Stacy Perman - In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules

The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they nourish themselves.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin,
The Physiology of Taste (1854)

Keep it real simple. Do one thing and do it the best you can.

Harry Snyder, co-founder
of In-N-Out Burger

On the dry, desert morning of April 24, 2007, the

The old In-N-Out Burger standa simple red brick structure with

The new couple set their sights on a rural town

Short on experience but long on common sense, Harry sought

In 1951, Allen Teagle was a teenager itching to join

It wasnt the Snyders desire to build an empire, to

On February 22, 1951, Esther gave birth to the couples

Harry shrugged his shoulders at the rapid changes taking place

In these years, it was easy to see what made

Guy and Rich Snyder were increasingly moving in different directions.

Harrys confidence in his youngest son was not misplaced. Whatever

Richs tastes ran contrary to those of his parochial parents.

In 1984, Rich founded In-N-Out University, a large-scale management training

Soon In-N-Out Burger began attracting serious attention. Over the years,

As In-N-Out Burger continued to grow and prosper, Rich found

In the fall of 1988, following the opening of the

Rich Snyder liked to think that success could be achieved

December 15, 1993, was a particularly busy day for Rich

As it turned out, on December 14, Rich had traveled

In 1994, Guy Snyder celebrated the opening of In-N-Outs hundredth

Guys time at the top was short-lived. His troubles soon

At seventy-nine, Esther Snyder stepped up to assume control of

Everyday life at In-N-Out Burger continued. By 2000, the chain

Although Lynsi had remained out of the spotlight for most

It wasnt long before the battle was splashed across the

The legal endgame came to an abrupt halt with a

On the dry, desert morning of April 24, 2007, the sky swept clean of clouds, In-N-Out Burger opened its 207th restaurant in Tucson. Located at the edge of the El Con Mall on East Broadway, not far from the campus of the University of Arizona, the opening was the fabled California chains fourteenth entry in the state. Almost immediately a boisterous crowd appeared, requiring the presence of police officers to direct traffic and help with crowd control. While a swirl of excitement usually accompanied new store openings, the Tucson kickoff seemed to generate an unprecedented level of hysteria. For the first time in years, the area around the depressed and largely vacant El Con was bustling. The pent-up demand for In-N-Out marked a drastic change for the citys oldest shopping center, which had been languishing for so long that a local newspaper had once described its deserted core as filled with little more than an eerie stillness.

As customers descended upon In-N-Outs freshly paved drive-through, the scene quickly took on the air of a noisy parade. There were businessmen in suits, women in heels, truckers in jeans, college students in T-shirts and with pierced noses, construction workers in heavy boots, and moms with babies on their hips. They all braved the chains infamously long lines, enduring waits of more than two and three hours. In the sky overhead, news helicopters whirled, capturing the clamor in the parking lot below. After witnessing the ensuing frenzy from the ground, a local science fiction author named Matt Dinniman was later moved to remark: If you actually drove by the place today, youd think Jesus himself was working the shake machine.

Remarkably, the official kickoff was marked with little fanfare. Two workers carried a simple white sign down East Broadway with the familiar In-N-Out logoa yellow boomerang arrowand written in block lettering the words WE ARE OPEN, and propped it up on a pair of wooden sawhorse legs. The associates fired up the grill, unlocked the doors, and opened for business. There werent any strings of colored plastic flags fluttering in the wind to herald the arrival of Tucsons very first In-N-Out; there werent any prizes offered, furry mascots, or any of the other marketing gimmicks that usually lure customers to new fast-food openings. There was no promotional advertising eitherjust a small sign that stood on the lot for some time. Coming Soon, In-N-Out Burger.

In fact, there was no grand opening, at least not in the traditional sense; the carnival atmosphere was created entirely by In-N-Outs rabid fans. The chain didnt need to advertise its opening; for weeks, its devotees had been broadcasting the news to one another.

For two years, ever since word had spread that an In-N-Out was coming to their city, residents had been waiting anxiously. As April 24 approached, a frantic excitement overtook Tucson and the surrounding suburbs. Despite months of speculation and press inquiries, the company, while friendly, revealed littleso a number of Tucsonans began their own campaign to uncover any and all signs of progress. Driving by the site regularly, they documented sightings of a coat of fresh paint or the pouring of concrete and broadly circulated their findings. When the day finally came that the Tucson In-N-Out was no longer just a matter of hope and rumor, it felt like Christmas in April. There are so many people excited about these stores coming to town, was how Dave Smith, a local real estate broker, described the thrill that blanketed the city. It is like they are almost willing them out of the ground.

For years, Arizona residents regularly drove across state lines in order to eat one of In-N-Outs vaunted Double-Double burgers. When In-N-Out opened its first Arizona store in the city of Scottsdale in 2000, Tucsonans got in their cars and made the ninety-mile journey. While Scottsdale might not be considered convenient, it was certainly closer to Tucson than the Lake Havasu City location that opened the same year (which at a distance of 321 miles from Tucson was an unreasonable distance for a burger runalthough not an entirely uncommon one). In fact, until In-N-Out first arrived in Arizona, many residents flew roundtrip between Phoenix and the Ontario International airport in California expressly for a $2.75 hamburger.

The Tucson debut was handled not unlike a presidential visit or a movie premiere. Prior to the official opening, local dignitaries and members of the city council joined In-N-Out executives at an invitation-only, pre-opening party that also served as a final run-through for the associates. Tucsons media covered the official opening; the Arizona Daily Star sent a team of six journalists on an assignment that they dubbed Operation In-N-Out.

Ravenous customers began arriving in the dark of night, long before the stores 10:30 a.m. opening. Actually, people began lining up at 2:00 a.m. the day before, some sleeping in their cars overnight. By 6:00 a.m. on the morning of the opening, about a dozen folks were pressed against the front doors. By noon, the crowd had grown appreciably, hundreds of people having descended upon the fast-food restaurant and its signature crossed palm trees. Marveling at the thick, snaking procession of people, Phil Villarreal, a reporter for the Arizona Daily Star , recalled soviet-era bread lines in Moscow.

As the day wore on, the walk-in line continued to expand like an unencumbered waistband. By midday it had grown so dense, at times one hundred customers strong and six and seven people deep, that the entire line had taken over a neighboring parking lot and yellow plastic police tape was used to rope off the crowd in as orderly a fashion as possible. As the mercury rose, bright-eyed and smiling In-N-Out associates passed out cups of water and pink lemonade to help relieve both the tedium and the heat for the customers waiting in line. After inspecting what could only be described as a stampede, In-N-Outs vice president of planning and development Carl Van Fleet assessed the scene with the chains typical understatement, telling the Daily Star , This is not something that happened overnight. I think it just sort of grew with us. As night fell, the crowd showed little sign of thinning out. At nearly 10:00 p.m., there were still over one hundred cars in the drive-through lane.