# Is most of the appeal of the In-N-Out burger the "spread"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813 "2011-08-23T20:11:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/1 "2011-08-23T20:11:06Z")
I’m always searching for a good burger wherever I go and am a fan of the standard cheeseburger. Meat, cheese, bun, and maybe pickles. I’ve had the chain stuff like Smashburger, FiveGuys, Chee-Burger Chee-Burger as well as the local juicy-lucys. Some really, really good burgers out there. But I’ve always wondered about the legendary In-N-Out burger that so many claim is the best in the US. So when I was in Vegas this past week I found out they had a couple locations there. Brought them up on-line to look at the menu. What’s this? Every burger has this something called “spread” on it? No, no, no, no. A good burger does not rely on any sort of “spread” to be the best. Needless to say I skipped the experience. Yeah, I guess I could have ordered one without the “spread” but then it really wouldn’t be an In-N-Out burger then would it? So, is that what makes everyone go ga-ga over this burger? The special “spread”? Cause I detest “spread” in any form on my burger. Is it still “the greatest” without this “spread”? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/2 "2011-08-23T20:16:30Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Is it still “the greatest” without this “spread”? Yes. That was easy. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/3 "2011-08-23T20:17:51Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > The special “spread”? Cause I detest “spread” in any form on my burger. Is it still “the greatest” without this “spread”? It’s just the American version of French dressing, not really dissimilar in kind to the “special sauce” on Big Macs. It’s not really that uncommon a condiment on hamburgers. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/4 "2011-08-23T20:23:29Z")
I don’t care for the spread. The only things I miss about California are In-N-Out and readily available cheap high quality Mexican food. What makes In-N-Out great is the simplicity of the burger coupled with the very high quality of the ingredients. It’s the platonic ideal of the fast food burger. That said, it is a FAST FOOD burger. It does not and should not and is not intended to compair to a more gourmet burger. Five Guys and Smashburger don’t really serve the same type of food as In-N-Out. They try to take the gourmet burger and turn it into fast food. Shake Shack is closer, they take the fast food burger and turn it gourmet. In-N-Out just makes a fast food burger. But they do it perfectly. ETA: It’s the burger you always wished you could get at McDonalds, but haven’t been able to get since about 1956. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/5 "2011-08-23T20:34:15Z")
In-n-Out is ok, but I really don’t get the near worship of the place that goes on around LA. Of course a lot of those people also think Shakey’s makes edible pizza so who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/6 "2011-08-23T20:37:18Z")
In-N-Out s in the top three, for sure, along with Fatburger and Five Guys. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/7 "2011-08-23T20:55:04Z")
The spread is 1000 Island dressing. In-n-Out also toasts the buns. So if you want to see if they have good burgers, make one for yourself. Pan fry a middle quality pre-made frozen beef patty. Toast a basic hamburger bun (not the fancy kind with sesame seeds.) Put about 1 T of 1000 island dressing on the bun then dress it up with 1 leaf of iceberg lettuce and a slice of tomato. If you like that, you’ll like In-n-Out, which tastes pretty much exactly like that hamburger would taste. I do like their burgers, but they really aren’t anything to brag about. The shirts are kind of fun though. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/8 "2011-08-23T21:06:57Z")
Speaking of the spread, I hate garbage time TDs that totally ruin my line. Seems like a lot of places I used to go toasted their buns. I’m thinking of 60s, 70s, maybe 80s. Am I misremembering? Was I going to non chain places? Did some places used to and stopped? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/9 "2011-08-23T23:10:09Z")
Every restaurant I’ve ever cooked in, fast food or otherwise, toasts the buns. Are we talking about some “special” kind of toasting here? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/10 "2011-08-23T23:12:36Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > …Pan fry a middle quality pre-made frozen beef patty… > 1 leaf of iceberg lettuce… They don’t freeze their beef, and I’ve never gotten anything less than half a damn head of lettuce. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/11 "2011-08-23T23:21:26Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Every restaurant I’ve ever cooked in, fast food or otherwise, toasts the buns. Are we talking about some “special” kind of toasting here? I’m talking about a crispy bun, not the softies I invariably run into nowadays. Maybe they toasted them longer or hotter back when if they’re still toasting at most places today. When I cook out burgers and dogs for get togethers, I always put the buns on the grill. Almost everyone says, “Hey, just like we USED to get!” Has made me wonder if bun toasting is a lost art of alchemy or something. As always, this is the nitpicky Dope, so … YMMV 😉 ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/12 "2011-08-23T23:53:46Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > It’s just the American version of French dressing, not really dissimilar in kind to the “special sauce” on Big Macs. It’s not really that uncommon a condiment on hamburgers. French dressing is the American version of nothing actually French. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/13 "2011-08-24T00:25:24Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Needless to say I skipped the experience. Needless to say? You make it sound like a normal reaction. You’ve wondered about it for a long time, had a chance to grab a bite to eat there for a few bucks, but skipped it based on th existance of topping that isn’t odd or disgusting or anything, and you assume that this would be so obvious that everyone would do the same in your place? Odd. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/14 "2011-08-24T00:53:31Z")
