If you've never had In-N-Out Burger, you've definitely had someone tell you that you have to try In-N-Out Burger. Plenty of west coasters love the burger chain with an almost cult-like devotion, but if you order the wrong thing off the menu, you will probably find yourself wondering what all the hype is about. Nothing on the menu is outright bad (although some people really hate the fries), but if you just order a plain hamburger, you won't have anything to write home about. Before you check out the burger chain, take a look at our ranking of every menu item at In-N-Out Burger.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00It's no secret that In-N-Out Burger has a ton of diehard fans. But here's the thing,
00:05not every item on the formal and secret menu is actually worth ordering. Shocking? Yes!
00:12These are the menu items at In-N-Out Burger ranked from worst to best.
00:18In-N-Out Burger is a simple place with a simple menu, but there's a fair argument to be made
00:23that the hamburger is just too simple. The standard hamburger is made with sponge dough
00:28buns, a thin beef patty, grilled or raw onions, lettuce, tomato, and the In-N-Out spread.
00:34But here's the thing, ordering a regular hamburger at In-N-Out Burger is sort of like considering
00:39all of the 31 flavors at Baskin-Robbins and settling on vanilla.
00:44This has been a complaint about the plain burgers for years now. In 2013, Larry Olmstead,
00:50food columnist for USA Today, had this to say about the burgers,
00:54The very basic, thin fast food patties housed in generic buns are nearly identical to those
00:59at McDonald's or Burger King. There was a reason why so many In-N-Out Burger diehards
01:04created a secret menu of options. The hamburger feels more like an empty paint-by-numbers
01:10canvas than one that's filled out and full of life.
01:14Double Meat is the first item listed on In-N-Out Burger's not-so-secret menu online. It's basically
01:20the hamburger, but it has two of the thin patties rather than one. Stacking the patties
01:25makes for a much more balanced burger compared to the standard hamburger. There's more heft
01:30to it that balances out the thick slices of tomato, and Double Meat means that each bite
01:35doesn't taste like a mouthful of bread and trimmings with a side of patty.
01:39Focusing on the meat isn't a bad thing and falls well into In-N-Out Burger's fresh ingredient
01:45philosophy. Burger purists will appreciate the double meat, but if you're looking for
01:49the most flavor-packed and balanced order possible, there are much better options.
01:55On paper, this burger sounds like it has potential. All of the components are there — an equal
02:00balance of meat to cheese in the form of four patties and four slices of American cheese.
02:06Then there's some flavor-equalizing lettuce, tomato, onion, and spread. But it's just too
02:11tall. The 4x4 has a vertical height that'll make you want to stretch out your jaw muscles
02:16before trying to tackle it. This is the largest burger listed on the Not-So-Secret menu, but
02:22the chain should have stopped earlier.
02:24In a Reddit Ask Me Anything, an In-N-Out Burger employee noted it's also the largest the restaurant
02:29will make for people. In response to a question about how big burgers could get, the poster
02:34wrote,
02:35"...we aren't allowed to make anything larger than 4x4s anymore. 4x4s are already ridiculously
02:41hard to wrap, and anything larger would just look like a total mess. Again, it's about
02:47presentation. If you want a larger burger, we can give you cheese patties on the side,
02:51but we're not allowed to actually assemble it for you."
02:54Of all the fast food French fries in the world, In-N-Out burgers get the worst rap. Critics
02:59hate them. The internet hates them. It feels like anyone who voices an opinion hates them.
03:05A food critic for SFGate ran a story with the headline,
03:08"'No Debate' In-N-Out Fries Are Bad Because They're Soggy, Sickly Beige, Undersalted,
03:15and Unworthy of Being Called a Fry at All."
03:18The Los Angeles Times listed them as dead last in its ranking of fast food French fries,
03:23and the general public's opinion isn't much better. Changing all of those opinions would
03:27be monumental, and the French fries' place on this list isn't an attempt to do so.
03:32In-N-Out proudly proclaims that the fries are shipped straight from the farm, individually
03:37cut and cooked in 100 percent sunflower oil. Still, the fries aren't great, but they're
03:43fine. But you don't want just fine, right?
03:46The cheeseburger is a classic menu option that elevates itself above the hamburger with
03:51the effortless addition of a slice of American cheese. American cheese doesn't get a lot
03:56of love from true cheese connoisseurs, and In-N-Out Burger doesn't do a whole lot to
04:01fix that reputation by describing its cheese only as the real thing.
04:06The main thing holding In-N-Out Burger's cheeseburger back is that it only has one 2-ounce patty.
04:12The balance isn't there, and the cheese can overpower the rest of the flavors without
04:16a strong protein presence. In short, In-N-Out's cheeseburger leaves you wanting more. The
04:22best fast food orders at In-N-Out — or any fast food burger joint, for that matter — can
04:27stand up on their own. The cheeseburger simply can't do that as well as other places.
04:31"'Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, yeah?"
04:34"'Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger.'"
04:36Protein Style is a double-double, so it has two patties and two slices of American cheese,
04:42but it replaces the bun with lettuce.
04:44Bunless burgers have their place. The order is a boon for people who are looking to eat
04:48a little healthier but still want some In-N-Out Burger.
