Somewhere within this crazy thing we call life, you might’ve heard about an infamous West Coast burger chain known as In-N-Out Burger.
Armed with a rabid cult following, delicious burgers, overly happy employees with good health benefits, and a not-so-secret secret menu, in-n-out has come to define cuisine on the Left Coast. But where did it all come from? Well, here’s your chance to see it at its rawest and most primitive.
It all started as a small stand in Baldwin Hills, right off Route 10, with a story far less shady than that of their fast food counterparts (I'm looking at you, McDonalds). A god loving couple simply wanted to make the “Highest quality fast food, with the freshest ingredients, by the nicest people” and Boom! a billion dollar business was born (but still not publicly traded).
That stand, which is very tiny, has been replicated for tourists and the area is full of in-n-out branded goodness.
A gift shop, packing plants, a large in-out-restaurant and (most importantly) IN-N-OUT UNIVERSITY riddle the area. Yes, you heard that correctly, there’s a building dedicating to teaching in-n-out managers how to be at the top of their game. Imagine, a masters in burger flipping, or a BA in fry cutting, The possibilities at in-n-out U are endless!
This is an in-n-out aficionados dream, so pick up a souvenir, enjoy a shake and cruise down hamburger lane.
HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?
Harry and Esther Snyder founded the first In-N-Out Burger stand in this very location, in 1948, with a simple mantra: Serve good/fast food at cheap prices.
The stand was small, but actually quite game-changing at the time. Customers would order through a speaker box, as opposed to car hops taking orders and bringing the food out, which was fairly new at the time. In the end, this In-N-Out would actually be credited with creating California's first drive-thru hamburger stand.
After opening up a few more locations, Harry put his two kids (Rich and Guy) in charge of operations, where they established a huge campus in the Baldwin Park area. These facilities would become In-N-Out's main HQ, allowing them to closely monitor the fresh ingredients from the factory and train managers at the illustrious In-N-Out U, all of which still stand today.
The brothers continued to expand the brand, opening stores in Nevada, Arizona and all over Cali.
