An interesting way in which In-n-Out departs from the fast food chain norm: If you order a combo meal at a McDonalds, or a Burger King, or some such, the price will be slightly lower than if you order each item individually. In-n-Out posts combo meals on their menu board, but they charge the aggregate price for them.
And their fries are not worth eating, so you might as well save your money.
And Fatburger is AWESOME!
I suppose there was a joke there somewhere, but I suggest you go to any McDonald’s in France and ask the cooks how their fries are made.
Again, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I get that you don’t like McDonald’s fries (understandable, and I don’t dispute that they are an inferior product), but you seem to equate the method of frying potatoes twice with cheap fast food. You are grossly mistaken.
Ah, I see. No, I don’t think sugar solution soaked and fried and then fried again then frozen fries are “inferior.” They are simply not the same thing as a piece of potato that has been cut and fried right before your eyes without similar processing.
I actually like McDonald’s & Burger King fries. I don’t think they are the same product at all as an In n Out fry.
I don’t think Five Guys came to PA until relatively recently. Their first York location opened in 2006 and my folks who live in York had never heard of them before that. They’ve expanded like a weed since then (three locations in York alone), but for some reason it took a long time to get there.
I preferred Fatburger to In-n-Out when I lived near LA, myself. But it was relatively close.
I’m with you. It’s amazing just how different two identical potatoes can taste.
Keep this thought in mind the first time you have an In-N-Out fry. Don’t judge it against regular french fries, or it will suck a lot. But juged on its own merits and it is quite tasty. It is also the only fry I have ever had that was still good eating after they got cold.
You can buy Tasty Kakes in CA. They are hard to find, but I know you can get them in Sacramento. In-n-Out has been expanding their operations in the last decade, I would not be surprised if they get out of California soon. Hey, they already have!
I really like In-n-Out burgers and fries, but I grew up in California so it’s a happy college-time memory for me. They are not the best burgers in the world, but they are the best big-chain burgers you can get in California.
I remember eating In-n-Out for my first time in college and not being impressed (we had someone drive thru a huge order and bring it back to campus)–the fries were limp and the cheese was coagulated in one amorphous blob.
Only later, when I ate it on location, did I fall in love–eat it while it’s hot! (quickly, with grilled onions, preferably)
For the sake of fairness I went up to Five Guys for a late second lunch (my first lunch was small and early).
I ordered the smallest possible meal. Counter-dude told me that the difference between their “Little Hamburger” and “Hamburger” is the number of patties. Little = one 1/4 pound patty, regular is two. Order the smallest fries and drink.
Cost:
Burger = $3.39
Fries = $2.69
Drink = $1.79
total, with tax was $8.43
Burger was smaller and better than I remembered. I went easier on the toppings this time, just tomato, lettuce, pickle, ketchup and mustard. I had them give me mayo on the side in case it was dry again, but it was fine with out.
Fries were not as soggy as I remembered, and were actually pretty good, although they really need to give the option of Old Bay Seasoning on that style fries. There was no salt in the condiment area, but fortunately they were well salted and did not need extra.
Drink area was out of cherry coke so I went with regular coke. Sign on the machine said how they were all about the customer, so I let them know that they were out of cherry coke and the guy asked did I want that “right now?” I thought, nah, maybe next Tuesday would be good. Anyway, they did correct it before I left, although they initially told me they were totally out, then they said that they found some.
Burger was good, fries were good, drink was a drink. Price seemed a bit much for the smallest possible (combo) meal.
I stand by my assertion that people who like BIG will get more out of Five Guys than if you’re going by pure taste. Nothing wrong with the fare, just nothing spectacular, unless you really like toppings. The bigger burger is a better value, but I am 6’ and 200lbs, give or take a couple, and I really don’t need a bigger burger or all of those fries. The “small fries” would have been enough for my whole family, which it should be at almost $3. I’d like them better with smaller options on the fries and cheaper drink choices. Would probably have just gone with water on another day, but wanted to get the full experience. I do like that they had a couple of other things like hot dogs, etc., but didn’t see anyone eating them.
FWIW I have no idea how that price compares with In-n-Out, but I don’t remember it being that much. I am typically on expense when I am out of Florida, so don’t tend to notice price as much.
Five Guys gets worse on a geometric progression the further you get from DC–the ones in Northern Virginia are great, the one in State College PA is abysmal.
Dude, just go to The Hat. Just be aware that a large anything will feed 4-5 people. Better fries than In-N-Out, better burgers than Five Guys, and pretty decent pastrami.
The Athens, GA & Roswell Rd. location in Atlanta have both been great when I’ve eaten at them. Just an FYI.
Maybe it’s a “further north” thing then.
Outback Steakhouses are kind of like that. Decent around here (their home), less so the farther away one gets. In Canada they even had an amended menu, which was sort of odd. I don’t know if I mentioned that the Five Guys I ate at today was different than the first one I tried, and it has been open longer than the other had, so more time to work out the kinks. Net Jake’s hamburgers here is about the same but they have all kinds of weird milkshakes and malts, which gives them a leg up in my book. 5Guys fries were better than Jake’s, though.
In-n-Out makes a delicious dependable basic burger with carefully chosen fresh ingredients. Since it is so basic, it is understandable that many people are underwhelmed. The ground beef is never frozen, the buns are some special “sponge-type” bread. I grew up eating them since around 35 years ago in the Valley. The fries are freshly cut, but I don’t consider them all that great. If they cooked them in lard, well then they would be fantastic.
I think another reason that people don’t like In-n-Out is that they cook the burgers fresh to order. During the dinner rush, it can take friggin’ forever to get your burger. This causes many people to wonder what the hype is about. I tend to try to go off hours to avoid the crowd.
I’d like to second Tommy’s, Apple Pan, Fatburger and the Hat. I think it is your responsible to hit everyone of these joints and decide for yourself. Report back in a new thread.
The one thing about Tommy’s, it’s all about the chili. You need to go to a very high volume joint, in other words, the original shack on Beverly and Rampart in Hollywood. If you go to a low volume outlet, the chili will congeal and be pretty mediocre. The actual name is “Original Tommy’s”, so don’t be fooled by the countless imitators.
If you make it to Vegas, there’s an In-n-Out, a Fatburger, and a Tommy’s (way off the strip though). Unfortunately, the Fatburger in Santa Barbara just closed. I should have patronized it more often.
I was in an In-N-Out in Sherman Oaks and some of the costumers asked for and received chili peppers - not on the burgers, but packaged separately. I’d been going to INO for years and never seen this before so I don’t know if it’s some double-secret thing they do at all locations or just that one.
To avoid the pseudo-Tommy’s (and Tomy’s, Tommi’s, Tomi’s, Tomboy’s, etc.) look for a picture of a shack on the sign.
Good advice in this post and the one before it. Make the trip to to go to the Original Original Tommy’s. The food really is better there.
Just like real life. Suck it up. 
I’ve never eaten at In-and-Out (there are none up north here), but I have eaten at Fatburger, and if most people rate Fatburger higher than In-and-Out, I can’t be missing much. IMO White Spot/Triple O’s (don’t think there are any south of the border) makes a better burger for the same price.
Thanks for all the advice, I’ll make sure to take a good look at the secret menu before I go. I might try one of the alternative (non fast food) burger joints as well, but I don’t want to be eating burgers all the time…there is also the mexican stuff (and probably every other kind of food imaginable)! So much possibilities and so little time…