04:51Protein Style burgers top the healthy lists of numerous publications, including coming
04:56in as CBS' best low-carb burger and topping the list at Eat This, Not That! as well.
05:01The lettuce for the Protein Style burger acts as a clamshell to hold it all together, which
05:06would in theory keep the insides from falling out. Unless you're avoiding carbs, though,
05:12it's better to just go with one of the standard burger options with buns. The sauce can get
05:16runny, and the washed lettuce makes the whole thing a little moist and messy.
05:21Like the rest of the menu, the shake options are short and sweet — vanilla, chocolate,
05:26and strawberry. In-N-Out's big selling point for the shakes is that they are made with
05:30real ice cream, which is similar to the fresh ingredient selling point for the rest of the
05:35menu.
05:36It makes In-N-Out Burger different from other fast food places, like McDonald's, that use
05:40soft serve in the shakes. For fans of the three primary flavors, the milkshakes are
05:45always worth ordering. It's important to note that simplicity has driven people to try to
05:50hack the milkshakes just like people have hacked their way into better menu items. Case
05:54in point, the Neapolitan, which is a blend of all three flavors.
05:59But perhaps the best way to handle an In-N-Out milkshake, though, is to start with a spoon.
06:05The grilled cheese often gets thrown on the children's menu at restaurants, but at In-N-Out
06:09Burger, it's on the not-so-secret menu. It's made with the buns, slices of American cheese,
06:15lettuce, and sauce. Ask for an extra toasted bun for a little more crunch, and you've got
06:19yourself one of the best fast food grilled cheeses you can order.
06:23When reduced to the most basic definition, the grilled cheese is just a meatless burger,
06:27kind of like how the protein style is just a bunless burger. The only thing removed is
06:32the patty, and voila, a grilled cheese. That's not a knock on it, however.
06:37One celebrity chef, David Chang, appreciates In-N-Out's grilled cheese, going on the record
06:42and saying that his go-to order is,
06:44"...one grilled cheese with griddled tomatoes, animal style and spicy."
06:48You gave me a bun. Just a bun. Look, there's no meat in here. But you said you wanted nothing
06:55on it."
06:56Say you're very hungry when you approach the In-N-Out order encounter. A double-double
07:01won't cut it, let alone a single patty hamburger or cheeseburger. And the 4x4 is, as mentioned
07:06previously, too uncomfortably large to eat. That is when the 3x3 is the perfect order.
07:13The 3x3, or triple-triple, is big, but not unmanageably so. It's like a cheeseburger
07:19viewed through a magnifying glass. And though it's easier to eat than a 4x4, there's no
07:24denying that a 3x3 is a lot of food.
07:27The calorie site MyFitnessPal found each patty has 100 calories, 6 grams of fat, and 10 grams
07:33of protein. Multiply that by three and add in everything else, and there's no questioning
07:38that the 3x3 can erase any hunger pains. This is far from an everyday burger. But there's
07:43a time and a place, like when you're famished and would like to be full for the remainder
07:48of the day, when the 3x3 is the most satisfying order at In-N-Out Burger.
07:54Animal-style fries helped make In-N-Out's secret menu popular. The animal-style sauce
07:59at In-N-Out refers to the spread put on all of the In-N-Out burgers, which, according
08:04to food scientist J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, is a Thousand Island-style sauce composed of ketchup,
08:10mayonnaise, and sweet pickle relish. Though the spread is put on the other burgers and
08:15sandwiches at In-N-Out, ordering a burger animal-style changes things up in all the
08:20best ways.
08:21First, the two burger patties are cooked with mustard for a tangy flavor boost. The bun
08:26is covered with even more spread than the classic orders, and the mustard patty, lettuce,
08:31tomato, pickle, and grilled onions are put in between the buns. It's the burger for people
08:36who ask for everything, regardless of the type of sandwich or burger they are ordering.
08:41More ingredients, plus that mustard-cooked patty, fill the burger animal-style out. It's
08:46filling and messy. It drips in excess rather than balance, but in a way, that's satisfying
08:52rather than off-putting.
08:54The Double Double is the Goldilocks burger. It has the perfect ratio of meat-to-bun-to-trimmings
08:59to spread. Whereas the burger animal-style is flavor-packed, the Double Double doesn't
09:04need to hit anyone over the head with extras. The meat isn't overpowered, like in the single
09:09patty cheeseburger, yet it's not overwhelming like in the 4x4. Balance is what makes food
09:14sing, and the Double Double is like a world-class opera singer who is both approachable and
09:19talented.
09:20Of those 21 chefs pulled by Eater, many of the ones who didn't say the burger animal-style
09:25was their favorite opted instead for a well-balanced Double Double. The Double Double Combo Meal
09:31is not just number one on the menu, it is number one in flavor. Sure, there's no thrill
09:36of ordering off the secret — or not-so-secret — menu, and therefore no credit from the
09:41most extreme of In-N-Out Burger fans who hear your order, but the burger itself makes up
09:46for it.
09:47And it's better to have a great-tasting burger than to look like an In-N-Out Burger insider.