- How In-N-Out Burger has changed due to the pandemic
and why I still love eating there.
I'm Chris.
This is Yellow Productions
and I love In-N-Out Burger.
And in this video I'm gonna be telling you
all the things they're doing right to keep us safe
and keep delivering tasty food,
even during a pandemic.
But first,
why I'm even doing a video about this topic anyway.
Well with the pandemic here in California,
there's been lots of health changes required
and I think In-N-Out Burger
really could be a model
for how to do things in a sanitary way.
I think other restaurants should follow In-N-Out Burger lead
as opposed to the health theater
that other restaurants are doing.
You know, I'm sure you've seen this sort of health feeder
where the staff is wearing face masks,
but the face masks are like down here on their chin
as more of a chin cover than actually a face cover.
You won't see that kind of stuff in In-N-Out Burger.
So, the first thing the In-N-Out Burger did
when COVID-19 hit is they closed
all the dining rooms of all of their locations.
Which meant that actually some of their locations
that didn't have drive throughs were just closed entirely
and they focused on the drive throughs.
Which meant that some In-N-Out Burgers
had really long drive through lines.
Drive through lines that in places like Oregon State
could be up to two hours long,
'cause they were just that popular
but they've done a lot of things
focusing on the drive thru to make the experience
faster to get through and more sanitary.
By the way,
not all of the In-N-Out locations are open for eating.
You can actually go to the In-N-Out Burger website
and it's changed
because it tells you which locations are open for eating,
drive through or patio dining.
So, it's different depending upon the county,
the state or the regulation,
but those that are open for eat in service,
first thing as you walk in a lot more signs on the door.
And often there have been people standing
there to open the door
so, you don't have to touch the door.
I will say that has waned a little bit
as they've been open longer.
And as you walk right in the first thing you'll see,
a thing of hand sanitizer.
Now once you're inside,
it's time to line up and place your order.
Well that is different now too.
Instead of forming just a mob like typical in In-N-Out.
There's actually lines on the floor to denote
where to stand.
Those lines 'cause it can be pretty busy, actually,
extend outside the door of most In-N-Out Burger locations.
The order takers are behind Plexiglass.
And also the people
who give you the food are behind Plexiglass as well.
They made different plexiglass cutouts for the order takers
and the food givers.
The food givers have a little hole on the bottom
to give you food through it.
You'll find the self serve drink stations are closed.
Usually when you order drink,
they'll just give you the cup
and you fill it up yourself.
Well now they fill it up for you.
At some locations, they're filling it up for you
from the soda fountain behind the counter.
Other locations,
they're filling it up for you at the soda fountain
inside the restaurant.
Then you go over there after you pick up your food,
you show your receipt and that's how you get your drink.
Now you're wondering this might be a ploy
just to not do refills
and you know some restaurants have been doing that
and I think it's cheap
'cause it's a way for them just to make more money
by not allowing refills
but In-N-Out Burger is still doing refills.
They just don't let you do it yourself.
You hold the cup out,
they fill up a separate water cup
that they then pour into your cup
with your beverage of choice.
No touch, drink refilling.
When you're looking for condiments, ketchup
and napkins, chili pepper straws.
All those things are behind the counter.
They're happy to give it to you
but you have to ask for it
when you get your food or come up separately.
It is kind of weird to see the ketchup thing
and the napkin things completely empty,
but they put up some nice professional signs to let you know
that they're not there.
Instead of other restaurants
where they've just put up like police looking caution tape
that really makes you feel
like you're in some sort of play board.
Now the way they serve the orders for dining is different
before In-N-Out Burger
used to serve dining orders in these very interesting
red looking trays.
Now, they serve it either in bags or cardboard boxes.
I like to get mine in a cardboard box with a lid
because it helps keep my food warmer longer
and then it gives me kind of a little extra
place to put my ketchup in that box that was the lid.
And something you'd only notice
if you ate In-N-Out Burger like me way too much.
The order numbers used to be
a sequential set of ordered numbers for the drive through
and eat in now they're separate order number.
So, if you hear 55 and then 56
and 57 in the eat in thing.
They'll be calling sequential numbers
because they've separated numbers for eat in
and drive through.
Now both inside and on the patio,
they've closed off some tables for physical distancing.
They're also not just closed off
with scary looking caution tape,
but they've made some professional looking signs
that they've affixed to the table
so you know which tables are open
and you know which tables aren't.
And I found that all the In-N-Out locations
I've been to they're giving plenty of room between tables,
so you don't feel too close to that party next to you.
Now they do a really good job cleaning the tables
and chairs.
They've assigned staff members to the patio
and the dining room just to be there to clean things.
Every time a party gets up, they clean the table,
they clean the chairs, they disinfect it,
so it's ready for the next person to sit down.
And when they're not cleaning the tables,
those staff members are going around cleaning
everything else door handles, countertops,
even places like the glass dividers between booths
that maybe people don't touch all that often.
But if you've got a three year old,
they're probably touching it.
They do a really good job keeping everything clean.
So, the first thing
they did to speed up things in the drive through,
is they put multiple people
out there to take orders in the drive through.
You know many places the drive through,
you place an order at like a little speaker here or a menu.
And In-N-Out Burger does that when they're not busy,
but because they've been really busy,
they deploy people who stand out there
out in the parking lot or the drive through
and walk up to your car to take the order.
Of course, all those staff members are indeed
wearing face masks.
They've got computers to take your order.
Sometimes there have been two
or three order takers out there.
And one of the changes they've made
as well with taking orders is at some locations,
they have credit card readers
for the people that are out in the parking lot
or driveway line taking orders.
So, you don't have to go up to the window to pay.
At some locations you can actually pay in the parking lot
or drive through line with the person
standing out in the parking lot of your car.
If they don't have those card readers,
then you can still pay at the window right here
but they've stopped taking your credit card.
The staff member that's in here,
they will reach the credit card reader out the window.
You'll insert your card in to it and take it back.
They've also started asking for what condiments
you want at the time they're taking the order.
Like, how many ketchups do you want?
How many spreads that you want?
So that they don't have to ask you that later.
Now, assuming you've paid with the person taking your order
out in the parking lot,
then when you come up to the first drive through
window right here,
that person just reads back your order.
And then they offer you the receipt,
though, I'll say during this pandemic time,
most people are just passing on that receipt.
And when you get to the second drive through window,
which is on the other side of this In-N-Out Burger,
that's where you pick up the food.
That experience is pretty much the same as it was before.
They give you your food,
they give you your drink.
What has changed is in a number of locations,
instead of handing you a bunch of ketchups
from hand to hand.
They actually put your ketchups
or spreads in a little individual baggie of itself
and then hand you that baggie
so that you're not touching hands
as you're exchanging your food.
But you know, throughout all of this,
there's one thing that hasn't changed, the food.
The food is still delicious.
It's hot, it's fresh, it's really value priced.
That's why I still like eating here
because the food is amazing.
Now in case you're wondering what my classic order is,
I get a double double no onions extra everything.
That's extra lettuce, extra spread, extra tomatoes.
The fries I like to get with melted cheese on top
and to drink a tasty
and cold iced tea.
And by the way This video is not sponsored
or endorsed by In-N-Out Burger.
I just really enjoy eating there
even during the pandemic
and so I wanted to share it with all of you.
If you're worried about a place to go to,
you're not sure if they're that clean.
You can be sure In-N-Out Burger is one place
that's taking all the precautions
and still serving up tasty food.
But In-N-Out Burger, if you're watching this
and you need you know an official YouTube spokesman.
You know who to call
and it's not the Ghostbusters.