Add The California Post on Google In-N-Out may inspire religious devotion among American burger fans, but apparently even the faithful have complaints.
The California-born fast-food institution has spent decades cultivating a cult following around its wallet-friendly burgers and famously fresh ingredients — but a new article tackling top chain customer gripes has exposed cracks in the sainted empire.
From soggy spuds to parking lot gridlock, the Animal-style addicts have been busily airing their beefs online — a backlash that comes during an unusually eventful stretch for the normally change-averse burger chain.
In-N-Out inspires religious-style devotion among its patrons — but they’re definitely not afraid to complain, either. Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post Earlier this month, the Double-Double dealer quietly made changes to its famously old-school menu ingredients — a rare admission to tinkering with the classics.
The West Coast-founded company swapped iodized salt packets for sea salt, removed sesame flour from its buns in several states, and started making its ketchup with real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup.
According to the hungry hordes, they should have started with the fries instead.
While In-N-Out boasts that its fries are made from potatoes that come straight from the farm, sliced inside the restaurant and cooked in 100% sunflower oil, that painstaking freshness can’t stop critics from savaging their texture.
Changes made by In-N-Out recently didn’t include the fries — which even devoted fans of the brand often don’t love. Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post “They seem to taste like cardboard and they seem to take pride in how crap they are,” one disgruntled diner said on Reddit — echoing the feelings of many others, including superfan Hilary Duff — who once notably said that while In-N-Out would be her death row meal, she’d skip the fries entirely.
Other diners have complained that their meals occasionally arrive cold, whole others have reported order mix-ups ranging from missing fries to incorrect burger toppings.
Another grease-slicked grievance is the persistent lack of mayonnaise. Customers can get ketchup, mustard or the chain’s famous spread, but plain mayo’s a no-go, apparently.
And forget grabbing a quick bite. Customers cited long waits as another major frustration, with some reportedly spending at least 20 minutes standing in line waiting to order.
Drive-thru lines are a whole other story, with customers describing waits of around 40 minutes.
“If the drive thru is full and parking lot is somewhat empty, dining room will be faster,” one person, who identified as a former employee, wrote on Reddit. “If the parking lot and drive-thru is full it’s about the same wait time.”
While customers might complain about having to wait around for those burgers, the people running the show are being handsomely compensated in spite of the chaos.
This week, In-N-Out revealed that its store managers now earn an average salary of $200,000 per year.
The company is also known for paying above minimum wage to entry-level employees, and credits this as a reason for their high retention level.
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