While I was visiting Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the In-N-Out Burger located on Sahara Avenue about a mile from the MGM Grand. I had previously eaten at Fat Burger which touts itself as the best burger on the Strip. It was okay, but not even close to In-N-Out Burger, and far more expensive. The ten dollar cheeseburger meal at Fat Burger was double the cheeseburger meal at In-N-Out. So what did I get for my five dollars?

Quality. In a word. The burgers are made from fresh beef (not frozen) and they don't stack up in a warming tray waiting for someone to order them. No. These burgers are made to order and delivered to you hot off the grill. The french fries follow the same mold. The peeled potatoes are placed into a tall cutting machine visible from the front counter. The fry guy pulls the lever forward and out squirt a handful of McDonald's sized french fries. I'm not certain about the cooking process for the french fries, but they resemble McDonald's fries more than Five Guys (another chain that cooks the potatoes after cutting them). The fries were crisp and tasty. I also selected a lemonade at the self-service drink station. The lemonade...like the rest of the meal...was delicious. The menu is pretty much limited to burgers and fries, but they also sell milkshakes. They looked good, but I did not indulge (as much as I wanted to).

When I entered In-N-Out there was a huge crowd. A bus full of Baseball players had pulled in ahead of us. There were probably forty people waiting to place their orders. I was tempted to leave but waited it out. I was pleasantly surprised with the wait. It took about five minutes to place my order and another five minutes for my freshly prepared order to be called out. That gave me time to wait in the shorter line that had backed up at the rather large self-service drink station. Looking behind the counter at In-N-Out shocked me. There were no less than a dozen employees scurrying around preparing food. They appeared to be a well-oiled machine, accomplishing a tremendous amount of work with economy of movement. The large staff definitely helped in moving the crowd through. I don't know if this restaurant stays as busy as it was when I visited, but judging from the number of employees, I would guess that they do big numbers.

One thing that I took note of during my visit was the cleanliness of the restaurant. The business was turning over a huge lunch crowd and were extremely busy. In spite of the tremendous crush of people, the drink area remained stocked, the vacant tables were getting cleaned off and the trash cans were not overflowing with refuse. More importantly, the work area in behind the counter appeared to be well maintained and the floors in the lobby were free of any trash or spills. I thought it was a testament to the high standards of this store that they stayed on top of things even with a big rush of customers.

In-N-Out Burger was founded in 1948 in Baldwin Park by Harry and Esther Snyder. The chain is limited to the West Coast, with stores in California, Nevada and Arizona. They tout themselves as California's first Drive Thru burger joint. By 1999, the single store had spread to 140 locations. In-N-Out also offers training in a McDonald's style burger University. The quality control standards that this chain encourages is evident from the quality of the food. Although In-N-Out began as a Drive Thru type store with walk-up windows, they now have stores with indoor seating. The location on Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas has the indoor seating.

This visit was my first and only visit to In-N-Out Burger. Based on this experience, I would definitely visit again. It is too bad that the chain doesn't have any stores on the East Coast...I would be a regular. I enjoyed my meal, which I felt was superior to anything comparable here on the East Coast, to include McDonald's. The standards at this fast food chain are obviously intended to keep customers coming back, which they appear to have accomplished. I would highly recommend In-N-Out Burger giving them five stars out of a possible five.

The location I visited was:
In-N-Out Burger
2900 W. Sahara Ave.
Las Vegas, Nevada 89102


Recommended: Yes