“Animal style” fries, lower left, are covered in melted cheese, special sauce and carmelized onions.

-- Photo By Lyle Graves | The Ledger

In-N-Out’s menu is sparse. It consists of burgers, a grilled cheese, french fries, sodas and milkshakes.

The menu has basically been the same since In-N-Out was founded in 1948 and the chain has never shown much interest in changing or expanding it.

“The company has maintained a razor-sharp focus on keeping the brand what it is rather than migrating to what it is not,” industry observer Dennis Lombardi told QSR restaurant magazine in 2018. “It has defined its brand positioning and doesn’t waver.”

Here’s what’s special about In-N-Out. It has no freezers or microwaves. The burgers are made from 100% beef chuck ground in their own facilities. The burgers are made to order so there’s nothing sitting around in a warming tray. The lettuce, tomato and onion used to dress the burgers are super fresh. The bun is toasted.

It is, for NPR Good Food host and native Angelino Evan Kleiman, a superior product.

“You can see them make it,” she says. “The people who work the grills are so good. In-N-Out doesn’t make their burgers in advance. They truly make their burgers to order. That’s especially important when you have moist ingredients like lettuce and tomato. It’s this great experience of the yielding nature of the bun, the char on the patty from the griddle, the richness of the cheese and it’s offset with the crispness of that lettuce. The burger is fantastic just in the lettuce without the bun.”

Kleiman’s regular order if she’s really hungry is a Double Double. It’s two hamburger patties with two slices of American cheese plus lettuce, tomato and onion with the chain’s special sauce.

“As a Californian, I always grew up with lettuce and tomatoes being an important part of the burger,” she says. “The lettuce and tomato in the In-N-Out burger is an important part of its DNA. The sauce is like Thousand Island, but not as sharp. It reads more rich than sharp.”

The late chef and travel show host Anthony Bourdain told Eater in 2016 that In-N-Out’s burger was his favorite thing to eat in Los Angeles when he visited. In-N-Out was his first stop after landing at the airport.

“It’s the only fast-food chain I like,” he said. “This cheese-like substance is just perfect. This is like a ballistic missile ... a perfectly designed protein delivery system. There it is ... my favorite restaurant in Los Angeles, a city with many fine restaurants, by the way.”

Californians transplanted to Tennessee not only left behind the ocean, but also their beloved In-N-Out.

Vicki Michaels, a 30-year California resident who moved to Nashville in 2008, was and still is a huge fan. “I ate so many In-N-Out burgers while in California,” she says. “They are awesome and always had a long line at the drive through. I will gladly drive the 25 minutes to get one.”

Interior designer and fellow transplant Laura Hedberg agrees. “The whole family misses In-N-Out,” she says. “Their burgers are the best out there.”

But not everyone’s a fan. Some Californians who moved here were just fine leaving the In-N-Out burger behind.

“I’m from Southern California, and it was just a hamburger there,” says Christopher Crump. “With mediocre fries and a tribal following of customers who would defend its mediocre food till death.”

The french fries come in for a lot of criticism. They are pale in color and not really crispy.

“They’re horrific,” says Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano. “I compare them to lukewarm cardboard shavings. Anyone who defends the fries is deluded. In-N-Out masks them by putting on their sauce and cheese.”

But Kleiman stands up for the fries even if they can’t stand up for themselves. First, she points out that while fries in a lot of fast-food places get a double dip in the oil to get them crispy, In-N-Out doesn’t have room for two fryers. “They haven’t made it, I’m guessing, a priority to double fry their fries,” she says. “You need a ton of space to do that. They just choose to do it the natural way. I like knowing there’s nothing weird in those fries. And sometimes, to be honest, I just stuff them into the burger. Sometimes I’ll ask them to be double fried. I just like the fact that they’re real potatoes.”

California-to-Tennessee transplant Nikki Taylor Collen thinks experiencing In-N-Out is all a matter of expectations.

“Go in expecting a gourmet experience and you’ll be sorely disappointed,” she says. “Expect a regular fast-food burger and a very limited menu and you’ll probably be a fan.”