In-N-Out Burger — Restaurant in Meridian

On 3/15/24, I finally made it to Idaho’s first In-N-Out in Meridian, their 400th location. I worked late, hadn’t had much to eat, and figured going at 11:30 PM might be a good time. The inside was pretty full, but I found a small table. The majority of those dining inside were teenagers, some of who seemed to be using the restaurant as a hangout, which Impacts the turnover of the tables. For that reason, think twice about going late on a Friday or Saturday night if you want to eat inside.

In 2015, I visited the Auburn, California location. I ordered the #2 Combo, a Cheeseburger, French Fries, and a Medium Drink. I didn’t care for the fries. I thought the burger was OK, but not exceptional. I liked that everything was cooked to order.

Hearing all the excitement about the opening of the Idaho location, I wanted to revisit In-N-Out. This time, I was better prepared because I had read the Not So Secret Menu, lots of articles about the business, and many comments/posts that included feedback re: customers’ favorite menu items.

For my second visit, I ordered an Animal Style Cheeseburger, Light Well French Fries, and a Chocolate Shake. Animal Style is a mustard grilled hamburger patty with grilled onions, tomato, extra pickles, and extra Thousand Island-like spread.

I didn’t realize Animal Style included extra spread. If I were to order one again, I would ask for no extra spread. It was fine for the first few bites, but quickly became messy, getting sauce all over my hands. I didn’t see any grilled onions on my burger. I liked the quality of the bun, tomato, pickles, and cheese. I can’t comment on the quality of the burger patty because it was very small, and dwarfed by the other ingredients. In-N-Out uses 2 ounce hamburger patties, which is the size of a Slider. It explains why so many customers order the Double-Double. The only fast food chain that uses a smaller hamburger patty is McDonald’s; their regular hamburger patties are 1.6 ounces. The meat was a bit on the pink side, which was surprising. Since the Jack-in-the-Box 1992-1993 E. coli breakout, most fast food joints cook their burgers well done. The only other exception I’ve found is Burgerville, a PNW fast food Burger chain. In-N-Out burgers default to Medium Well; if you want it cooked longer, you must ask for Well or Extra Well.

The first time I tried In-N-Out’s French fries, I didn’t care for them. They were pale, limp, and dry. I liked then even less cooked Light Well. While it made the french fries stiffer, the interior was even drier. Using fresh cut fries doesn’t matter if you don’t take the time to properly prepare and cook them. Few businesses that boast fresh cut fries do. In-N-Out uses Kennebecs, a starchy potato that doesn't have as much sugar as a Russet. This results in fries with a crisp exterior and a soft interior — when they're properly cooked. To achieve that, potatoes must be soaked in water before they're fried, ideally overnight, and blanched, then fried. In-N-Out doesn't do any of that. I will take frozen french fries any day, over a fresh cut fries that aren’t properly prepared/cooked.

The Chocolate Shake was thick, but didn’t have the chunky, frozen texture I associate with a real milkshake. In-N-Out claims to use “real ice cream.” Ice Cream must have a milk fat content of at least 10%. In-N-Out uses a premade Vanilla ice cream mix with 10.2% milk fat, which is then put in a milkshake machine. To make Chocolate and Strawberry shakes, they add flavorings to the basic Vanilla ice cream mix. The Chocolate Shake was the best part of my meal, but it wasn’t exceptional by any standard. It was comparable to those served by any fast food joints using premade milkshake mix. If I were to do it again, I did order a Neapolitan Shake, which is a combination of all three shake flavors

Where In-N-Out really shines is their service. I was very impressed with the customer service provided by Jason Le and Brando. It’s because of their outstanding service that I’m reading In-N-Out higher than I...

Full disclosure I did work in the fast food world as a kid so as much as I love good healthy food I do have a soft spot for fast food. I came here on the recommendation of a Californian as for her this place holds a certain nostalgia.

I was not ready for what I received ! My first thought was “How does this place make any money !? There are so many staff!”. At one point there were three people just on cleaning the dining room. From where I sit I can see six people working behind the counter and there are even more out the back. But that’s the whole point. This is a high pressure high stress environment and all I can see is happy staff joking together but getting the job done. The staff are so polite it seems wrong that we don’t tip here !

Words have power! Staff here are called “associates” and patrons are called “guests”. I felt welcome and the staff seem empowered. I have to come back again and sample more of the menu but this first taste has been a revelation. So answering my question; how do they make money!? VOLUME ! There are a lot of tables here probably with a capacity of around 90 souls. As I am here at 3pm on a Wednesday there are 30 people dining in. There were more when I first sat down. There are thirteen people at the counter awaiting their orders and the drive through has been constantly turning out food.

High staffing levels mean people know their job but they either have great training or hire the friendliest people because the staff here are so sweet ! I had a lad ask me politely if he could take my tray after I finished eating . They don’t just make food here they make memories! This seems like the food standard of fast food. I was dubious of the name as it makes me think of bulimia or eating and immediately needing to go the toilet, but I was pleasantly surprised and I can see what all the fuss is about !

For balance I will make sure I visit a McDonald’s in the USA too. Stay tuned…

Oh wow ! I thought my app crashed and I lost this review but it was...

Like other reviews have noted on here, the food is extremely overrated. As I talked with other customers waiting in line, I began to notice a general trend with the In-n-Out fans. In-n-Out is a fast food brand built on nostalgia—not good food or good menu variety. Most people quoted visiting In-n-Out as delicious because their grandparents would take them out to it or their family went there growing up. The menu only has 4 options (maybe a few more if counting the “Not-So-Secret” menu. I was expecting the lines to be bad opening week because I’ve heard the hype about In-n-Out; however, the hype was not warranted at all.

Edit:

My initial review was 3 stars, but I now have to bump it down to 1 star. My wife and I went back for dinner around 9 to try the food again, as the food is a really good value and is starting to grow on us. However, there was a gay couple making out on the drink fountain counter and would not stop after I asked them to cut it out. None of the managers would stop it as well. I am bumping my review down to one star simply because the management and staff would not stop the PDA. Regardless of what sexual orientation someone is, it is not socially acceptable to make out in a public restaurant—nor is it food-safe to allow patrons to make out on a drinking fountain.

Second Edit:

In-n-Out is sneakily increasing prices. Prices have already gone up $1.50 from last week. I asked a manager about it, and they have the vague response that “prices change every now.” Definitely shady that they would increase the prices a few bucks a person to make several extra grand each day with the influx...