Those of you living east of the Rockies may not know about the glory that is In-N-Out. Let it suffice to say that by trucking in fresh ingredients every day they are able to have the freshest tomatoes, the crispiest lettuce, the spongiest buns and the friendliest employees of any fast food chain.They have been gracing west-coast residents with their deliciousness since 1948. In my opinion they are the best fast food chain with the best tasting burgers in the world. Yes, the world. (Easy now, Tommy’s fans… I’ll hear your pathetic arguments in sidebar later.) But in all their burger wisdom they still do not have bacon on their menu.
How can this be? It is a paradox, for sure. Best burgers! No bacon?!
I was reading the post about ordering off the menu at fast food restaurants over at the 1000 Awesome Things blog and was thrilled to see that they had included In-N-Out’s “secret menu”. As I sat salivating over that blog the no-bacon realization came over me all at once.
Could it be? Is it true? No bacon at In-N-Out? Sadly, yes.
“But the burgers are so delicious. What ever can I do?” you plead.
“There, there, now. No need to fret, friend. I have an idea,” I offer in sympathy as you rub your baconless belly.
Bring your own bacon. It’s just that easy. The next time I go to In-N-Out, I’m going to be prepared. I will cook up some bacon in the morning. Nice and crispy, just the way I love it. I’ll put said bacon strips into a ziploc bag and bring them with me to the drive-through window. I’ll order a cheeseburger Animal Style, as any true In-N-Out lover does. And then… I will add bacon. Oh yes, I will.
I can smell/taste (smaste?) it now. The toasted bun, the “special” sauce, the grilled onions, the crisp lettuce, the tangy pickles, (no tomatoes for me) and at long last, the bacon.
The bacon.
Oh, the bacon.
Pictures and smaste rating to follow.
Anticipation to build wildly.
October 4th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
I am a devoted lover of bacon and IN-N-OUT, however I believe that bacon would ruin the perfect formula that IN-N-OUT has obtained.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
I have it on good authority that the only competition to IN-N-OUT is a chain called “Five Guys Burgers And Fries.” In fact, maybe Five Guys is better? Although I’ve never had either so what do I know.
December 26th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I’ve been to 5 Guys, and it’s amazing. From people who’ve had both, they’ve said the two are pretty much equivalent. One thing 5 Guys does have though, is bacon, and it’s tasty as it always is.
February 19th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I have only been to In-N-Out 2 or 3 times before while traveling through California. I live in DC and Five Guys was founded around here. The plain burgers, straight up, are about even. However, Five Guys allows customization, with dozens of toppings and sauces. Five Guys also has better fries, and free p-nuts. This makes Five Guys better; the bacon option is the icing on the cake (or should I say ‘the bacon on the burger’?)
April 30th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Not to be that guy, but 5 guys was founded in Columbia, SC. Not DC. Just sayin. And they do have bacon. Killer delicious bacon.
July 13th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Dick’s is a local fast food chain native to the Seattle area, and it’s waaay better than In-N-Out (the normal cheeseburgers are about the same; but Dick’s fries are incomparably great, and the specials are awesome). Not really bacon related, but delicious hamburger (and flagrant regionalism) related.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:48 am
There is no better burger than In-N-Out.Enough said.
December 4th, 2009 at 8:11 am
We should start a petition drive for them to add bacon.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:51 am
I agree. Where do we sign said petition? ;]
June 19th, 2010 at 9:28 am
In and Out burger rocks.
5 guys rock too…
Dicks is awesome as well….
Bottom line is we have no In and Out or Dicks in NY but we do have 5 guys, and they will cook you a burger how ever you want it. I do go for bacon but that on its own isn’t enough to make me say its better. What does push me over the edge is the free peanuts.
Gotta love the fresh roasted nuts.
July 12th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
There’s a burger place in Colorado springs that is an in-N-out ripoff, and for some reason they even copied the no bacon thing. Don’t understand it at all
The worst part is that they do HAVE bacon on site – they serve breakfast, but they refuse to serve it at lunch.