Lunch Today! WOO HOO!!!

Sometime yesterday my wife got an email her car was ready to come home from the car hospital ICU (Damn RATS!!). So, this morning she says they're open today and wants to go rescue it and bring her baby back home. We decided we'd make a fun lunch date out of it. We were both in the mood for a good burger, and there's a Fat Burger nearby the dealership. Sounded like a plan so off we went. I'd just pulled off the freeway ramp when the wife points to the right and says..."LOOK! An In-N-Out Burger!,

**SCREEEECH!!, veer suddenly right across multiple lanes of traffic (from left hand turn lane!)** "WHAT??? NO WAY!!!
**Instantaneous change of plans!!!** "Oh, we're DEFINITELY goin' THERE!!" **Visions of the Double-Double, Animal Style, shooting across my neurons!**

Now, my wife has never been to the place, but she's heard all about it. We've even tried to duplicate their burger a couple times. I've been a few times when I was on business in CA (historically the only place where they operated). The place really is legend.

So I wheel into the mall parking lot and there's like a sea of cones, temporary signs directing people everywhere. They've got about 10 people marshalling traffic into queues, people everywhere. It was freaking unbelievable! This was a huge indoor mall parking lot, but the mall is now closed. The entire parking lot is jammed with cars; there must have been 700-1000 cars there, easy! Now keep in mind, my mind is still reeling from the surprise of hearing an In-N-Out even exists here, and I'm thinking I'm pulling into the mall parking lot to turn around and go back to where the restaurant is. Nope, this crowd is all going to the same place! They had barricades, and cordoned off alleys to drive down, signs pointing every which way; it was a maze. At first I thought "to heck with this chaos!" and headed for the exit (I hate lines with a purple passion). The wife says ..."WAIT, don't leave!! I've never been! It'll be fun, and what else do we have to do today except get the car??" Okay, well, that's a good point. So, I bailed on bailing out and started trying to figure out the maze of pylons and barricades.

I figured it must be their Grand Opening or something. I mean seriously, they had tents set up in the parking lot, local cops directing traffic in the parking lot. It was just insane! Finally I had to stop and ask one of the traffic marshallers what the heck way to go in this maze. She says the queues of cars to my left are in staging lanes to go through the drive through, and the current wait is estimated to be 40 minutes to get to the window. (forget that!) Then she says..."but, amazingly, there's currently no waiting at the walk-up." She points me toward another guy who's about 50 yards away directing cars where to park. WOW...this is a BIG operation!! So we parked and walked over to the restaurant. Sure enough, no line! The gal took our order in about 30 seconds. They must have had 75 employees behind the counter in this place, it was just crazy!

We order and get our number, we're #97. Some more employees point us outside where there are gobs of people waiting. Says they'll call our number on the loudspeaker. My heart sank when we walked outside and heard them call #64. Started wishing I brought a snack. They had outdoor heaters all set up for people to stay warm (was about 28F out). I must say, they were definitely handling the crowds better than anything I've ever seen. Found a place to sit down, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear them clipping off orders at about one every 10-20 seconds. "NUMBER #65, YOUR ORDER IS READY! #66, 67 AND 68, YOUR ORDERS ARE READY!, etc. I don't think we waited more than about 10 minutes to get our order, and it was perfect!

Combo #1 Double-Double, Animal style with regular style fry. Combo #2 Cheeseburger regular style with regular style fry. $ 17 bucks including tax, a bargain! Gawd I love this place!

So, I'm off in nirvana eating my burger, and the wife is very much enjoying hers. Everyone is happy enjoying the Colorado sunshine outside. Just a great experience overall. Wife loved it, and now she's finally eaten at the legendary In-N-Out Burger!

As we walked back to the car, I decided to ask one of the gals directing traffic outside if this was the Grand Opening?

She says "Oh, no."

Me - "You're KIDDING me!! It's ALWAYS this busy?????"

Her - "It's actually kind of slow today."

