The King of Burgers
Definitely not Burger King. In and Out has dethroned BK, by an enormous margin.
Gail had an itch for a burger this afternoon, so we went to the In and Out in Concord, in front of Toys R Us. As is always the case, the joint was mobbed.
The line for the drive through was all the way out of their parking lot, even though they have a person with an iPad walking to each car to place the orders and speed the process. I don’t understand the idea of waiting in your car 25 minutes to get your food, and then not having a decent place to eat, so we went inside. I think it’s a bit faster even if you want to take the food home.
We had to wait just to get into the building because there were so many people leaving, and then the line for the counter reached the door anyway.
You have considerable options for a place that just sells fried meat in a bun, and the staff of enthusiastic teenagers is more willing than able to get your order correct. Say it slow, go over the order with them, look at your receipt. It took more than one try to get my order straight.
Once you have ordered, you now have time to kill. We had ticket number 50. They were calling ticket number 20. This is the crowd waiting to get their food:
This seething mass of hungry humanity was waiting to get the food they had ordered.
One of the marketing gimmicks of In and Out is their “secret” menu, which is no secret at all, it’s posted on their web page. Gail wanted me to order her burger “animal style”, and got this:
Meat cooked in mustard and topped with grilled onions. The extra pickles are Gail’s choice.
I, being the boring guy I am, had everything standard:
A very decent burger.
We were both careful to order our meat medium rare–you’ll get it well done if you don’t ask.
Gail wanted jalapeños. They gave us this:
Some kind of peppers that will still be good in a month. Or two.
In and Out is famous for freshness and quality. The fries are made from whole potatoes peeled and cut right in the store. You can have one patty, or two, or three, or more, on your burger–I was a two patty man in my youth, just one for me now.
The shakes are real milk and real ice cream. There is a reason McDonalds calls theirs “cool shakes”–not enough milk in one to be a milk shake.
This is a great place if you love kids, since there were a zillion of them running around being cute. The crowd definitely skews young family.
There is nothing gourmet or “fine dining” to be found here, but it’s a great burger with excellent service. The price is fair and the place is clean and fun to eat in. Not so good if you are in a hurry, but that’s only because it’s so popular. Sort of like the old Yogi Berra joke about a new restaurant in town–nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.
Totally Unauthorized 
I go your way when I order, but order the onions grilled. Yum!
I’ve been told about In and Out Burger on multiple occasions but yet to try it due to me currently living in Australia, but the next time I pass through the West Coast of the US I’ll be sure to give it a shot. Is it worth the wait?
Yes. In and out is the best