"in-n-out" news and stories

Have you been watching "America's Next Great Restaurant" and thinking it's about time to launch your own dream eatery? Before you quit your day job and take up your toque, you might want to peruse Technomic's annual report on the top 500 restaurant chains in America to see where the restaurant biz is headed.

The good news? Well, the recession seems to pretty much be over, at least if you measure economic recovery in terms of burger and fries. All told, the top 500 restaurant chains in America posted an annual sales increase of 1.8 percent in 2010, a $4 billion gain over 2009. More than half of the chains saw at least some sort of sales growth, a situation that was essentially reversed the year before, reports Nation's Restaurant News.

But if you're thinking that the country is ready for your vision of a vegan-meatball-slash-marinated-tofu emporium, well, it just may behoove you to take a gander at the restaurants that made it into Technomic's top ten fastest-growing chains. The takeaway here? It seems our national appetite is anything but adventurous.

Foodies or not, Americans are as defensively proud of their beloved burger joints as they are of their hometowns -- and In-N-Out Burger has attracted a notoriously cult following. The staunchly West Coast chain announced on Wednesday that it will be expanding from California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona to the Lone Star State, some 1,500 miles east, an announcement greeted by varying degrees of anticipation and outrage alike.

"The blog post I put up breaking the news that In-N-Out Burger was coming to Dallas basically shut down our entire server because of the traffic," marveled Dallas restaurant reporter Nancy Nichols. "Dallas is a burger-crazy town full of transplanted Californians."

The In-N-Out Animal Style. Photo: kaba, Flickr.

It is the stuff of fast-food chain legend: a secret menu known only to those insiders brave enough to order outside the listed menu. Tales of "animal-style fries" and Starbucks' secret "short" size abound, but which of these are real and which will merely earn you a quizzical stare from the cashier?

Ditch the risk of disappointment and become a fast-food insider with Slashfood's list of some top-secret menu items at well-known restaurants near you.

The fast-food giants have nothing on America's regional favorites, according to a survey released this week.

Diners rated regional chains over traditional heavyweights in a survey of overall customer satisfaction. In-N-Out Burger of Irvine, Calif., took the top spot in the survey of 141 chains conducted by Sandelman & Associates.

Regional faves grabbed top honors in the survey released Monday: In-N-Out Burger moved to the top spot from second place in 2007, receiving a 60 percent "excellent" rating. The popular California burger chain was followed this year by Raising Cane's of Baton Rouge, La., with 59 percent and Giordano's Pizza of Chicago with 56 percent. Pei Wei, which won the satisfaction survey in 2007, finished seventh.

This past Friday, Esther Snyder, who co-founded In-N-Out Burger with her husband Harry back in 1948, passed on to that great burger joint in the sky. She was 86.

For those of us in southern California, and to some extent, northern California, Nevada, and Arizona, In n Out is as much a symbol of southern California life as palm trees, rollerblades, yoga, and Hollywood. Who doesn't love the so-clean-it's-almost-sterile interior, the simple menu that makes decision-making easy, the quality beef, the fresh vegetables, and of course, screaming out "Animal-style!" into the speaker at the drive-thru? The fries leave something to be desired (personal taste), but that's okay. No one is perfect, you know, but In-n-Out comes damn near close.

Rest in peace, Esther Snyder.

More In-n-Out:
In N Out Cooked to Order
The 100x100
The 20x20
Double Double trouble for In N Out Burger