53639 Sat Mar 29 17:32:35 -0800 2003 18 2 Los Angeles Area 0 275729 Tried these today. Basic fries with the animal style ingredients (minus lettuce and tomato) slopped on top. Sort of redundant if you're getting an animal style burger. Costs 50 cents extra. Will never replace chili cheese fries. Sat Mar 29 17:32:35 -0800 2003 0 mc michael 1 275740 I recall recently a thread on In-N-Out here but I missed my chance to weigh in so here goes: Basically, I love In-N-Out. However, they have got to do something about the ever present seating problem. These restaurants are way too crowded for the number of tables. It's been a couple occasions where I had to either get a refund (and miss out on lunch) or if I had the time, to have my order re-made due to the fact that my food sat on the counter because I still had not been able to get a seat. The dining room is basically a free-for-all since no one seems to want to be fair and polite and give a just relinquished table to whoever among the 20 or so people hovering around has the lowest order number. When I eat out, I want to have a relaxing, pleasent outing. I don't want to worry that I might not have a table by the time my food is ready, and I don't want a confrontation with some jerk who tries to bully me or whoever I'm with into giving up a table we just sat down at. I live in Burbank fairly close to the resturant by Virgin Records. Pretty often I go in there, see all the people circling around the tables and I walk right out and go across the parking lot to Baja Fresh because at least there, I'll know I'll get a table with no stress. In-N-Out needs to have a system set up where vacated tables are given in order of peoples reciept numbers and have an employee regulate this. Or they need to expand their resturants two or three times bigger to accomodate additional seating. Just my ranting and raving $.02 Cheers, Marc Sun Mar 30 00:59:04 -0800 2003 275729 0 Marc 2 275742 Now I know why we stay and eat in the car with Devil Chow and his missus (who get plain burgers, hold the pickle). I've overcome the problem of the dripping of the various parts of the burger by keeping a couple of large dishtowels from Trader Joes in decorator colors natch, in a plastic bag in the car to wrap around my neck. This eliminates cursing for the rest of the trip about I-can't-believe-I-covered-myself-in-paper-napkins-and-I-still-got-this-spot-on-my-shirt. Also I don't have the stomach to stare down onery fierce guys who are 'holding' tables. Sun Mar 30 01:25:46 -0800 2003 275740 0 Zoe 2 275744 I'm guessing that In-N-Out upper management is happy to hear there are fights breaking out over lack of seating... Sun Mar 30 11:40:12 -0800 2003 275740 0 Joe B. 2 275758 You refer to "these restaurants" but this sounds like a problem that probably pertains only to the Burbank location that you frequent. I say that because I have never experienced a shortage of table space at any of the dozen or more different In N Out locations I've been to. And I've never heard anyone else voice the same complaint. However, it sounds frustrating. Local management probably can't or won't do anything to actually solve the problem. A refund is no resolution. I think what they should do is the same thing that the Original Pantry downtown did decades ago to solve this kind of dilemma for single diners. It still works well. Sun Mar 30 22:23:57 -0800 2003 275740 0 Sam D. 3 275759 I really like In N Out Burger, but complaints on the lack of seating are common in some of the areas that they service. I can't speak for their LA County restaurants, but at least three of their locations in the Bay Area (Daly City, Mountain View & Milpitas) suffer from a real lack of seating. Although it could have been a fluke, I also have experienced similar problems near UCI in Orange County. The problem seems to be really acute around lunch time during the week. Other than increasing the size of the restaurants, I don't know how they could resolve the crunch. Considering the size of the land that an In N Out Burger usually occupies, I doubt that they could increase the restaurant size without pushing the problem into the parking lot. Sun Mar 30 23:03:21 -0800 2003 275758 0 mikeb 4 275764 The one next to Hollywood High* --no surprise -- gets pretty crowded. A McDonald's and a BK** are within a block or so either way, so you've got to give the In-n-Out kids some sort of credit for good taste in junk food! * Sunset & Orange ** and an IHOP for (relatively speaking) fine dining Mon Mar 31 01:43:11 -0800 2003 275759 0 TE 3 275760 Yes, this is a issue with Burbank, not surprising with the theatres and mall across the street. However, I've also ran into similar over-crowded In-N-Outs in Sacramento, San Jose, and one off the highway between Sacamento and Tahoe (cannot remember the name). I'm actually going to be in Sacamento next week visiting family and am already dreading the trip to In-N-Out we make at least once. Sun Mar 30 23:23:08 -0800 2003 275758 0 Marc 4 275761 I've been to the Burbank location. It did have the worst crowding (and the most predatory parking) of any In and Out I've ever been to. I walked out without ordering, even though I really wanted to eat there. Other locations can be crowded, but the Burbank location is kind of a perfect storm. :-) Mon Mar 31 00:12:59 -0800 2003 275760 0 Java Junkie 5 275823 Just last week I ended up across the lot at Baja Fresh because In-N-Out was too crowded. "How crowded was it Marc"? Well, the line for the drive-thru stretched out into the street. I kid you not. Tue Apr 01 01:48:04 -0800 2003 275761 0 Marc 4 275809 You might be thinking of the Auburn location. We stop there on the way to Reno and it can get crowded. But there are always tables outside, or the car. In-N-Out is also very good about keeping the restrooms clean, so I am always comfortable making a pit stop there. It is probably a matter of economics and local real estate availability and zoning laws of how big of a footprint a given operation may be. Of course you can always adjust your own schedule, say wake up later and have breakfast at 10 ish, then lunch at In-N-Out at 2 ish. Mon Mar 31 21:14:02 -0800 2003 275760 0 Chino Wayne 2 275774 I’m betting the folks who have responded to your post are young & do not remember that for years – make that decades – there were NO dining rooms at In-n-Out. You drove up to the one window, ordered, waited to pick up while the burger was cooked in a miniscule kitchen, drove to the parking lot or nearby park, ate. Some stores had a few heavyweight tables for a handful of walk-ups (who were discouraged from doing so by having to order from the car lane). Thus, all of the In-n-Out memorabilia features cool CA cars & “drive-in.” The moral of this little digression is that patience is a virtue. If you are boiling over because you can’t find a table at the sparkling, air-conditioned Burbank store, imagine being the 12th grubmobile in line – motor running -- for the window at the original Baldwin Park In-n-Out. Everything is relative. Mon Mar 31 12:09:51 -0800 2003 275740 0 Mr Grub 3 275810 Ah yes exalted Grubster, I have spent a part of my life sitting in Herman in the street waiting for my turn at the In-N-Out on Walnut in Pasadena. Mon Mar 31 21:16:25 -0800 2003 275774 0 Chino Wayne 3 275822 Wow! Really excellent posts about this. I agree with much of what everyone is saying. My big beef (no pun intended) is that one cannot expect a fair, orderly way of seating at In-N-Out. I have no problem with the crowds or with waiting, it's just that on too many occasions I've lost tables to others that came in and ordered after me because I tend to stand off to the side rather then plant myself directly (or a little off center) in front of a table watching other people eat. Then there are the occasional jerks who feel entitled to a table we just sat at. If someone shows me their reciept and they ordered before we did, I'll happily give them the table. It's what's fair. Maybe I'm just too much of a cynic, but I don't expect very many people to do the same. As much as I enjoy In-N-Out if I see too many people waiting and watching the tables ready to pounce the second people look like they are about to leave, I just go somewhere else. Life is too short. Tue Apr 01 01:42:47 -0800 2003 275774 0 Marc 2 275779 I agree! Maybe too much growth too fast. I take them at their word (IN&OUT) I use the drive thru and eat in the car. Mon Mar 31 13:46:21 -0800 2003 275740 0 Willow 2 275789 The real problem is that if they expand the restaurants without increasing the number of meals they serve then they have to pass along the cost of the expansion along with the land that it occupies. McDonald's in some of their early stores in the '50's had lines which stretched literally from the walkup windows (NO seating) to the far end of the golden arches during peak hours. This meant about 50 to 60 people in each of the lines. This same "problem" still