It's worth one trip just to cross it off your list.

I'm from New York, and was in California on vacation. We went to see some sites and just stopped in at In and Out Burger because we went by them but never heard of them before.

I thought I was in Heaven!. They are excellent, and the fries and shakes are to die for.

Now, whenever I go to California, I go out of my way to make sure that I can eat at In and Out Burger a couple of times.

If you don't believe how good they are, you should see the l-i-n-e-s to get in or through their drive through

God Bless em!

Fresh buns everyday, real potatoes being cut up in plain view, and no freezers, no microwaves, and no heatlamps is not a "gimmick".

They're a perfectly good basic fast food hamburger; my objection is to the notion that I "don't know what to order" - "gimmick" refers to such things as "animal style" and "4x4s" and fries "well done."

I've ordered a cheeseburger (once), a hamburger (once), and since then get my usual "hamburger with ketchup instead."

They're a lot better thank McD's or BK or Jack in the Box, maybe a little bit better than Wendy's, A&W or Carl's if the narrower burgers-only-menu doesn't turn you off.

Then again, they're not close to the "not-quite-fast-food" or "diner light" places like Nations or Taxis at the cheap-end or Johnny Rockets at the expensive end.

So you have to order them special to get those???

French fries are definitely better when processed with corn starch and all that other stuff. I order a la carte at In 'N' Out usually get 2 burgers with grilled onions and vanilla shake. For shoestring french fries, the best place is called McDonald's.

Well, In-N-Out is the number one menu item on Heaven's Buffet Table! ^

Yuck. I gave up on Nations after trying to eat at the Concord, California, location twice and the meal was just awful.

Yes, it is. I live in London, and made a special trip to In-n-Out the last time I was in the US (in Las Vegas).

The dodge was dismissing my whole question/mention of "gimmicks" (refering specifically to this remark:
) as a matter of my being "a detractor," rather than (A) either waiting for "thegeneral" to respond, or (B) answering for him.

So, if you want to make a useful reply rather than just dismiss my question, to repeat "what exactly am I supposed to be ordering?"

I agree with most of the posters -- the hamburgers are good for fast food and they definitely use fresh ingredients. However, I don't find myself eating there on a regular basis and there is an In-N-Out just over a mile from my house. I too don't love the fries but I do like the chocolate shakes. Every now and then I get a hankering for one of the burgers but it doesn't happen regularly.

Smoke a joint before you go and you'll swear you've died and gone to heaven otherwise its just a good burger in a world of below average burgers

I grew up in So cal and have literally hundreds if not thousands of In amd Out burgers. I actually miss Carls jr in GA more than In and Out

If they ever legalise MJ, I will eat some "space cake" and then try in'n'out, otherwise even if one opens in AMS I think I will have better things to eat over there than US-style burgers :)

as a long-time dallas resident that has been loitering in So Cal for the last year, i feel that i am uniquely qualified to weigh in.

1. EVERY city has better burger places than In N Out. i like Balls' hamburgers in dallas for my "every city has better burger places" but i know that even dallas people have places they like better.

2. focusing on chain burger places to be somewhat fair to In N Out - whataburger is multiple times better than In N Out which i personally find average at best.

3. DQ is multpile times better than In N Out but not quite as good as whataburger. *** IMPORTANT *** brazier runs a lot of the DQ franchises and they SUCK. it's not the same as the texas DQ locations. if you see double cheeseburger on the menu, RUN. i don't know if it's the sole indicator, but only order DQ if you see hungerbusters, beltbusters, etc on the menu. that's another reason why i like whatburger - never had a bad one. i know that DQ in So Cal for example tastes like a bad mcdonald's burger. i have no idea why there is such a sharp contrast, but BH should rip the franchises from brazier.

4. i would put wendys above In N Out, too. i don't hate In N Out, but the bang-to-hype ratio is severely out of whack. chances are if i end up at wendys or In N Out it's b/c i don't have any other choices.

5. chik fil a gets my vote over all of these places. Catman and others have extolled the greatness of the original chicken sandwich, but i can't post without mentioning what is by far the best fast food i know. i almost like the fact that there are few chik fil a locations here b/c i enjoy it that much more; however, there's one near my school (where i teach) and near the airport (where i spend too much time), so i get plenty of chik fil a.

i'll add this:

if you think that the in n out shakes are good, you should at least try the carls jr cap'n crunch shake. it's nothing i could stomach on a regular basis, but it's pretty good for a once every few months delicacy.

White Castle > In N Out > Wendy's > Carl's Jr > McDonald's at least to me

I agree that cities may have local hamburger joints better than In-N-Out, but In-N-Out is very good chain. Much better than Wendys.

Another good chain is Backyard Burgers in the South.