Penny S.
Yelp
Well, after all the months of anticipation and hype, In-N-Out is finally here. We have been to their locations a number of times in California. When they opened in our home town, we had to welcome them to the neighborhood. At lunchtime on the second day open, we were in & out in about an hour. Their staff behind the counter were a veritable bee hive, working at breakneck speed to crank out everyone's food. They had awning tents so we didn't have to stand in the hot sun, which was nice. We waited for 25 minutes before we were ushered inside, where we went directly to the counter to place our order. We saw lots of staff wiping down tables and making sure everything was neat & tidy. They are trying really hard and deserve accolades or that.
On to the food. Somehow I remember the food being a little better in California. I ordered my cheese burger "animal style", off their not-so-secret menu, for those in the know (genius marketing). I was disappointed I could barely detect those famous grilled onions and the rest of the goo that is known as "animal style". It wasn't even messy to eat. Did they forget to train their staff it's supposed to be loaded with all the goodness? I should've known, when the guy who took our order thought you only get cheese if you order a cheeseburger animal style. But it's supposed to come with extra cheese. So next time I'll have to ask about that.
My husband got a couple of normal hamburgers. He was underwhelmed. He also got animal style fries but the fries are pretty bad. I know they say all their food is fresh & all but they really need to work on their fries. They reminded me of fries left in the freezer too long in a bag left open. Dry, flavorless...They could be so much better.
My husband's shake was strawberry and mine chocolate, but if I didn't know what kind mine was supposed to be I wouldn't be able to guess. I had to use my imagination to detect chocolate. My husband said his strawberry shake was lacking in flavor as well. Maybe they need some quality control because I've never had a complaint about In-N-Out's shakes.
I'm disappointed by the food in Ridgefield's In-N-Out. Are they overwhelmed by the shear numbers? I hope they improve because now I know they aren't all created equal.
Go ahead and stand in the line (I hear it's shorter than the drive up) so you can see for yourself. You have to experience it at least once. But I do feel sorry for you if you are driving down from Seattle just for this.