Condescending, really. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/15 "2011-08-24T01:57:50Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Needless to say? You make it sound like a normal reaction. You’ve wondered about it for a long time, had a chance to grab a bite to eat there for a few bucks, but skipped it based on th existance of topping that isn’t odd or disgusting or anything, and you assume that this would be so obvious that everyone would do the same in your place? Odd. How would the OP know if it’s strange or disgusting without knowing what the mysterious “spread” really is? Popularity doesn’t ensure that the OP wouldn’t find it one or the other, after all there are parts of this country where it’s standard practice to eat hog entrails and veggies fried in lard. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/16 "2011-08-24T02:40:33Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > I’m talking about a crispy bun, not the softies I invariably run into nowadays. Maybe they toasted them longer or hotter back when if they’re still toasting at most places today. > > When I cook out burgers and dogs for get togethers, I always put the buns on the grill. Almost everyone says, “Hey, just like we USED to get!” Has made me wonder if bun toasting is a lost art of alchemy or something. > > As always, this is the nitpicky Dope, so … YMMV 😉 Crispy inside and outside? (“inside” = “the side facing the burger patty”; “outside” = well, the outside) I know from experience I don’t like a bun that is crispy on the outside - one bite and you’e got crumbs everywhere. Toasting the bun, everywhere I’ve worked, involved buttering the inside surface of the bun and plopping it on the grill, which accomplishes both warming the bun and sealing the surface so that the condiments don’t soak in. Of course, this assumes a flat grill. You can’t easily do a bun on a typical flame broiler, because it would burn to a crisp in no time flat. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > Needless to say? You make it sound like a normal reaction. You’ve wondered about it for a long time, had a chance to grab a bite to eat there for a few bucks, but skipped it based on th existance of topping that isn’t odd or disgusting or anything, and you assume that this would be so obvious that everyone would do the same in your place? Odd. I was a bit curious about that myself. It made it sound like the OP believes a burger should have no condiments, i.e. nothing but bun, meat, and cheese — and if that’s the case the only thing that’s going to differentiate burgers is the quality of the meat itself. Of course, I’m always skeptical about “best burger” surveys, at least locally. In my own (admittedly limited) experience, the criteria for “best” seems to be which burger ends up dripping the most crap on your shirt and down your arms. We have a local burger joint that has been there since the 1940s, and was the perennial “best burger in town”. I finally decided to try it for myself… and got this greasy burger with so much cheese on it that the cheese had melted and run off onto the grill and burned and so much sauce that the whole shebang wanted to slide out from between the buns while I was eating it. I mentioned this to some local who’d lived here much longer than I had and he was all, “Yeah, isn’t it great?” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/17 "2011-08-24T02:41:53Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > How would the OP know if it’s strange or disgusting without knowing what the mysterious “spread” really is? Popularity doesn’t ensure that the OP wouldn’t find it one or the other, after all there are parts of this country where it’s standard practice to eat hog entrails and veggies fried in lard. Well, it’s not likely a mainstream burger joint is going to have some sort of anchovies and ass cream spread, so give it a try. If you don’t like it you’re out $3. In any case, it was the “obviously” part that got me, as if any reasonable person would have the same reaction. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/18 "2011-08-24T02:49:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yes. > That was easy. Concur. Although, I have to admit, In N Out is the one hamburger joint where I do away with my usual onions, pickles, mustard, ketchup toppings. I don’t like mayo on my hamburgers (whether on its own or in a “special sauce”), but In N Out is the exception to the rule. I also let them put lettuce and tomatoes on the burger, something else I don’t do at any other fast food joint. The burger is just right as it is, although it’s fine without all those toppings, too. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/19 "2011-08-24T02:57:39Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Well, it’s not likely a mainstream burger joint is going to have some sort of anchovies and ass cream spread, so give it a try. If you don’t like it you’re out $3. In any case, it was the “obviously” part that got me, as if any reasonable person would have the same reaction. Yeah. I mean, you’ve gotta pay extra for asscream. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813/20 "2011-08-24T03:01:53Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Yeah. I mean, you’ve gotta pay extra for asscream. Double-double buttburger, extra toast is my favorite thing to order. It’s on the secret menu. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-most-of-the-appeal-of-the-in-n-out-burger-the-spread/593813.md?page=2)