Me - "You've got to be Sh###TING me!! How long have you been open for??"

She says - "Oh, I don't know, about a month to a month and a half I guess."

**THUD!!**

And thus was the story about today's lunch!

There will always be a line

At 2 am getting off work (vegas) there is still a line

You get use to it the line moves fast

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

40 minutes ha!

They opened a White Castle near my house last year. The wait was 4 HOURS to get thru the drive thru. It was like that for the fist 3 month...

I finally ate there in month 4 when there wasn’t much of a wait. My gawd that sh!t is nasty!!!

a reply to: markovian

It was just crazy big! It was like the parking lots during a Broncos game, except better organized!

The ones I used to go to while on business in San Diego always had lines, but nothing like this!

I checked, and the location opened sometime in November of 2020, so It's been open about 2 months. The amount of business they are doing on a daily basis must be staggering!

We showed up at about 11:20, which is about 50 minutes after they open (10:30 I believe).

They literally had four remote staging lanes each about 20 cars deep which they were queueing cars up in, and then they'd dispatch them, one by one, to get in the actual line for the drive-thru. One of the gals working the staging line said, if they didn't do that they have cars backing up two lanes wide a half a mile out onto the freeway!!

I don't know if In-N-Out timed this opening with the closing of the old indoor mall, but if they didn't have that absolutely massive parking lot it would be complete chaos! If they did, it was sheer BRILLIANCE! And it's not a nice neighborhood either. (which is why the mall closed).

I've really never seen anything like that before.

a reply to: KKLOCO

Not at 2am it's not!!

Best hangover food known to man! You'll hate yourself about 8 hours later, but WC is the BOMB!!

That's another one they don't have here. In-N-Out is WAY better, but I'd line up for a flat of White Castle's (never order those things by the burger, you order them by the flat!).

ETA - The Original "Sliders"!

When I was working in Detroit many moons ago there used to be a couple different places like WC. One was called Top Hat (I think) and the other was some derivative of that (Black Hat maybe?). Anyway, they were kind of knock offs. Same process though, burgers steamed on onions, potato buns, etc. We had a death wish then, and used to try to find the nastiest burger joints of all...and they were the best!

Best one we ever found was a place down by the Great Lakes Steel mill. It was a mom & pop bar joint. Seriously hard-core. Couldn't even make it to your truck with your order before the paper bag broke from the grease! That place was awesome!

But, I digress; this is about In-N-Out Burger.

I had a traditional New Year’s meal of pork, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, my Aunt had black eyed peas (which I don’t like) so I had corn (would have rather had regular peas but it’s okay). My wait time was (12 hours for the pork as I slow cooked it and woke up at 5 am smelling it) until Aunt Tina fixed her plate.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

🤢 🤮

They taste exactly like the frozen ones that they sell at grocery stores.

Don’t wait in line. Just buy the frozen ones.

I held you in high regards when it came to cuisine, FCD. Your stock just dropped a bit.

Don’t worry, it’s still through the roof. 🍻

a reply to: KKLOCO

No, no, NO!! My point in the OP was about In-N-Out Burger, NOT WC!

Sorry I stubbed your toe!

Okay....

The restaurant has achieved popularity which has led to celebration by some when brought to new locations, and the opening of a new restaurant often becomes an event. When one opened in Scottsdale, Arizona, there was a four-hour wait for food, and news helicopters whirled above the parking lot.[69]

The chain's image has also made it popular in some unusual ways. For example, In-N-Out is still considered acceptable in some areas with strong opposition to corporate food restaurants, such as McDonald's. Anyone with a business interest in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf district said they opposed every other fast-food chain except In-N-Out because they wanted to maintain the flavor of family-owned, decades-old businesses in the area, with one saying locals would ordinarily "be up in arms about a fast-food operation coming to Fisherman's Wharf", but "this is different".[12] California native and Colorado Rockies player Jason Giambi would often visit In-N-Out Burger when on the West Coast with his former team, the New York Yankees. He said he tried to open an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in New York, but was unsuccessful.[70]

