I do give it high marks for not turning my stomach an hour later, a feat rarely accomplished by other burger vendors.
One of the neat things about the item is how you can order it. Preference is assigned to the number of meat slices vs the number of cheese slices, resulting in the nomenclature of [#[meat]] x [#[cheese]] - i.e. a 2x2. (The attached photo is a 3x3.)
Having finally sampled it, I can render judgement. In is my opinion that it's no better or worse than that our own local What-A-Burger. Perhaps it's a regional preference for whether you are a In-N-Out or a What-A-Burger fan, in either case, you get you'll get your daily dose of grease and hypens.
In-N-Out Burger's Protein Style burger has less than half the fat and calories of the Double-Double. That "secret sauce" on most fast-food hamburgers has a mayonnaise base, so it's better to stick with ketchup and mustard. Double-Double with onion: 670 calories; total fat 41 grams. Protein Style hamburger (bun replaced with lettuce): 240 calories; total fat 17 grams.
STOCKTON - In-N-Out Burger makes no qualms about shutting down its dining room and parking lot during business hours when crowds get too large to handle and customer safety is at risk, according to a regional company official.
"When it gets to be too big a commotion, when they are not customers, you can kind of tell. From here on out, we will shut down the dining room and the parking lot. We keep the drive-through open but escort people off the parking lot," said Denny Klein, In-N-Out's Central Valley division manager.
"We want families and paying customers to come in and have a safe environment," Klein said.
Ryan King
Oakmont High School
One moment, Ryan King was flying high, enjoying a senior year at Oakmont High School filled with fun, friends and victories in his favorite pastime, motocross racing.
The next, he lay unconscious after a racing accident in Reno. Doctors said he might not live.
A week from Friday, when King walks across the stage at Oakmont's graduation in Roseville, it will mark a triumph over pain and loss.
King was one of those kids always in motion, a soccer player, a snowboarder, a daredevil who jumped from rooftops. He loved racing motorcycles from an early age.
On Nov. 18, King was in Reno for a motocross competition that he hoped to win. In the second lap, he hit a section of the course with undulations, felt his suspension out of adjustment and flipped the motorcycle.
King's helmet cracked. His brain was injured. He broke bones in his face and lost sight in one eye.
He spent almost two and a half months in intensive care in Reno, where he went through surgeries, infections and agonizing pain. He couldn't talk, eat or walk. He struggled with memory and focus.
"It was so lonely," he recalled. "The nights were the worst, when I couldn't sleep."
Slowly, he healed. In late January, he moved to a rehabilitation program at the UC Davis Medical Center. In late February, he came home. In March he had his first real food since the accident: an In-N-Out burger. In April, he returned to school.
"It was awesome," he said. "I missed my friends so much."
With help from teachers, he managed to complete his senior requirements, English 12 and a government class.
"He worked so hard," said his mother, Shannon Similai "I wasn't expecting him to graduate on time with his friends, but he made it."
King still struggles with facial paralysis and memory lapses. The accident has changed him in other ways, including making him more thankful for life's many gifts.
A day in the mountains. Time with friends. A cap and a gown on a June evening. All are so precious now.
Welcome, to the beef burger without tears.
No prefrozen beef patty here: It's fresh-ground, "certified, premium Hereford Beef."
"Naturally and humanely raised."
"In the U.S.A."
From those nasty, dusty feed lots? No way. This stuff is "from small, family-run farms."
But Albert Ellis, an attorney for the Guyton family, said he wants to determine if In-N-Out Burger or others should be held responsible for the student's injuries.
"We're appalled at this point that the premises owner, In-N-Out, would not provide proper security and allow this many people to congregate there without proper security," Ellis said. "We're evaluating who is responsible for Ray's injuries."
The St. Mary's High School junior was hurt when he went with some friends late Friday to the March Lane restaurant, where a mob beat him to the ground and kicked him unconscious. He sustained a cracked shoulder and two jaw fractures that required surgery.
The whole thing seems sordid, ugly and, worst of all, familiar. It
stinks of a monopolizing American greed that won't be satisfied with local
success; it must be national, it must be global, it must be viral. Remember King
Midas? Everything he touched turned to golden arches.So In-N-Out now stands at a
crossroads.
Today as I wait in line at the drive-thru, I wonder which way that giant
arrow will point. Will the course of empire take it eastward, bringing
Double-Doubles to Denver, Des Moines and Da Bronx? Apart from making those of us
in the West feel a little less special, that wouldn't be such a bad thing,
unless in the Starbucksification of In-N-Out Burger, something gets lost. If the
old-fashioned, slow-rising sponge dough goes, then so goeth I. If celebrity
hotties on TV begin dribbling special sauce down their chins, then none will
dribble down mine. I don't think I'm alone in this.
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's
temple is sacred
Amen
