In N Out Burger
You might be wondering why I’m even writing about this. It’s the equivalent of writing about McDonald’s. But it’s not. Something about In N Out burgers makes people (particularly Canadians, it seems) go ga-ga. Now don’t hate me. But I don’t get it.
It’s a good burger, don’t get me wrong! And when I say burger, I mean their “Animal Style”. Their regular burgers consist of a beef patty, cooked to medium well (looked more like well done to me), topped with your standard lettuce, tomato, and their signature spread, a Thousand Island dressing taste-a-like. Animal Style, part of their secret (but no so secret) menu, additionally gives you grilled onions, pickles, extra sauce, and a mustard fried patty. On top of that, you can order Animal Style fries, their regular fries topped with cheese and spread. This was all told to me in a rapid, verbatim manner from our happy order boy who seemed all too familiar with the question, “What is Animal Style?”
On our way to the airport, we stopped by the closest In N Out we could find. Not sure if it was the location that did me wrong or if I was just plain exhausted by the end of our Coachella trip, but it was just a burger to me. With a lot of sauce. Jon, who doesn’t eat beef, at least tried the Animal Style fries. Under seasoned, processed cheese liquid with a dollop of dressing didn’t cut it for him either.
I really think this is a case of Canadians-can’t-get-it-here phenomenon. Anything you can’t get in your own town, is likely going to be deemed better or even the best you’ve had. But is it really? The novelty runs out once it comes to your locale and everybody you know has tried it. That, or it’s associated with good memories. Long winded road trips filled with hunger episodes, of course a cheap (and secret?) burger is going to taste amazing.
Somebody enlighten me! Why is In N Out one of your top ranked, if not favorite, burger. You will travel to their home state of California just to eat it. Is it the sauce? Is it because the patty is fried in mustard? (That actually was unique, I’ve never had that before.) Is it because what you ordered isn’t even on the menu and yet, it’s the same price as their regular burger? I’ll give it another whirl next time I’m in California but so far, other burger chains still have my heart. (For those wondering, I have multiple favorites and McDonald’s has my heart for fries!)
let's om nom 
Great post on In & Out Burger here. The answer is in the freshness. If you roll through their drive-through you see them actually slicing the potatoes in the window, separating the lettuc for the burgers – you don’t see that with fast food! In California, people don’t even look at this as fast=food, it’s almost deemed “gourmet fast-food”. That being said, next time you are in LA, some of the burger spots with the most points are Father’s Office, The Apple Pan, and Umami Burger.
Happy Burger Hunting!