In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

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In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by Brian Lutz »

http://www.nrn.com/quick-service/n-out- ... un-problem

In 'N Out has temporarily closed all of their Texas locations after finding that the buns being served were substandard. Presumably they will be flying in buns from California until the problem can be resolved, and should be reopening in the next day or so.

I imagine the problem would have to be pretty drastic to warrant closing all locations. I suppose this would fall into the category of growing pains resulting from growing into new regions.
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Re: In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by wnetmacman »

I tried In-N-Out last month, and was really unimpressed. If I were trying to compete in a state where Whataburger and Dairy Queen's Texas Country Menu dominate, I wouldn't close the doors over 'substandard buns'. Folks there will handily walk to the nearest of these two chains for a better burger.
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Re: In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by storewanderer »

I learned something here because I thought In N Out baked its own buns in one of its factories...

In N Out's meat seems to have gotten noticeably smaller lately, or maybe it is because I am asking for it "extra well done" it is just coming out leaner.

I find In N Out to be an excellent value. The locations are well run and it is impressive just to stand there and watch how well they operate and how efficient and well trained their employees are. The burger offering given the vegetable content and freshness of the vegetables simply cannot be beat in terms of value. Adding the whole raw or whole grilled onion to the burger is a great addition. The chopped green chili peppers are also an excellent addition. The burger is a little skimpy on meat but for me I have no problem with that. The fries aren't very good and I only order them on about 1 in 10 visits with the hope they will be better. They never are. The iced tea is always reliably very strong as well. I can easily eat a burger (single) at In N Out and leave feeling satisfied. When I go order a burger at Five Guys, for comparison, which is larger, but costs more than twice as much, I leave feeling "heavy" for some reason, and dissatisfied over the lousy quality iced tea from their fountain equipment, sloppy looking and very odd behaving employees, and questionable cleanliness.
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Re: In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by rwsandiego »

This might be a function of me having moved to California as an adult, but I never understood what all the fuss is about. I find their burgers to be "OK." Five Guys, on the other hand, is just awful. Would rather eat at McDonald's.
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Re: In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: June 12th, 2018, 9:08 pm This might be a function of me having moved to California as an adult, but I never understood what all the fuss is about. I find their burgers to be "OK." Five Guys, on the other hand, is just awful. Would rather eat at McDonald's.
I would call In N Out average quality food well executed at a fair price point (the "Double Double" is about $1 less than a Big Mac in California, though I guess the basic hamburger at around 2.50 In N Out costs more than a comparable item would at McDonalds, but I am not aware of McDonalds offering a single small patty hamburger with all vegetables). Jack in the Box has a comparable product called Jr. Jack (currently 1.99 in my market) and Burger King has a comparable product called Whopper Jr. (currently 2.59 in my market) and Wendys has a comparable product called Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe (1.29-1.79 in my market depending on location but they don't seem to be able to serve a hot or even warm product for the life of them and they don't even toast or heat the bun; taste is okay if you can look past those issues there). Nothing revolutionary in the flavor category at In N Out by any stretch, but somehow the bun is soft, the meat is hot, the vegetables are all fresh...

Unlike various big name fast food competitors where you never quite know how the bun will be, if the meat will be hot, what the vegetables will be like...
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Re: In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by Brian Lutz »

It might be because I don't live near any of them, but I do enjoy In-N-Out on occasion when I'm in California. It's fast, cheap and probably better when you don't have them often. Five Guys is the type of place where you go for the fries instead of the burgers, but with the prices constantly creeping up to the point where you can easily spend $15 or more on a meal (That's higher than Red Robin prices, and I consider that to be a splurge) it's hard to justify it anymore. Most of the time if I go out for a burger I end up at Burgermaster (small chain based in the Seattle area with mostly drive-in locations, although the one in Everett isn't a drive-in) which is quite good without being too expensive.
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Re: In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by klkla »

wnetmacman wrote: June 12th, 2018, 1:44 pm I tried In-N-Out last month, and was really unimpressed.
Those are fighting words in SoCal LOL.

The reason they are so popular is because everything is so fresh. French fries are cut in front of you. Meat is freshly ground every day. The quality is consistent. And the service is excellent, no matter how busy they are.

I went to the Hollywood location a couple weeks ago and there were 18 cars ahead of me, yet they worked the line in less than 10 minutes.
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Re: In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by architect »

Speaking of Whataburger, this situation is also affecting them along with Raising Cane's:

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/res ... y-concerns
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Re: In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by rwsandiego »

Brian Lutz wrote: June 13th, 2018, 7:37 am It might be because I don't live near any of them, but I do enjoy In-N-Out on occasion when I'm in California. It's fast,..
Can't speak for LA, but in San Diego the lines stretch forever. The one in Mission Valley causes traffic jams. I just don't get it.
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Re: In 'N Out temporarily closes Texas restaurants due to substandard buns

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: June 13th, 2018, 10:16 pm
Brian Lutz wrote: June 13th, 2018, 7:37 am It might be because I don't live near any of them, but I do enjoy In-N-Out on occasion when I'm in California. It's fast,..
Can't speak for LA, but in San Diego the lines stretch forever. The one in Mission Valley causes traffic jams. I just don't get it.
I have noticed in Reno the drive through will have 30-40 cars stretched around the place (the lot is big and oddly shaped and the side street it is on also has some space for cars) but I can usually park and go in and though inside will be full, it will just have steady order traffic at the counter and I can usually get in and out in 15 or so minutes. I go every five weeks or so and am always very satisfied. But not enough to go more often. The customer base inside seems to skew toward high school looking kids, but all age groups are represented. Drive through customers appear to be a fairly good mix of various age groups.

I would agree Red Robin's 6.99 offerings are a good value, and you can modify them in many ways with online ordering. Their take out seems to have a real problem with the bun turning into a soggy mess.
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