The youngest female billionaire at age 30, a burger joint with only 15 items on the menu,
and a California goldmine that all started just after World
War II. Let's go back in time to In-N-Out's first location!
In-N-Out prides itself on serving fresh ingredients to its customers.
But this practice dates all the way back to the chain's earliest days,
when the owner and co-founder Harry Snyder would visit the local meat and produce
markets every morning to source ingredients to be used in the kitchen that afternoon.
According to In-N-Out's website, Snyder would then prepare each burger by hand.
These days, In-N-Out produces its own burger patties from one of three facilities in Baldwin
Park, California; Lathrop, California; and Dallas, Texas. The freshness extends to the
lettuce, cheese, and other ingredients, which In-N-Out claims are never frozen or microwaved.
According to Insider, this commitment to quality ingredients is part of the reason
why the chain is in such a tight geographical location. To ensure freshness, all In-N-Out
restaurants must be within a 300-mile radius of one of the three facilities mentioned above.
"He lives in North Hollywood on Radford, near the In-N-Out Burger.
"No, the In-N-Out Burger's on Camrose.
"Near the In-N-Out Burger."
Logos are a crucial part of a brand's identity, and In-N-Out's is no exception. When you drive up
to an In-N-Out today, you might immediately spot some recognizable branding imagery,
from the criss-crossing palm trees to the red and white color scheme.
But some of the restaurant's iconic signage did not emerge until several years after the
chain first opened. The now-recognizable arrow was introduced in 1954, according
to the company's website. Associates rallied around the arrow logo as a source of pride.
According to Logos World, the arrow signifies two slogans that the restaurant has to this day:
"We all work under the same arrow."
And "The arrow points to pride."
But before 1954, there was another rallying cry that customers would see immediately upon arrival.
When the restaurant first opened, the original logo had no embellishments and simply read,
quote, "In-N-Out Hamburgers." That used to be accompanied by
an additional sign which read, quote, "no delay."
According to History, the slogan was an easy promise for guests to wrap their heads around,
and over time it became standard for customers to expect fast and reliable service.
In present times, In-N-Out is tapping into the nostalgia of the early days,
and you can now purchase "no delay" merchandise on its website, including t-shirts and baseball hats.
The earliest customers were in for a huge shock when they pulled up in their cars. Up until 1948,
there were only a few ways guests could experience fast food dining. The guests
had to either walk up to the counter to order their food like they do today,
or they would remain in their cars and be greeted by a carhop.
The latter was known as a "drive-in" dining experience, and it first appeared in the
United States in the 1920s at a Texas chain known as the Pig Stand. In 1931,
a Los Angeles location took the process a step further by introducing a method of drive-in dining
that allowed customers to both order and pick up their food from a window with an employee — though
it was unclear whether the customers had to step out of their vehicles at any time in the process.
In-N-Out continued the development of the drive-in dining experience by making
its ordering process completely drive-thru. Drive-thru dining took a while to catch on,
as many saw it as laziness on the part of both the customer and the business.
"What's this?"
"Your food."
"No, no, no, I just ordered."
"And now it's here."
These mixed sentiments were likely why it took a few more decades for
drive-thru dining to catch on, as the fast food
giant Mcdonald's did not introduce its drive-thru model until the mid-1970s.
Harry Snyder wanted to provide more than the convenience of allowing his customers
to remain in their cars — he also wanted to completely revolutionize the drive-in
experience. According to In-N-Out's website, Snyder had been developing a unique two-way radio
speaker box system in his garage in the years leading up to the restaurant's grand opening.
No longer did guests have to be waited on by a carhop when ordering their food;
they simply drove up to the speaker box instead. It was an instant hit and the
intercom system blazed the trail for what we know today to be drive-thru dining.
The two-way radio system changed the way customers dined,
because they no longer had to get out of their car to order their food,
nor did they have to pull up to a window to speak to an employee directly.
Instead, they could order their meal by speaking to the speaker
box from their car and then proceed to pick their food up from the window.
"Can I get a burger with four slices of cheese."
"Four burgers, anything else, sir?"
"No, one burger with four slices of cheese!"
In-N-Out had very humble beginnings before it grew into the iconic California-based
chain we know and love today. The restaurant was founded by newlyweds
Harry and Esther Snyder barely one year after the two met in Seattle, Washington.
Harry and Esther set their sights on Southern California and never looked back.
When the restaurant first opened, Harry and Esther were the only two employees. Harry
would work at the restaurant preparing the menu items and serving customers while Esther
would keep track of the finances and make sure the business was operating smoothly.
Eventually, the Snyders began hiring additional employees,
but it was done in a very deliberate manner so that their workers were treated like family.
According to KCET, many of the employees would remain at In-N-Out for their entire
careers. To this day, the chain is highly rated as one of the top dining establishments to work
for with remarkable rates of employee satisfaction, according to Business
Insider. The company also ranked number 39 on Glassdoor's 100 Best Places to Work in 2022.