The chain also has fans in a number of renowned chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Thomas Keller, Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, Ina Garten, and Mario Batali.[19] Famous London chef/restaurateur Ramsay ate In-N-Out for the first time when taping Hell's Kitchen in Los Angeles, and it soon became one of his favorite spots for take-out.[71] Ramsay was quoted, saying about the experience: "In-N-Out burgers were extraordinary. I was so bad, I sat in the restaurant, had my double cheeseburger then minutes later I drove back round and got the same thing again to take away."[71] Thomas Keller, a fan of In-N-Out, celebrated with In-N-Out burgers at the anniversary party of his restaurant, The French Laundry.[72] Keller also plans on opening his own burger restaurant inspired by his Los Angeles experience of In-N-Out.[73] Julia Child, one of the first celebrities to champion the chain, admitted to knowing every location of the restaurant between Santa Barbara and San Francisco.[74] Child also had the burgers delivered to her during a hospital stay.[72] Anthony Bourdain reportedly said that In-N-Out was his favorite fast food meal;[72] later naming the restaurant as "the best restaurant in Los Angeles".[75][76] Ina Garten at an interview at Today show divulges "I have to say, I don't eat fast food at all, with one exception. When we're in California doing book tours, we always have to go to In-N-Out Burger. It's so good and I know it was Julia Child's favorite too, so it's okay." [77]

In-N-Out was one of the very few restaurant chains given a positive mention in the book Fast Food Nation. The book commended the chain for using natural and fresh ingredients and for looking after the interests of employees regarding pay and benefits.[78] An In-N-Out food truck catered Vanity Fair's 2012 Academy Awards after party.[79]

Source

See? It's really not a crap place!!

It really isn't!!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Okay, I’ll go back on topic.

I don’t like In & Out Burger either. Their burgers are just ok and their fries are terrible — no flavor whatsoever.

Apparently Ghislaine likes it too. 😈

a reply to: KKLOCO

Gosh, I don't even know how to respond to that; don't know what to say.

I'm sorry??

I absolutely LOATHE California! I can't stand one second of being there! I don't like the people, the culture or anything about the place! I don't even like the weather! And screw their beaches!!

But I DO like In-N-Out Burger! It's the one single redeeming thing about Kalifornia which I like, the ONLY one! Seriously!

That should at least say something!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I absolutely LOATHE California! I can't stand one second of being there! I don't like the people, the culture or anything about the place! I don't even like the weather! And screw their beaches!!

Yes and YES! So now we agree.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I just love your stories. Sounds like some awesome food. No In & Out Burger where I live in da frozen tundra of Wisconsin. We recently got a Chik Fil A and a Popeye's, and people just went nuts. There were huge drive thru lines, very popular here. Most of our fast food joints are closed for dining in too, but have drive thru and curbside pick up.

If it is anything like Jack in the Box, they can all burn down with no loss.

a reply to: Ahabstar

...they can all burn down with no loss.

Gee, such a happy guy!

Merry Festivus to you too!

LOL!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

No. Jack in the Box was the worst franchise I ever ate that people go nuts over.

Never had In and Out. Actually, most burger places don’t do it for me. Wendy’s still holds up well. But then you have to go to Smashburger, Five Guys or Red Robin to step up. But those have the dubious misfortune of being over priced sit down restaurants as well. Well, Steak and Shake has a good burger and shakes, but their fries might as well be those shoestrings in can things I always hated. Deep fried potato dough hard as a golf pencil is not a side dish for anything.

originally posted by: KKLOCO

I held you in high regards when it came to cuisine, FCD. Your stock just dropped a bit.

In-N-Out is nothing special--typical fast burger-shack product you get from anywhere in the country.

They obviously don't have a Culver's in colo-ray-doh or the thread would be about them instead.

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Yeah, in and out is just gross, if you got to drown your food in all that sauce then it's not a good burger plus the buns taste stale.
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