In-N-Out Burgers
In-N-Out Burgers is a West Coast institution. And one of the keys to their success has been keeping it simple. There are only four food items on the In-N-Out menu: Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Double-Double and French Fries. In-N-Out compliments the food with the standard array of Coca-Cola beverages and three shakes: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. And that’s the menu in its entirety…
…or at least that’s what they want you to think. The truth of the matter is that there is an extensive “secret menu” available for those in the know. In fact, the secret items actually outnumber the items legitimately on the menu.
This isn’t just stuff made up by bored employees. If you order a Flying Dutchman, “Flying Dutchman” prints out on your receipt. It’s in the computer.
There is lots of information out there on the Internet about the secret menu, but no one seems to have gotten it all, and a lot of what is out there is just plain wrong. Nothing is more embarrassing than ordering a secret item that doesn’t exist.
So, through dilligent research, we have managed to produce what we believe is the definitive guide to the In-N-Out secret menu.
Burgers
2×4
a 2×4 “Protein Style“
A “2×4″ is a burger with two beef patties and four slices of cheese. You can also order a “3×3,” a “4×2″ or any other meat/cheese combo your little heart desires. In the past, we’ve seen burgers as large as a 100×100, but In-N-Out changed their policy and now a 4×4 is as large as you can get. We managed to get ourselves a 20×20 before that rule went into effect, though.
2xMeat
a 2xMeat with Grilled Onions
(Also known as a “Double Meat”) Two beef patties, no cheese. You can order any n-by-Meat, where n is an integer less than or equal to 4. Triple the meat, triple the pleasure. Need your colon impacted, but don’t have years for it to happen? In-N-Out has the burger for you.
Animal Style
one cheeseburger, “Animal Style”
A mustard-cooked beef patty with additional pickles, cheese, spread and grilled onions diced up and mixed together on the grill before getting dumped on your burger. This is probably the most famous secret menu item, and for good reason: it’s pure awesome on a bun. You can get any burger done Animal Style.
Cut-In-Half
a cheeseburger cut in half”
No big trick here. Ask for any burger to be cut in half, and it will be. As the parent of two girls under five, this makes ordering their meal a lot easier.
Flying Dutchman
a “flying dutchman”
Two beef patties, two slices of cheese. That’s it. No lettuce. No onions. No bun. No nuthin’. Word on the street is that this item was created for people to feed to their dogs at one of the original In-N-Out’s with walk-up service. That sounds plausible to me. Coolest sounding item on the menu. Try tricking a friend into ordering one Animal Style.
Grilled Cheese
grilled cheese
A cheeseburger without the “burger.” My niece always orders the grilled cheese because she doesn’t eat beef and “veggie burgers are boring.” You still have lettuce, onions and tomatoes — as well as a nice helping of the spread. Can also be ordered Animal Style.
Mustard Grilled
They paint your burger with mustard before grilling just like with Animal Style. They just don’t dump the rest of the stuff on top. Pretty tasty if you like mustard.
Protein Style
a 2×4, “protein style”
Any burger you want wrapped in lettuce instead of that carbohydrate-laden bun. Great if you’re doing Adkins. Any diet where you you can eat all the bacon you want but you can’t have a slice of bread sounds suspicious to me, though.
Veggie Burger
Just like the Grilled Cheese, except with no cheese. Also known as a “Wish Burger” — presumably a reference to a song from 1957 by the Chips.
Extra Toast
Leaves your bread on the grill a tad longer resulting in “crispy buns,” which is not as dirty as it sounds. Can be ordered with any burger. You can also get the bun lightly toasted or untoasted. Not a good idea though. They toast the buns so that they have some rigidity and don’t get soggy by the condiments.
Fries
Animal Style Fries
Animal Style fries
All the same great stuff that’s on an Animal Style Burger, dumped on an order of fries instead.
Cheese Fries
cheese fries
Fries with cheese on top. I assume this is why they call it “cheese fries.”
Fries Light
fries, light
Fries not cooked as long as regular. For that great “I’m eating a raw potato” taste. Not my favorite, but hey, different strokes for different folks.
