It's no secret that In-N-Out Burger has a ton of die-hard fans, but here's the thing:
not every item on the formal and secret menu is actually worth ordering. Shocking? Yes!
These are the menu items at In-N-Out Burger, ranked from worst to best.
In-N-Out Burger is a simple place with a simple menu. But there's a fair argument to
be made that the hamburger is just too simple. The standard hamburger is made with sponge dough buns,
a thin beef patty, grilled or raw onions, lettuce, tomato, and the In-N-Out spread.
But here's the thing: ordering a regular hamburger at In-N-Out Burger is sort of
like considering all of the 31 flavors at Baskin-Robbins and settling on vanilla.
This has been a complaint about the plain burgers for years now. In 2013,
Larry Olmsted, food columnist for USA Today, had this to say about the burgers:
"The very basic, thin fast-food patties housed in generic buns are
nearly identical to those at McDonald's or Burger King."
There was a reason why so many In-N-Out Burger diehards created a "secret menu" of options.
The hamburger feels more like an empty paint-by-numbers canvas
than one that's filled out and full of life.
Double Meat is the first item listed on In-N-Out Burger's "Not So Secret Menu" online.
It's basically the hamburger, but it has two of the thin patties rather than one. Stacking
the patties makes for a much more balanced burger compared to the standard hamburger.
There's more heft to it that balances out the thick slices of tomato, and double meat means
that each bite doesn't taste like a mouthful of bread and trimmings with a side of patty.
Focusing on the meat isn't a bad thing and falls well into In-N-Out Burger's fresh-ingredient
philosophy. Burger purists will appreciate the Double Meat, but if you're looking for
the most flavor-packed and balanced order possible, there are much better options.
On paper, this burger sounds like it has potential. All of the components are there:
an equal balance of meat to cheese in the form of four patties and four slices
of American cheese. Then, there's some flavor-equalizing lettuce, tomato, onion,
and spread. But it's just too tall. The 4x4 has a vertical height that'll
make you want to stretch out your jaw muscles before trying to tackle it.
This is the largest burger listed on the Not So Secret Menu,
but the chain should have stopped earlier. In a Reddit Ask Me Anything,
an In-N-Out Burger employee noted it's also the largest the restaurant will make for people.
In response to a question about how big burgers could get, the poster wrote:
"We aren't allowed to make anything larger than 4x4s anymore. 4x4s are
already ridiculously hard to wrap and anything larger would just look like a total mess.
Again, it's about presentation. If you want a larger burger, we can give you cheese patties
on the side but we're not allowed to actually assemble it for you."
Of all the fast food french fries in the world, In-N-Out Burger's get the worst rap.
Critics hate them, the internet hates them,
it feels like anyone who voices an opinion hates them. A food critic for SFGate ran
a story with the headline "No Debate: In-N-Out fries are bad" because they're
"Soggy, sickly beige, under-salted, wilted, and unworthy of being called a fry at all."
The Los Angeles Times listed them as dead last in its ranking of fast food french fries,
and the general public's opinion isn't much better.
Changing all of those opinions would be monumental, and the french fry's place on
this list isn't an attempt to do so. In-N-Out proudly proclaims that the fries are shipped
straight from the farm, individually cut, and cooked in 100 percent sunflower oil.
Still, the fries aren't great, but they're fine — but you don't want just "fine," right?
The cheeseburger is a classic menu option that elevates itself
above the hamburger with the effortless addition of a slice of American cheese.
American cheese doesn't get a lot of love from true cheese connoisseurs, and In-N-Out Burger
doesn't do a whole lot to fix that reputation by describing its cheese only as "the real thing."
The main thing holding In-N-Out Burger's cheeseburger back is that it only has one
two-ounce patty. The balance isn't there, and the cheese can overpower the rest of the flavors
without a strong protein presence. In short, In-N-Out's cheeseburger leaves you wanting more.
The best fast food orders at In-N-Out — or any fast food burger joint, for that matter — can
stand up on their own. The cheeseburger simply can't do that as well as other places.
"Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger!"
Protein Style is a Double Double, so it has two patties and two slices of American cheese,
but it replaces the bun with lettuce. Bunless burgers have their place. The order is a boon
for people who are looking to eat a little healthier but still want some In-N-Out Burger.
Protein Style burgers top the healthy lists of numerous publications, including coming in
as CBS's best low-carb burger and topping the list at Eat This, Not That! as well.
