21 Things You Didn't Know About In-N-Out

Have you tried the "Monkey Style" burger yet? And no, I don't mean Animal Style.

1. In-N-Out was California's first drive-through hamburger stand.

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The first In-N-Out opened in 1948 and featured a two-way speaker system for customers to order their food.

2. As part of In-N-Out's not-so-secret menu, you can order any combination of meat plus cheese up to a 4x4.

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So, in other words, if you want to order four patties with four slices of cheese, you'd ask for a 4x4. Or three patties with four slices of cheese would be a 3x4. It's all in your lucky hands!

3. A customer in Las Vegas once ordered a 100x100, which is when the 4x4 max rule came into effect.

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That's 100 patties, and 100 slices of cheese, folks.

4. There's a LEGIT secret menu that is super off-off-menu.

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Some of the items you can order include:

• Side of pre-packaged yellow chilies

• Root beer float

• Bun doughnuts

• A "Monkey Style" burger, which is when you put animal style fries on top of a burger. (But note: you have to do this on your own, as they won't make it for you that way.)

• You can add pepperoncinis to your burger.

5. In-N-Out's religious verses on cups and hamburger wrappers didn't start until the 1980s.

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In addition to printed verses, Rich Snyder, the then president of the company, commissioned Christmas radio jingles asking listeners to let Jesus into their hearts alongside In-N-Out commercials. Snyder was a Born-Again Christian, and the verses (along with occasional radio ads) still exist today.

6. There's an In-N-Out University... A UNIVERSITY.

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In 1984, the chain opened a university so they could train their new managers before they rose the ranks of the company. Included in that training is how to make quick decisions, demonstrate initiative, and please hungry customers.

7. Much like football athletes, In-N-Out trainees' skills are videotaped and analyzed for their performance on the job.

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When Rich Snyder was president of the restaurant, he figured that in order to make his team better, he'd have to see exactly what strengths and weaknesses they had. So he videotaped trainees on the job, analyzed their techniques, and then produced training videos for new employees based off of that analysis.

8. You can buy In-N-Out Uggs. And a tracksuit. And pajama pants.

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They have an online store, ya know, if burgers aren't your thing.

9. The first "animal style" burger was introduced in 1961.

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It was obviously a hit.

10. A manager at In-N-Out makes at least $100,000 a year.

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Regular employees make $10.50 an hour to start.

11. In-N-Out has one of the lowest turnover rates in the fast food industry.

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The average In-N-Out manager stays 14 years, while the average part-time associate stays for two years. Compared to other fast food restaurants, where only half of all employees stay longer than a year, that's a lot.

12. You can order a burger to be cooked medium rare. (!!!)

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It's a top secret menu option, and even if you already knew that... COME ON. THAT IS AWESOME.

13. Julia Child was a rabid In-N-Out fan. She carried a list of store locations on her at all times.

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Hulton Archive / Getty

14. The iconic arrow logo stands for, "The arrow points to pride," and, "We all work under the same arrow."

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It originated in 1954.

15. The original In-N-Out founder, Harry Snyder, owned 50% of a drag racing strip in 1965.

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He invested in the Irwindale Raceway so he could serve up In-N-Out burgers at the concessions stand. His two sons also worked the stands as well during that time.

16. At 32 years old, Lynsi Torres is one of the youngest female multimillionaires.

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She's the heiress to the In-N-Out fortune and is estimated to be worth more than $500 million. She's also very into drag racing.

17. None of In-N-Out's food is frozen or pre-packaged.

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They make their own patties in their own facilities (one in Baldwin Park, Calif., and Dallas, Texas), and none of their products ever travel more than 500 miles to get to a store.

18. There are seven different ways to order your fries, including fries light and fries well done.

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Fries light means less time in the fryer, and fries well done means more. There's also Fries light well, which fall somewhere in the middle between light and well, and Fries no salt, which means without salt.

There's also the favorite, animal style...

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Which means your fries get a dose of special sauce, cheese, and grilled onions.

Cheese fries...

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You guessed it: cheese on your fries.

And the old faithful: regular fries.

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19. If you're vegetarian, you can order a grilled cheese or a veggie burger!

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20. And you can also score a Neopolitan Shake to top things off.

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Strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, and amazingness.

21. Most In-N-Out's have a pair of crossed palm trees out front, because the founder got the idea from the film It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

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In the film, the characters race to find treasure buried under palm trees in the shape of a W, and Harry Snyder, the founder of In-N-Out, wanted to mark each restaurant as his own treasure.

May. 30, 2014, at 02:20 AM

Warning: A representative from In-N-Out contacted us after this article published to let us know there is no such thing as "Monkey Style" and they've never served bacon. So, don't try to order either of those... unless you want to pressure them to serve both of those things. In which case, fight the good fight.