Fries Well-Done
fries, well-done
You know those delicious little brown crispy fries that you find in the bottom of the bag sometimes? Wouldn’t it be great if you could get an entire order of them? Your welcome.
Drinks
Neapolitan Shake
a Neapolitan shake
All three shake flavors in one delicious cup. Because shakes are so thick, the flavors stay separated. Surprisingly good..
Choco-Vanilla Swirl
“Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony…”
Root-Beer Float
root-beer float
Even old hands at the secret menu are often surprised when you order this item and actually receive it. Great summer treat.
Tea-Aid
Half tea, half lemonade. Yes, we know this is an “Arnold Palmer.” Stop telling us. I suspect In-N-Out is also aware this is an Arnold Palmer. I also suspect you would need to pay Mr. Palmer money to call it that, so In-N-Out chooses not to.
Lemon-Up
Half lemonade, half 7-up or Sprite. Not all suicides are created equal, and this one tastes pretty good.
Extras
Spread
the spread
The In-N-Out version of a “secret sauce.” It’s a bit like Thousand Islands dressing, but there are other things in there, too. You can get a big extra packet of it just by asking.
Grilled Onions
a 2xMeat with grilled onions
You can get them “whole” (one big slice) or chopped.
Peppers
peppers
You can ask for a packet, or get them diced on the bottom of your burger by asking for “chopped chilis.” Several sites refer to them as jalapeños. They look like banana peppers to me.
Extra tomatoes, extra lettuce, extra onion
Do I really need to explain this? I mean really?
No Salt
You can order both your burger and fries with no salt added. This makes them taste worse, but they are marginally better for you. If you are really worried about your health, you’re in the wrong restaurant.
Failures
Not everything that we found on the Internet actually existed. So here are a few imaginary items that we ordered so you don’t have to.
Wish Burger: This is another name for a veggie burger, but not all In-N-Out employees know it, though. On our test day, the cashier was flummoxed by it. (Actually, I just wanted to use the word “flummoxed.”)
“On the Sal”: “On the Sal” was supposed to give us all the vegetables that normally go on the burger, with secret sauce on top, and nothing else — basically a tiny side salad. Once again, the lovely cashier had no idea what I was talking about.
But ordering the non-existant “On the Sal” taught us something important:
Although she had no idea what I was talking about, the cashier was perfectly willing to give me an “On the Sal” if I could describe it to her. Evidently, the registers at In-N-Out are a little more sophisticated than the “picture of the fries” model at Mickey-D’s.
The employees at In-N-Out will do anything to a burger if you ask them.
This probably doesn’t include stripping naked and dancing around the burger while praying to your dark gods, but it might — we didn’t ask.
Photos by Patti Marcotte
Tags: animal style, burgers, fast food, in-n-out, protein style, secret menu
Hey. I actually work at in n out and there are still a few things that we have that arent on here. like whole grilled onion, raw chopped onions. mustard fried burger, chopped chilis, etc.
you get the real insiderds when you work.
well then tell us what it is.spill the secret.
yeah be a nice person and tell us, i don’t see why you shouldn’t.
Wait… Chrystal, I need some more detail on the chopped chilis, you can’t just start with mysteries and leave them hanging…
Chopped & whole chilies are available in most markets. Some counties health restrictions prevent us from chopping & cooking the chilies but they are available upon request at all locals.
then it won’t be a secret.
keep it a secret or everyone will know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They won’t grill the tomato. I’ve tried. Apparently it messes with their system.
I used to live in So. Cal. and I had friends order a 4×4. 4 patties and 4 slices of cheese. Is that no longer on the “secret menu”?
Actually the 4×4 IS still available. We just don’t make anything bigger than the 4×4 anymore.
the animal style fries are called animal fries
[...] you live in California, Nevada, Arizona or Utah? Do you know how to get a double-double animal style? If not, you might want to check out this regional fast food. Now, what would happen if the good [...]
Flying Dutchman? Interesting. So, it is basically two cooked patties covered in cheese? What a novel idea
WHAT THE FUCK? ANIMAL STYLE? LOL! And what the fuck happened to the Flying Dutchman? 2 patties 2 cheese on a paper?
Steve.ask them to wash your mouth out with soap and teach you a bit of self respect next time!!!
