Burgers: the In-N-Outs

I first became acquainted with In-N-Out hamburger restaurants in the mid-1950s. 

We were visiting my maternal grandparents, who lived in La Puente, Calif. (though back then it was just Puente). 

One evening, my grandmother suggested we jump in the car and go get burgers from a place called In-N-Out. Our destination might have been the company’s original location in Baldwin Park, or perhaps an early addition in Covina. The two cities were essentially equidistant from La Puente.

Truly, the experience was a revelation. Calling our order into a squawk-box, pulling up to a window, paying and getting our food without even getting out of the car: wow, my 8- to 10-year-old self thought. This could catch on!

As long ago as it was, I remember as well that my hamburger was really good.

On Thursday, Albuquerque Journal business writer Marie Baca reported that, with In-N-Out planning to locate a warehouse in Colorado Springs,  the long-discussed possibility of the hamburger chain coming to New Mexico had become likely if not imminent. Company CEO Lynsi Snyder said as much in a Forbes article. 

But hold those tastebuds, folks. The C-Springs warehouse is scheduled for 2020.

After reading the article, I and Journal Assistant Sports Editor Steve Virgen, a California transplant, happily linked to Baca’s article on Twitter. Almost immediately, we got pushback from a couple of colleagues who didn’t share our enthusiasm. 

Overrated, one said. Whataburger and (even) Wendy’s is better, the other opined.

Of course, they (and you, and I) are entitled to their opinion. But, first of all, no movie, no TV show, no hamburger, etc., is overrated just because someone says so. We’re talking after all, about opinion and taste. 

Overrated is a term that should be reserved for entities that have demonstrated beyond debate and contradiction that they are not as good as previously thought. On this day, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018, the football team from The Ohio State University leaps to mind. (Sadly).

There are popular TV shows that I don’t care for but that many other people do. Because I don’t like them or like others better, are those shows overrated? Of course not.

As for the Whataburger’s better argument, again, it’s a matter of opinion and taste.

Just for fun (and lunch), I went to a Whataburger here in Albuquerque yesterday. To my taste, the burger was just OK — the beef patty a bit dry, perhaps slightly overcooked. I’ve had similar experiences at Wendy’s;  sometimes really good, other times not so much. 

What I love most about In-N-Out can be summarized in two words: freshness and consistency.

It’s mostly that focus on freshness that thus far has kept In-N-Out from New Mexico. The franchise insists its restaurant locations be within a day’s drive of a distribution center.

In addition to the original warehouse in Baldwin Park, In-N-Out now has distribution centers in Lathrop, Calif. (north central), Phoenix, Draper, Utah, and Dallas. One could argue that Phoenix is within a day’s drive of Albuquerque, but there probably have been demographics issues in play as well. And Colorado Springs is some two hours closer to Albuquerque than Phoenix.

As for consistency, it certainly helps that In-N-Out does nothing but hamburgers (and french fries, course, that we’re not talking about fries). No chicken, no fish, no breakfast menu.

I’ve been to In-N-Out restaurants in Phoenix, San Diego, Las Vegas and Fresno, in addition to that first memorable visit in SoCal. I’ve never had a Double-Double that was better or worse than the one before: always fresh, always good.

But then, that’s just me.