exists at Dick's Drive In in Spokane, Washington which is the ONLY restaurant on earth that serves McDonald's original food. At any given time during the lunch hour there may be over 100 people in line and standing around eating along with at least five or six cars on the nearby street waiting to enter the parking lot. Down the street is a McDonald's of today which might have eight or ten people inside and a handful of cars outside. My point is that early McDonald's served extremely tasty food with what I believe are still the best french fries on earth, fried in 70% lard, peeled in house with the skin in. There are photos of this in their "museum" in Downey. Unfortunately I'm old enough to distinctly remember this. In 'n Out Burger serves the EXACT same food today as it did the day it opened in 1948. This is why they are so popular. And there are many similarities that no one ever discusses. In 'n OUt serves ketchup that is COLD. (It's thicker and tastes better.) Original McDonald's had "dunk cups" which were four or five ounce cups of COLD ketchup that you could request with french fries. McDonald's had "neopolitan" shakes on request which I think were superior to In 'n Out's. Still, they, like In 'n OUt, served a REAL milkshake made from scratch not from a mix. They ONLY sold hamburgers, cheeseburgers and french fries. Not even a filet of fish nor a Big Mac. They didn't need to. ("Forty five cents for a three course meal...at McDonald's." Slogan from '58 for a hamburger, fries and shake.) Nor does In 'n Out. If they change their food then just like McDonald's the lines will disappear. I prefer a line. For the very few on this board that remember original pre 1967 McDonald's (the year they stopped making fries from scratch) if you are ever near Spokane there is a memory that can be relived. There's a reason McDonald's became so popular and grew so fast. Once upon a time they were really, really good. Just like In 'n Out which hasn't changed. Mon Mar 31 17:25:11 -0800 2003 275740 0 Joe H. 3 275864 I agree with you and I do remember when the food at McDonald’s was far better than today. Preparation was more localized, simpler and less automated then. I worked at the Venice location for a short time in 1966. At that time the fries were still prepared from fresh raw potatoes and were cooked in a two step process using an oil that was mostly beef tallow. I think a lot of McDonald’s weakness is the result of being managed as a high-profile, publicly held corporation instead of a restaurant with many locations. Over the years the company’s management has placed primary importance on its public image, its corporate image, its shareholder value and its socio-political correctness even when these concerns have come into conflict with the goal of delivering the best tasting food at competitive prices. Taste became secondary to standardization and cost control. Instead of relying on food quality to attract its customer base, McDonald’s sought to dominate the market through aggressive expansion and marketing campaigns. The company is now paying the price for its own folly. In January McDonald’s announced that it would close 719 of its locations after reporting its first ever quarterly loss. And just today it is being reported that McDonald's is still tweeking its food in a continuing attempt to get it right: DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- McDonald's Corp. is contemplating making changes to its sandwiches, including reformulating the hamburger buns and bringing back the Big Mac's original "special sauce" recipe, according to attendees at a company convention. The tinkering with the buns is meant to make them toast more easily. Also the Filet-O-Fish sandwiches will be steamed to melt their cheese and improve overall flavor. Meanwhile In N Out, which is privately owned, has continued to serve the marketplace with the same methods and consistent quality that made it successful in the beginning. Tue Apr 01 20:00:51 -0800 2003 275789 0 Sam D. 2 275831 INO started out as a strictly drive through fast food joint. Back in those days you are lucky to get some outdoor picnic type tables. And no ones go to INO for their fries. Tue Apr 01 12:19:16 -0800 2003 275740 0 Peter 1 275773 Hmmm, I wonder if the folks over at the McDonald's near my In&Out would mind if we used some of their booths (which seem to be fairly empty around lunchtime).....? Heh,heh,heh. -Cid. Mon Mar 31 12:08:46 -0800 2003 275729 0 Just Cid