The lettuce for the Protein Style burger acts as a clamshell to hold it all together,
which would in theory keep the insides from falling out. Unless you're avoiding carbs,
though, it's better to just go with one of the standard burger options with buns.
The sauce can get runny, and the washed lettuce makes the whole thing a little moist and messy.
Like the rest of the menu, the shake options are short and sweet: vanilla,
chocolate, and strawberry. In-N-Out's big selling point for the shakes is that
they are made with "real ice cream," which is similar to the fresh-ingredient selling point
for the rest of the menu. It makes In-N-Out Burger different from other fast food places,
like McDonald's, that use soft serve in the shakes.
For fans of the three primary flavors, the milkshakes are always worth ordering.
It's important to note that simplicity has driven people to try to hack the milkshakes
just like people have hacked their way into better menu items. Case in point:
the Neapolitan, which is a blend of all three flavors…
but perhaps the best way to handle an In-N-Out milkshake, though, is to start with a spoon.
The grilled cheese often gets thrown on the children's menu at restaurants,
but at In-N-Out Burger, it's on the Not So Secret Menu. It's made with the buns,
slices of American cheese, lettuce, and sauce. Ask for an extra toasted bun for a little more
crunch , and you've got yourself one of the best fast food grilled cheeses you can order.
When reduced to the most basic definition, the grilled cheese is just a meatless burger, kind
of like how the Protein Style is just a bunless burger. The only thing removed is the patty,
and viola: a grilled cheese. That's not a knock on it, however. Even celebrity chef David Chang
appreciates In-N-Out's grilled cheese, going on-the-record and saying that his go-to order is
"One grilled cheese with griddled tomatoes, animal-style and spicy."
"You gave me a bun, just a bun! Look, there's no meat in here!"
"But you said you wanted nothing on it!"
Say you're very hungry when you approach the In-N-Out ordering counter. A Double-Double
won't cut it — let alone a single patty hamburger or cheeseburger — and the 4x4 is,
as mentioned previously, too uncomfortably large to eat. That is when the 3x3 is the perfect order.
The 3x3, or Triple-Triple. is big but not unmanageably so. It's like
a cheeseburger viewed through a magnifying glass,
and though it's easier to eat than a 4x4, there's no denying that a 3x3 is a lot of food.
The calorie site My Fitness Pal found each patty has 100 calories, six grams of fat,
and ten grams of protein. Multiply that by three and add in everything else, and
there's no questioning that the 3x3 can erase any hunger pains. This is far from an everyday burger,
but there's a time and a place, like when you're famished and would like to be full
for the remainder of the day, when the 3x3 is the most satisfying order at In-N-Out Burger.
Animal Style fries helped make In-N-Out's "secret menu" popular.
The Animal Style sauce at In-N-Out refers to the spread put on all of the In-N-Out burgers, which,
according to food scientist J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, is a Thousand Island-style sauce composed of ketchup,
mayonnaise, and sweet pickle relish. Though the spread is put on the other burgers and sandwiches
at In-N-Out, ordering a burger Animal Style changes things up in all the best ways.
First, the two burger patties are cooked with mustard for a tangy flavor boost. The bun is
covered with even more spread than the classic orders, and the mustard patty, lettuce, tomato,
pickle, and grilled onions are put in between the buns. It's the burger for people who ask for
"everything" regardless of the type of sandwich or burger they are ordering. More ingredients,
plus that mustard-cooked patty, fill the Burger Animal Style out. It's filling and messy. It
drips in excess rather than balance but in a way that's satisfying rather than off-putting.
The Double-Double is the Goldilocks burger. It has the perfect ratio of meat to bun to trimmings
to spread. Whereas the Burger Animal Style is flavor-packed, the Double-Double doesn't need
to hit anyone over the head with extras. The meat isn't overpowered like in the single-patty
cheeseburger, yet it's not overwhelming like in the 4x4. Balance is what makes food sing,
and the Double-Double is like a world-class opera singer who is both approachable and talented.
Of those 21 chefs polled by Eater, many of the ones who didn't say the Burger Animal
Style was their favorite opted instead for a well-balanced Double-Double. The
Double-Double combo meal is not just number one on the menu, it is number one in flavor.
Sure, there's no thrill of ordering off the secret, or not-so-secret menu,
and therefore no credit from the most extreme of In-N-Out Burger fans who hear your order,
but the burger itself makes up for it. In the end,
it's better to have a great tasting burger than to look like an In-N-Out Burger insider.
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