A California thing that I don't understand...
...is In-N-Out Burger. The veritable holy grail of fast food in California.
For those of you that have never heard of In-N-Out, it is a fast food chain primarily in California, but with locations in Nevada and Arizona as well. It has been a staple in Southern California - Los Angeles in particular - since the late 1940's.
Their menu is simple - they offer a hamburger, a cheeseburger, a double cheeseburger, french fries, soft drinks, and milkshakes. Their stores are simple as well, with many being drive-thru only. In addition, I have yet to find an In-N-Out that takes any form of payment other than cash (although I admit that my experience is limited due to my conviction that In-N-Out sucks). I'm sorry, but in this day and age, there's really no excuse for not taking a credit card, or at least an ATM card. It doesn't cost as much as the business you're losing from customers like me who never have cash on them.
Anyway, back to the point...so many Californians hail In-N-Out as the best thing in the quick-service food industry (and they have the drive-thru lines to prove it) that I am tempted to think that I may very well be the only one here who thinks that their food simply isn't that great. However, before I can mention why, let me explain the story behind the food.
In-N-Out trumps up their philosophy of food preparation to the point in which it offends me. They claim that their food is fresh every step of the way. This means hand cut and ground beef that is never frozen. This means hand leafed lettuce. This means hand sliced tomatos. This means french fries that are potatoes and nothing else. They claim to not own a single freezer, heat lamp, or microwave.
So what's the problem? That sounds great, you say. That's how one cooks at home, right? Okay, fair enough. But come on, let's be realistic, shall we? How is that model sustained on such a large system of restaurants? Does each restaurant get a new delivery every day? That sounds expensive. Their prices are not expensive. Doesn't add up.
I remember getting food poisoning shortly (two hours max) after a visit to an In-N-Out in the San Fernando Valley. Note that I did not explicitly say that I got the food poisoning from In-N-Out - I can't know for absolute sure - but it is my belief that I did. And this was full, unadulterated food poisoning. And In-N-Out did taste a little different that day.
I was never that impressed with their food, but I could eat it before that happened (I haven't been to one since). It was this incident that caused me to think about their philosophy and how it might not be feasible for a system of the scale that In-N-Out is.
This is not meant as a crusade against In-N-Out. I don't have to eat there, and I don't eat there. There are many other places to eat, and I don't have anything against people eating at In-N-Out. But come on, folks, it isn't God's gift to fast food!
Back to food practices. I can understand why it is somewhat undesirable to eat food that is blatantly chemically modified, such as that which you would get at McDonalds or similar. However, there is a big difference between that and freezing your beef. There is nothing wrong with throwing hamburger meat in the freezer. In fact, In-N-Out should have a freezer. I might not have gotten sick.
But we must get to the point I meant to get to in this post - California's illogical loyalty to this chain. I don't go around and advertise my incident with them to anyone and everyone - just a few people and only when it is relevant (I guess until now). However, each and every person I have told about this refuse to believe that such a thing is possible. After all, this is In-N-Out, the fast food chain that can do no wrong. They aren't like the others, they aren't McDonalds. Let me tell you, even though McDonalds food is purely atrocious, I have never had any problems from eating their food.
However, I must confess a small bit of hypocrisy here...I am a card-carrying member (in the figurative sense) of the crowd that worships the other Southern California fast-food staple - The Original Tommy's World Famous Hamburgers. Now that is some good stuff! And there's no pretense at Tommy's (other than their light-hearted slogan regarding the countless knockoffs operating under the names of "Tommie's" or "Tommy's" (without "The Original") - "If you don't see the shack, take it back!" Well put.). The Original Tommy's represents exactly what fast food is supposed to be - delicious but horrible for you.
For those of you that have never heard of In-N-Out, it is a fast food chain primarily in California, but with locations in Nevada and Arizona as well. It has been a staple in Southern California - Los Angeles in particular - since the late 1940's.
Their menu is simple - they offer a hamburger, a cheeseburger, a double cheeseburger, french fries, soft drinks, and milkshakes. Their stores are simple as well, with many being drive-thru only. In addition, I have yet to find an In-N-Out that takes any form of payment other than cash (although I admit that my experience is limited due to my conviction that In-N-Out sucks). I'm sorry, but in this day and age, there's really no excuse for not taking a credit card, or at least an ATM card. It doesn't cost as much as the business you're losing from customers like me who never have cash on them.
Anyway, back to the point...so many Californians hail In-N-Out as the best thing in the quick-service food industry (and they have the drive-thru lines to prove it) that I am tempted to think that I may very well be the only one here who thinks that their food simply isn't that great. However, before I can mention why, let me explain the story behind the food.
In-N-Out trumps up their philosophy of food preparation to the point in which it offends me. They claim that their food is fresh every step of the way. This means hand cut and ground beef that is never frozen. This means hand leafed lettuce. This means hand sliced tomatos. This means french fries that are potatoes and nothing else. They claim to not own a single freezer, heat lamp, or microwave.
So what's the problem? That sounds great, you say. That's how one cooks at home, right? Okay, fair enough. But come on, let's be realistic, shall we? How is that model sustained on such a large system of restaurants? Does each restaurant get a new delivery every day? That sounds expensive. Their prices are not expensive. Doesn't add up.
I remember getting food poisoning shortly (two hours max) after a visit to an In-N-Out in the San Fernando Valley. Note that I did not explicitly say that I got the food poisoning from In-N-Out - I can't know for absolute sure - but it is my belief that I did. And this was full, unadulterated food poisoning. And In-N-Out did taste a little different that day.
I was never that impressed with their food, but I could eat it before that happened (I haven't been to one since). It was this incident that caused me to think about their philosophy and how it might not be feasible for a system of the scale that In-N-Out is.
This is not meant as a crusade against In-N-Out. I don't have to eat there, and I don't eat there. There are many other places to eat, and I don't have anything against people eating at In-N-Out. But come on, folks, it isn't God's gift to fast food!
Back to food practices. I can understand why it is somewhat undesirable to eat food that is blatantly chemically modified, such as that which you would get at McDonalds or similar. However, there is a big difference between that and freezing your beef. There is nothing wrong with throwing hamburger meat in the freezer. In fact, In-N-Out should have a freezer. I might not have gotten sick.
But we must get to the point I meant to get to in this post - California's illogical loyalty to this chain. I don't go around and advertise my incident with them to anyone and everyone - just a few people and only when it is relevant (I guess until now). However, each and every person I have told about this refuse to believe that such a thing is possible. After all, this is In-N-Out, the fast food chain that can do no wrong. They aren't like the others, they aren't McDonalds. Let me tell you, even though McDonalds food is purely atrocious, I have never had any problems from eating their food.
However, I must confess a small bit of hypocrisy here...I am a card-carrying member (in the figurative sense) of the crowd that worships the other Southern California fast-food staple - The Original Tommy's World Famous Hamburgers. Now that is some good stuff! And there's no pretense at Tommy's (other than their light-hearted slogan regarding the countless knockoffs operating under the names of "Tommie's" or "Tommy's" (without "The Original") - "If you don't see the shack, take it back!" Well put.). The Original Tommy's represents exactly what fast food is supposed to be - delicious but horrible for you.
posted by walterplittle at 21:25
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