In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out Burger
website, 1159 N Rengstorff Ave, Mountain View, CA, (800) 786-1000, Sunday through Thursday 10:30 a.m.-1:00 a.m, Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m.-1:30 a.m.
[Yelp | Chowhound | Palo Alto Weekly | SJ Mercury News]

In-N-Out Burger makes the best fast food burger I've ever had, by a wide margin. Most other Californians would agree with me (including Thomas Keller). With a fresh bun, crisp lettuce and tomato, addictive spread, melted cheese, and a juicy patty with great beefy taste (despite being cooked to medium well), the burger is fast food perfection. If I had just $3 left for my last meal, I'm pretty sure I would spend it at In-N-Out.

My standard order is a double-double, "animal style", with whole grilled onions instead of the standard chopped grilled onions. (For those that aren't in the know, read up on In-N-Out's "secret menu".) Whole grilled onions are CRUCIAL to an excellent animal style burger. I cannot emphasize this enough. The regular grilled onions are pre-cooked, often burned, and just generally taste bad. The whole grilled onions are cooked to order and thus match perfectly with the freshly cooked patty and the cool, crisp lettuce. The pickles on an animal-style burger also add a nice contrast.

In-N-Out's fries leave something to be desired, however. They're freshly made and never frozen, but they just don't taste that good. I've heard that getting the fries cooked "well done" makes a difference, so I'm going to try that on my next visit. But I doubt that they'll surpass McDonald's, which is the king of fast food fries. (McDonald's apparently uses the same potato supplier as Bouchon, where I had the best fries of my life, and for breakfast at that.)

The milkshakes at In-N-Out are pretty good, and I'd recommend getting one Neapolitan-style (chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry all together) if you go for a shake. But the Frosty is still my favorite fast food frozen dairy option. (Neither are even close to the best milkshake I've ever had in my life at Matt's Place in Butte, Montana.)

So stick with the burgers at In-N-Out, particularly if your caloric budget is limited. It's one of my top two or three favorite places for a meal under $5, and is a must for those visiting the CA-AZ-NV area.