In-n-Out - a cult, but a pretty darn good fast food burger
(April 28, 2007) In the end, it’s still a fast food burger. However, the In-n-Out burger and customer experience does way stand above the Big Macs and the Whoppers. In-n-Out gets a 3.5 out of 5 rating.| Overall | 3.5 |
| Meat | 4 |
| Toppings | 5 |
| Condiments | 2 |
| Bun | 5 |
| Preparation | 4 |
| Fried Sides | 4 |
In-n-Out is a relatively small, family-owned chain of burger joints. Probably its secret sauce is the family ownership and the family’s maniacal focus on doing a few things absolutely right. The meat is top quality, the produce fresh, the fries made in the store and the milkshakes handmade. The menu is quite limited, only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, shakes and soda. There are no fancy toppings like pineapple or teriyaki sauce. What variations there are very simple like bun or no bun, number of beef patties and raw or cooked onions.
One of the cult aspects of In-n-Out is the “secret” menu. These are the names of some variations on the basic burger, e.g., “Protein Style” which is wrapped in a lettuce leaf instead of on a bun. Click to get a PDF of secret menu by Badmouth. The French fries are worth nothing for their absolute freshness. The fries are made by hand at the store through out the day from whole potatoes.
I ordered a cheeseburger medium rare with raw onions ($1.99), French fries “well” ($1.19) and a soda ($1.30). The burger was appropriately medium-rare and the French fries were crisp. Each burger is made to order so the burger is quite fresh without that heat lamp sogginess that happens with the mega-chains. The overall experience is quite nice with a very clean and cheerful store. It is often quite busy so sometimes it is not as fast as the style would imply.
Click to see other reviews in the Favorite Burger Joint series.
Bottom Line: Recommended as a fast food joint. Contact: 1159 N. Rengstorff Ave., Mountain View, CA * No phone or e-mail * Website * the five locations from San Jose to Millbrae can be found on the company website
Hours: Sunday - Thursday 10:30 am to 1 am; Friday – Saturday 10:30 am to 1:30 am
Food Notebook post by Carter Lusher. Photos by Carter using a HP R967 Photosmart camera.
