In-N-Out: Your Right Foot On Hokey Pokey Day

Well, let this blog crank out another fast food review while you're waiting for the House ways and stairs committee.

Up for review today is In-N-Out Burger. This is a small chain based in California, with locations also in Arizona and Nevada. Based on where it's at, this particular website doesn't get to visit it very much. Also due to it's home base, it ends up being mentioned in some TV shows and movies, such as The Big Lebowski. You also may have heard about it based on some secret codes you can use to get items that aren't on the menu. Kind of a cool idea, though somehow simultaneously nerdy and elitist.

Pros: In-N-Out makes a decent burger. It's also the only place this blog has ever seen 7UP on tap. Most likely, very few of you have ever had 7UP straight from the tap. Let this blog say that it is completely different from canned (or bottled) 7UP. Because of this, the 7UP tastes really awesome. Also, the fries at In-N-Out are excellent, which is really a must if you want to be a good fast-food spot. A pretty decent value as well, with the reputation this place has, they could really charge a lot more. The speed of service is acceptable. A slight wait, but not anything this site can't handle. Aside from these points, In-N-Out has maintained relative menu consistency throughout its 5+ decades of existence. That's a good thing.

Cons: This is tough, because In-N-Out can't really correct some of these. Easily the biggest con about In-N-Out is how overrated it is. With as much overexposure as In-N-Out has had, this blog half expected a 1 lb. burger grilled to perfection for a buck. Obviously, no fast food place can live up to this hype. In-N-Out was very good, but not worthy of the ridiculously high praise it receives. Another con, especially as far as this blog is concerned, is the ingredients In-N-Out puts on their burgers. This blog is no fan of onions, lettuce or thousand island dressing. All of these show up on In-N-Out's offerings. Fortunately, they at least ask you if you want the onions. This website realizes that you can ask to take off just about any condiment, but it's a pain, plus this site doesn't have time to research what to take off of every restaurant's burgers before the site visits their establishment. Beyond this, special requests always increase the preparation time.

Overall Ranking: 8 out of 10 fryers. This is a very good fast-food stop. A must for any fast food connoisseur's list of places to go. Good tradition, good atmosphere, fries are fantastic. Burgers are pretty darn good, 7UP on tap a major plus. If they took the lettuce and "spread" off, and were somehow able to lower the hype and expectations surrounding them, they'd be higher.

Burger-only ranking: This blog gives it a 7.5 out of 10. The site surmises that a lettuceless, spreadless version of their burger would be right up there in a 9.0 area. The inconvenience alone downgrades them, which is unfortunate, but entirely correctable. That said, they've gotten their reputation for a reason, so this blog highly doubts it will have any influence on their consistent menu.