There are two Five Guys Burgers listed in the area, one in Cerritos and the other in Carson.
I grew up on In-n-Out Burger. I go every few weeks for a burger with animal style fries. Mm! It’s one of my few indulgences. It’s fast-food, yeah, and some guys I know complain that even the double-double is too small.
I usually get a 3x3 with animal style fries. The burgers are really good but their fries kind of suck. When you order them animal style, they add grilled onions, cheese and thousand island sauce on the fries. It is only then that the fries become delicious.
In-n-out is what McDonald’s probably was when it first opened. It’s fast food, but it’s fresh fast food, made right there before your eyes. Okay, they don’t slaughter cows right in front of you, but it’s almost that fresh. They don’t ship in pallets of frozen stuff.
Your fries will be cut and fried right there in front of you. They don’t soak in sugar, coat, soak some more, fry, soak in something else, fry again, and the fries you eventually get have been processed and fried and frozen and processed and fried again God knows how many times.
Every burger patty I’ve ever seen at Five Guys has been relatively thin, they just stack 2 on top of each other.
They don’t fry their potatoes twice? Their fries must be crap, then. It’s nearly impossible to get a decent product if they’re only fried one time.
Actually I am not a big fan of their fries, they seem to get cold really fast.
You can ask for them well-done, and they will fry it twice for you. I totally forgot about that. Definitely ask for the fries well done.
Yeah, 5 Guys patties are about 1/4 pound, not what I would consider thick, but thicker than In N Out and McDonald’s regular patty size. Still, they’d be on the thin side of the spectrum. It’s 1/2 patties and up that I’d consider thick, and I have a strong preference for smaller patties in my burger.
Their fries taste like a potato. A silicon injected boob looks good, but it’s not a real boob.
I like the taste of a potato that hasn’t gotten a boob job, so to speak.
Yeah, In-N-Out fries are a love em or hate em sort of thing. I like them just as they come (and smothered in ketchup, in fact they are the only food item that I will willingly smother in ketchup, but they are damn good that way) but many will only eat them well done or animal style or both.
The fries are very potato-y and it can take some getting used to since they aren’t like “regular” fries. They sort of taste like thin crispy steak fries. Sort of.
In-n-out is probably my favorite burger & fries place, period.
If it’s your first time going, you probably want to stick with a double-double (animal style if you like grilled onions and the bun grilled in mustard), normal fries and a shake.
The fries taste different than most other fast-food places, think of them more like potato-chips with a soft center. I think they’re perfect, but other people aren’t as much of a fan.
You might want to avoid the “4x4” (a quadruple cheeseburger) and “animal style fries” (fries covered in cheese, grilled onions, and thousand island sauce) suggestions your first time there, as they can get a little intimidating and messy. Save them for the second trip, when you know what you’re getting into.
But after they cook it, you won’t be able to tell the difference. Really.
BTW, someone upthread said there is always a line.
True, but that doesn’t mean it is always busy.
I worked at a local burger joint, much smaller then a typical In and Out, while in high school. I was a grill guy, our menu was way more complex then an in and out menu (klndergarten arithmetic is more complex then that menu). I worked on the same size/style grill as In and Out has, and I could keep it filled with orders all the time as needed.
These kids today, all they have to do is cook freakin burger, the same way every time, and when if the line stacks up, it is because they can’t have more then 3-5 burgers working simultaneously. This causes a huge backup, and if you are in any kind of rush whatsoever, the name of the joint is a LIE! Apparently by design, because this training in the kitchen seems universal.
Just FYI – Five Guys’ website, and also Tastykake’s. FAQ’s and info on where and how to get them. Nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake – and I made over $1500 one semester selling them to Philly-area natives at my upstate NY university. (Close to 20 years ago, now, but I think they are still hard to come by in those parts outside care packages.) If you’ve never had them before and are interested in trying them out, the Butterscotch Krimpets and the Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes are the signature snacks, but I am partial to the Coconut Juniors myself.
Anyway … not sure whether all In-N-Out’s are the same everywhere, but when my sister lived in Phoenix I made it a point to try all the fast food places that we did not have here in the Philly area at the time – In-N-Out, Sonic, Jack in the Box. There might have been others, but now I don’t remember. In-N-Out was far and away my favorite. (At the time, I actually called it “God’s Own Cheeseburger” on my blog, but in my defense, I was my first In-N-Out burger.) The burgers were fresh and I think the buns were grilled. I thought the presentation was nice, too: love the palm trees on the wrappers. I think it’s cool that you can watch potatoes being turned into fries. IIRC, it was more expensive than your standard McDonald’s meal, but that could be because Phoenix is more expensive than the Philly 'burbs. FWIW, I had the “Easy #2 Combo,” which is a cheeseburger, medium fries, and a medium soda.
In short: I can see why some people are very devoted followers, although this is definitely a YMMV type of situation.
Plus, there’s something really pleasing about ordering your meal “double-double animal style.” That’s so much more fun than saying “super size it,” or, “fried onions please.”
In addition to what people have said (damn good fast food burger, but still a burger, fries are kinda weird) I read in Fast Food Nation that In n Out is way above the curve in:
-using natural not-totally-processed ingredients
and
-paying their staff well.
To be fair, I didn’t say that In-N-Out was the best burger place, just that Animal Style was the way to order their burgers.
For the record, I think that Fat Burger is better, and out here, the Chuckbox is superior to both. When the first In-N-Out opened in Scottsdale, the lines were so long they had police managing the traffic. I don’t really get the religious devotion to them, but they are pretty good as chains go.
Me too, although I like Five Guys a lot. (The secret is to get the Little Cheeseburger.) Sadly, I live three thousand miles away from the nearest In-N-Out.
–Cliffy
I have no idea what you’re talking about, honestly. Go to any bistro in France and ask the chef how they cook their fries.
That explains some of the pictures I saw online.
I’ve always wanted to try In n Out. Trying to think of the next time I’ll be in LA…