| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Baldwin Park, California, USA (1948) |
| Headquarters | Irvine, California |
| Area served | California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas |
| Key people | Lynsi Martinez, Owner Mark Taylor, President Roger Kotch, CFO |
| Revenue | estimated US$ 216.8 million (2007)[1] |
| Website | www.in-n-out.com |
When In-N-Out Burger first opened in 1948, the company provided only a basic menu of burgers, fries and beverages. The foods they prepared were made on location from fresh ingredients, including their french fries which were sliced and cooked to order. Unlike the other major competitors in the hamburger fast food restaurant business -- Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's -- as the chain grew in the intervening years, it has not added products such as chicken and salads to its menu or changed its preparation methods. Even into the 21st century, the company's menu still only lists burgers, fries and beverages advertised as being produced on site from fresh ingredients.
Instead of a broad menu like its competitors, In-N-Out has become known for its Secret Menu, unadvertised variations on its burgers that are based on customer preferences, such as the popular "animal style."[2]
Contents |
All burgers consist of one or more 1/8 lb. beef patties cooked to "medium-well", and served on a toasted bun. The default style of burger includes tomato, leaf lettuce and "spread", a sauce similar to Thousand Island dressing. In addition, customers are asked if they wish to add raw or grilled onions.
The bulk of the secret menu revolves around the burgers. The company advertises that "Animal Style" is one of the most popular "secret" styles; in addition to the standard toppings, Animal Style burgers include pickles, extra spread, grilled onions, and mustard fried onto each meat patty. "3×3" (pronounced 3-by-3), "4×4", or variations of "m" × "c", refers to a burger with a varied amount of meat patties, "m", and slices of cheese, "c": e.g. a burger with six meat patties and three slices of cheese is a "6×3". The In-N-Out "secret menu" section of the website only mentions the 3x3 and 4x4.[3] There are instances of extremely large sandwiches. On October 31, 2004, a group of friends ordered a 100x100 from a location in Las Vegas, Nevada, posting photos on the web of the burger. Fearing negative publicity from the site, the company restricted the size of hamburgers to no larger than a 4x6.[4]
In-N-Out has two low carbohydrate offerings, akin to the Atkins diet. "Protein Style", introduced in the 1970s,[2][5] replaces the bun with large leaves of lettuce; while the "Flying Dutchman" is a 2x2 with no bun, no vegetables, and no spread.
J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, executive editor of Serious Eats, ordered every single secret menu item known to him, publishing the experiment's results in The Ultimate In-N-Out Secret Menu (and Super Secret Menu!) Survival Guide. In-N-Out's own website acknowledges the existence of its secret menu, listing the following six choices while noting that these are just "some of the most popular items on our not-so-secret menu."[3]
Other secret menu items that have been documented elsewhere include:
The company's customization extends to the onions it serves. The default style of "Regular Onions" consists of an entire slice of fresh onion. The company will also serve the slice cooked ("whole grilled"), raw chopped, and grilled. How the onions are ordered will determine its placement on the sandwich; raw whole onions are placed with the cold ingredients, cooked onions are on the burger patty.
In-N-Out uses the Kennebec variety of potato for its fries and prepares them in store as opposed to purchasing them pre-made from other companies. The company's french fries have always been fried in vegetable oil while other chains have historically used lard or beef tallow.[9]
These are also posted at The Ultimate In-N-Out Secret Menu (and Super Secret Menu!) Survival Guide.
The company offers lemonade, iced tea, coffee, three flavors of milk shakes, and soda. Unlike most fast food companies, In-N-Out serves soda from two different companies. It serves Coca-Cola Classic, Diet Coke, and Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer —except in Utah, where it serves caffeine-free Barq's root beer — from the Coca-Cola Company, and 7 Up and Dr Pepper from the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. The company advertises its milkshakes as hand-made with ice cream, unlike the soft serve style sold at other major fast-food businesses.