It was back in October 2012 that I had my first In-N-Out burger. Thom and I were on a trip, and he insisted we go. He loves In-N-Out, and since there weren’t any near his home at the time, he wanted to take the opportunity when we were in southern Utah. Although my memory probably isn’t fully intact, I feel like he made many comments during our week together about how amazing that burger was going to be. He built it up to the point where it sounded like I’d have a religious experience as I bit into my five-dollar bun and beef.
Sadly, it wasn’t so. The burger could only be described as mediocre. I’d been betrayed. I’d been let down. Let down in a soul-crushing way that made me wary of In-N-Out for years.
In later years I’ve returned to In-N-Out a handful of times, always at the insistence of others. I’ve tended to shy away from it, knowing in my heart that it just doesn’t measure up to what Thom had made it out to be.
As it happens, we live two blocks from an In-N-Out, and it’s always busy. Shortly after moving here, I snapped a photo as I drove past, just to send it to Thom. It was around nine at night, and the drive-through line literally snaked around the restaurant, through the parking lot, and into the street. An entire traffic lane was blocked by people waiting for their mediocre burgers! And it’s that way every night.
That many people can’t be wrong, I guess, so today Pepper and I finally relented.
It’s still mediocre. But it’s cheap (in a time when even fast food is becoming frighteningly expensive) and for the price, it’s actually pretty good. So yeah, maybe we’ll come back a few more times while we live here.
If nothing else, I’ll do it for Thom.