I’ve ordered a root beer float. It tastes good but I didn’t think the person who made it made it in a while because it was overflowing!
I went to the new In N Out in West Jordan, Utah today, and I saw a girl that had those Peppercini peppers on her burger. She left before I could ask her what that was called. Can anyone help me out?
Ya if you want it ON the burger asked for chopped chilies. If you want them in the package on the side ask for a side of peppers.
Oh and follow us on twitter at twitter.com/IN_N_OUT_BURGER
Apparently the counter guy misunderstood me last week when I ordered. I ended up with an “Easy” #3 (Said “Easy” at the top of the receipt) with double meat AND Animal Style, which is what I thought I’d asked for. I was a little confused at first, but I’ve been back to the same In N Out (Blue Diamond in Vegas) and ordered an “Easy” again. It appears to consist of a spicy version of the sauce, chopped chillies and a whole onion slice (1st time raw, 2nd time cooked). If you like really spicy hot, go with the “Easy.” I’m thinking I’ll stick with the “Double Easy, Animal Style, No Tomato, cooked onion.”
Actually, easy is just a way of putting a meal into the computer. It automatically adds the burger and the fries at the same time. Its just a way of communicating in the kitchen. So if your reciept said Easy #3 that would be the burger that comes with a number 3 and the fries. I don’t know what they put on when you ordered it easy, but I am glad you enjoyed it! Just make sure if you order it again, give the cashier a reciept. P.S. sorry to say but there is no spicy version of the sauce.
sorry, not reciept, description
Here are some more great ways to order. I’ll give you the how to “Say” and then the Ingredients from top to bottom…
Say – “Double-Double with both kind of onions, no-tomato, extra spread,with cold_cheese”/ Bun,meat,grillonion,meat,x-spread,lett,cold_cheese,rawonion,spread,bun.
Say – “Cheese Burger with grilled onions,add ketchup, fried mustard, and chopped chillies”/ Bun,ketchup,grillonion,cheese,meat,friedmustard,lett,toma,pickle,chillie,spread,bun.
Say – “Doubel-Double with whole grilled onions, raw chopped onions, and spread only”/ Bun,cheese,meat,whole sliced onion then grilled,cheese,meat,rawchopped,spread,bun.
Those are some of my favorites.
Also here are some popular variations are…
Well done meat
Medium rare meat
No salt on meat
Light toast bun
no toast bun
xtra toast bun
extra everything
mustard fried(comes with pickles)
Ketchup & Mustard instead
Spread on top bun
is the such thing as a chicken burger on this menu? that would be amazing
No, sorry no chicken here. Just the worlds best burgers! We leave the chicken to Chic-Fil-A they leave the burgers to us!
you both have the best… chic fil a has AWESOME chicken sandwiches and no one can beat in n out burger. its just a fact of life!
Im origionally from northern california…. what i wouldnt do for a double animal style burger-bun toasted- and animal fries. mmm… (I live in virginia unfortunately. No In n Out and no Jamba Juice. I live a sad life now)
oops “originally” haha my bad
I thought I really knew all about In-N-Out but I even learned a few things by reading this post. The Flying Dutchman was a totally new one on me.
Oh, and reading the Wikipedia article makes In-N-Out look like a walk-in restaurant. I’ve only seen one, and not till 5 years ago. Must be a Norteño thing… The one depicted in the intro animation at http://www.in-n-out.com/ is the real deal.
All of the original locations (before the proliferation during the 90′s) were a small box with walk-up window and a drive-through on either side with outside seating. I am guessing it worked better in Southern California…
or you can try a really odd In-N-Out in Fullerton CA which doesn not have a drive-thru. Placentia Ave/Chapman Ave
There are 5 locations without drive thru’s at all, they’re very odd to work in/ visit!
In N Out does have great Burgers and it would be great if they put one here in Oklahoma. But when I lived in Carson City Nevada one of the issues that the company had was if it was possible to delivere the fresh cut Ground Beef to the stores each day. Don;t know if that is true But I do miss them.
It IS true, we use a single meat supplier & never freeze anything so distribution is always a concern.
[...] compiled the most comprehensive list of secret menu items I’ve [...]