VERY BEST BURGER OF ALL TYME, NOONE XCOULD TOP THIS. (AND THIS IS IT)
Dude…seriously? Maybe you needed to copy it 501 times because it is a book in the Christian Bible. Its small and only about 1 pg in most Bibles but its there.
I was a Realtor back in the early 90's in West Covina, California. I worked with Charlie, the property Locater for all In-N-Out Hamburger stands. He was childhood friends with Mr. Snyder. He told me the story of how Mr. Snyder came up with the idea. It seems they were on vacation and saw a hamburger stand with a walk up window. Mr. Snyder went one step further and wanted a way to get in and out in a hurry, thus he came up with the drive-through window. When I was a kid, we lived very close to the first In-N-Out in Baldwin Park. Hamburgers were 35 cents. We still love In-N-Out.
In-n-Out's 60th Year Anniversary is Wednesday, October 22nd. All hamburgers will be sold for 25 cents, Cheeseburgers 30 cents, Fries 15 cents, and drinks are 10 cents!!! So mark your calendars!
Is will true?
one change………vanilla shake, I am simple.
There is another bay area IN N OUT in Mill Valley, just after you go north on the Golden Gate, they also have no Drive Thru because of City Odinance.
Gotta love the In-N-Out Urge!
There is no drive thru in Plasentica also. The city would not allow it due to cars idoling in the drive thru…that stinks because within the last ten years or so the city allowed McD’s to open a drive thru not so far away…think I spelled the city’s name incorrectly.
At one time there was a new IN-&-OUT on north Towne Ave. in Pomona,CA, it was #3. In 1965 Myself with friend Doug Myers Asked the Manager Ted for two cheeseburgers each, one with no bun. At this time it became a regular with us and all our friends that hung out there, which we finally referred to this as a double, which within about 6 months it appeared on the menu. Sad to say that the In-&-Out on north Towne Ave. got torn down several years later. It was a local hangout with a rentacop on duty in the evening, and yes we did lock him in the mens room without his gun.