The Double-Double Isn’t Hype, and Here Is Why

Every family flying into California asks me the same food question before they ask about restaurants, hotels or anything else. Is In-N-Out actually worth it.

Yes. Here is why. In-N-Out has run on the same short menu since 1948, burgers, fries, shakes, nothing frozen, nothing microwaved, potatoes cut in the store that day. That is not marketing copy, it is the actual reason the burger tastes different from a drive through chain that ships in pre-formed patties. The beef is never frozen and the buns are baked fresh daily at a bakery the company still runs itself.

Order a Double-Double. Two patties, two slices of cheese, that is the name, and it is the one to get on a first visit before you start experimenting with the secret menu. Animal Style is the order behind the order, a mustard-grilled patty with extra spread and grilled onions, and it is not actually secret, every employee knows it, you just have to ask by name because it is not printed on the board.

Protein Style is the one people ask about for kids with wheat issues or anyone skipping the bun, the whole burger wrapped in lettuce instead. Animal Fries, fries covered in cheese, spread and grilled onions, are the thing to split as a table rather than order solo, they get heavy fast.

The other reason this works so well with kids specifically is speed and mess. It is a drive through or a counter order, food comes fast, and nothing about it requires a fork. After a full day at Legoland or the zoo in San Diego, or coming off Highway 1 hungry and cranky, that matters more than the menu itself.

One real piece of advice. The lines get long at peak lunch and dinner hours near tourist areas, San Diego, Anaheim, anywhere close to a theme park. If you can eat at 11am or after 8pm, do it. I would not build a whole meal plan around chasing one burger chain across a state, but if your kids have heard about it from a cousin or a YouTube video, one stop is worth the detour and it will not disappoint the way hyped up food sometimes does.

Food like this is a small piece of what actually makes a California trip work day to day, timing meals around drive times, knowing what is worth a stop and what is not. I get into all of it in my California travel guide.