Most already know of my regard for In-N-Out burgers. In fact, I'm surprised other hamburger joints are able to survive in Southern California, since their burgers are either markedly inferior or double or triple the price (and that's just to offer something comparable.)
This weekend we play host to my brother's family and my mother. They're visiting from Utah. Any time we have company from out of town we usually make sure they have opportunity to make the obliged pilgrimage to In-N-Out. Today was no different: After a few hours poking around the San Diego Zoo, we made our way to the In-N-Out closest to our home.
I felt especially hungry tonight, and so decided to try a 3 x 3 (3 hamburger patties and 3 slices of cheese), instead of the normal Double Double.
What a mistake! Perhaps I couldn't have known before hand, but the entire balance of the burger changes when an additional patty and cheese slice are added to the same single slice of tomato and lettuce, the same amount of sauce, and the same toasted bun. While the tomato, lettuce, and sauce act as perfect compliments to a Double Double, alas, when competing with a third patty and slice of cheese they are almost drown out entirely. Because of that, after my first few bites I found myself thinking "Wow, that's a lot of cheese!", instead of my usual reaction, in which my thoughts melt away during those few delicious minutes.
In the end, the 3 x 3 was a functional burger, though suprisingly quite inferior to its smaller counterpart. Indeed, the fact that that burger inflicted 50% more damage on my body than the already dangerous Double Double all but ensures that I'll never make the mistake of ordering another in my lifetime.
2 comments:
My name is Oliver. I am the brother of Jared, not your son, but the one who writes this blog. I've been a reader of your blog for some time now and have always found it to be well written, thoughtful, and insightful.
Yet, today, I must take issue.
While a student at BYU I once piled into a Honda Accord with four friends and spent my reading days driving down to Vegas for Krispy Kreme and In-N-Out. Being an east-coast native, I'd never been to In-N-Out and had high expectations, pushed higher by the gastro-intestinal musings of my traveling companions. Thanks to my now-wife’s lead foot, we made it there in four hours and fifteen minutes. Ah, the reckless stupidity of youth.
We went directly to In-N-Out, ordered, collected our food, and sat down. I took a bite, waiting for my taste buds to scream out in fits of nirvana. Another. Still waiting. Tried some fries. Fresh-cut, nice taste. But I found myself sitting there looking for more, expecting a Harry-Met-Sally experience complete with nativity-style lighting and sound effects.
Nothing.
It was a nice burger. Better than most. But when it comes to my money, I have yet to find a burger that tops the cheesy, greasy, peanut oil-cooked french fries-on-the-side bliss of a Five Guys hamburger.
Oliver,
I will second your motion that Five Guys is indeed better than In-N-Out. I mean, there's nothing really special about In-N-Out except the fact that they sell T-shirts. And Five Guys has peanuts all over the floor.
Aaron, next time you're in DC, we'll take you to a REAL burger joint.
That said, Aaron does live in an area that does possess hamburger nirvana. It's not In-N-Out. It's Carl's Jr.
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