In-N-Out keeps its menu simple. If you do not enjoy hamburgers, french fries,
and milkshakes, you may want to dine elsewhere, because that is essentially the entire menu.
In-N-Out's famously small menu has always been straightforward and to-the-point. When
the first location opened in 1948, it only served hamburgers, french fries,
and soft drinks. The simplicity removed a lot of the guesswork for customers,
further emphasizing the convenient "in and out" nature of dining there.
While a few additions to the menu were introduced over the years, it has more
or less stuck to those key food items. According to Forbes, as of 2018, competitors Mcdonald's and
Burger King sold more than 80 menu items, whereas In-N-Out sold less than 15 items.
In-N-Out is always listening to customer feedback, and some of the biggest changes to
the menu came directly from guest requests. The Double-Double burger, for example,
was offered to guests starting in 1963 before becoming a permanent fixture on the menu.
According to In-N-Out, milkshakes were not added to the menu until 1975.
Over the years, customers began coming up with unique ways of modifying their orders, from adding
extra patties and cheese to smothering their french fries with In-N-Out's tasty burger spread.
But if there is any modification as famous as In-N-Out itself,
it has to be its Animal Style customization. But if you were to visit the first location in 1948,
you would not find a single Animal Style item on the menu.
Like most menu additions, the Animal Style hamburger
was brought about due to customer demand. It is worth pointing out,
for those of you who are new to this fast food chain's culture, that Animal Style
means something different depending on if you are referring to hamburgers or fries.
The Animal Style Burger, introduced in 1961,
involves a method of mustard-cooking the beef patty before adding lettuce, tomato,
pickle, grilled onions, and extra spread. Animal Style fries, on the other hand,
involve covering your order of fries with burger sauce, onions, and melted cheese.
While the prevalence of Animal Style fries is widely known among the chain's enthusiasts,
what's in In-N-Out burger sauce – known as its "spread" – remains a
mystery. Most have deduced that it is similar to Thousand Island dressing,
but the exact proportion of ingredients has not been disclosed by the chain to this day.
"What's in that sauce by the way?"
Have you ever taken the time to look under your cup of soda? In fact,
you will notice a different Bible verse depending on what food item you order. Its soda cups read,
"John 3:16," the water cups "John 14:6," and the milkshake cups read, quote, "Proverbs 3:5"
While the Snyder family was known for its strong religious beliefs, the Bible verses
were not a part of the food packaging in 1948. This change came about in the 1990s,
according to a People magazine interview with In-N-Out President and heiress Lynsi Snyder.
Lynsi mentioned that it was her uncle Richard Snyder who added the Bible verses to the food
packaging as a way to express his newfound faith shortly before passing away. Originally, the
Bible verses were only on a select few items, but Lynsi noted that she continued to add the verses
to more items over the years as a way to keep the family touch in everything the company does.
"We're giving God the glory and that we believe that he's blessed this company."
It may be hard to think of a time when our everyday necessities cost mere pennies,
but taking a look at old menus and other price tags from decades past will give
us a glimpse into the cost of living at the time.
When In-N-Out opened its first location, the price of one of its hamburgers was 25 cents — or
$3.08 when adjusted for inflation in 2022, according to the U.S. Inflation Calculator.
In fact, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, if you were to add up the few menu
items available at the original In-N-Out at the time the location first opened,
you could drive away having spent less than one dollar.
In addition to its 25-cent hamburgers, a cheeseburger cost 30 cents,
french fries cost 15 cents, and soda was 10 cents. That brings the grand total to
a whopping 80 cents – or less than $10 in 2022 when accounting for inflation.
Though times have changed and prices have gone up, one could argue that In-N-Out menu items
remain fairly priced. According to Fast Food Menu Prices, a single cheeseburger costs $2.40, and
a cheeseburger meal combo with fries and a soft drink costs $5.65, though prices may vary locally.
If the success of the original In-N-Out location was any indicator, it would only be a matter of
time before additional burger stands began popping up around Southern California. Just three years
after the first location opened, a second would open in 1951 in Covina, California. According
to the company website, by its tenth anniversary in 1958, there were five locations in the region.
By 2018, the company rang in its 70th anniversary with well
over 300 locations across six states, and a couple of years later in 2020,
In-N-Out would open a location in its seventh state, Colorado.
The company's growth was impressive but also closely monitored and controlled by
the Snyder family. Since the company refused to buy anything on credit,
expansion happened perhaps a bit slower than its competitors. In-N-Out also refuses to franchise,
a business decision that it follows to this day.
And while In-N-Out could likely expand to the East Coast, its owners are aware of the immense
burger competition it would run into east of the Mississippi. Adding more locations
outside of its distribution region could also loosen its quality control. For now,
In-N-Out will continue to remain a Western-exclusive chain, with its
alluring criss-cross palm trees beckoning us all the moment we step off the plane at LAX.