If I’m somewhere where there’s nothing but chain fast food, I’m happy to see an In-N-Out, but I don’t get the cult status. The burgers are like what you might cook at home with above-average supermarket beef, mediocre buns, and flavorless tomatoes. The fries are awful.
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No. good politician is an oxymoron… No offense to any on FTC, of course.
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I agree. Particularly on the fries. If I’m hungry, I will often get a cheeseburger as my “side”. Even well done and animal style can’t save them. It’s not ideal, but that, too, is their call.
Dammit. I figured as much.
And yet, I fear that the situation has worsened… because I actually like the In-N-Out fries. I’m a goner for sure.
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If you like them, that’s great, but to my taste they’re wrong. The potatoes have too high a moisture content and they fry them only once.
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Fair enough. I can understand why people don’t like them. For some reason, their starchiness appeals to me. Perhaps the sixth taste is an alpha flavor for me.
I’ve heard you can ask them to be double fried, but I’ve never remembered in the crucial ordering moments. One day.
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To make fries the classic way you fry at two significantly different temperatures.
Also, In-N-Out uses cottonseed oil, which I don’t personally consider fit for human consumption.
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Okay speak for yourself. I and @catholiver make a much better burger at home.
But I understand your thinking. It’s not my favorite burger. I think people’s love of In-N-Out is marketing too. The crisp white and red facade. No celebrity endorsements. Customers feel like the insider (which probably appeals to Bourdain). They pride themselves on being your local burger drive-thru. They’re stubborn about expanding. It took years of coaxing to move out of the Pasadena area. Supposedly they didn’t want to be associated with city folk 
. I think even the bad fries with the skin still on is part of the homespun philosophy.
It’s not that we think the quality is equal to Umami or other gourmet burgers - with their sourcing, special blends, great buns, etc. But comparing In-N-Out to regular fast food is wrong. Among other things they do grind their own 100% beef (no pink sludge added), are made-to-order and make their own buns. I love the combination of thin double patties (gotta’ have a double-double), a thick slice of raw onion, covered with melty American cheese and sauce, on a good bun.
They didn’t invent the wheel. But it tastes pretty frickin’ good to me.
There’s my $0.02
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They’re like mom fries. But I don’t remember not ordering them. I gotta’ do fries.
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You tell 'em, girlfriend 
And your description is so good I gotta give it another try. Thanks.
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Double-Double 
.
Their fries blow. .
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Anyone have one of these bad boys at Momofuku nishi?
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I compare In-N-Out to other fast food chains because that’s who they seem to be competing with and it’s that kind of menu: burgers, fries, sugar milk, sugar water. Unlike McDonald’s (which stopped using pink slime five years ago) I can walk in one without losing my appetite and the food doesn’t look like some weird factory product I couldn’t cook at home.
To me the quality of their ingredients is mediocre or bad compared with what I’d cook at home, but I’d probably spend more on the ingredients than they charge for the finished product.
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We’re going to be around there mid-Nov. Maybe we could get one. It sure is interesting.
Their fries do suck .
Their fries if eaten within a few minutes of leaving the oil are edible, and once they are no longer hot are not worth eating. The burgers are perfectly ok for fast food, but I have never understood the cult-like status of the place.
But back to the original question - adding a veggie burger ruins the entire feng shui of the place. If someone really wants a veggie burger there, just order a bun with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese and stuff a bunch of soggy fries inside. Voila.
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Aww, they’ve reached out to In N Out but they won’t call them back.
SEP 26, 2016 — Hi friends–we need your help!
We would love to get a seat at the table with In-N-Out’s corporate team to work with them on adding a veggie burger to their menu.
We’ve reached out, but In-N-Out remains silent.
After a lot of buildup, one of the most disappointing eating experiences of my life. IDGAF what they do with their menu.
As long as they picked a good one, why not? Though a dedicated carnivore myself, I’ve been cooking veggie for Mrs. O ever since she read “Eating Animals” and decided to stop doing that, and while she has no problem with my throwing a meat patty in with her veg version I’ve found a couple of those I really like. My favorite and hers is the Gardenburger, rather surprising because it makes no attempt to look or taste like meat at all. Eaten all by itself it’s pretty blah, but with lettuce, tomato, cheese and onion and a couple of condiment-smeared buns it’s really tasty. The Morningstar Farms Grillers are more meatlike and pretty good too.
However, trying to get a seat on their “corporate team” is a waste of time; it’s a family-owned business, and they do what they want, period.
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