Yahoo Finance People Waited 8 Hours In Line For Idaho's First Taste Of In-N-Out
As the favorite burger joint of countless celebrities and braggadocious fans on the internet, In-N-Out Burger has become a household name without having to venture too far outside of the Western United States. When residents of Meridian, Idaho, got their chance to see what the hype was all about last week, nothing was going to get in their way -- not even an eight-hour wait.
On December 12, the California-based burger chain with a cult following opened its first store in Idaho, and to say locals were eager to get their hands on a Double Double would be an understatement. A line of cars started forming the night before the long-awaited restaurant opening, with some people camping outside overnight in almost freezing temperatures, according to the Idaho Statesman.
"I used an electric blanket to stay warm overnight as temperatures dipped to 37 degrees," John Sowell, a California native and In-N-Out super-fan, told The Orange County Register. "I got maybe 90 minutes of sleep. The excitement of what was to come made it hard to sleep."
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Was In-N-Out Worth The Wait?
People who didn't wait the night before still had a long road ahead. By noon on opening day, customers reportedly waited up to eight hours in the drive-thru line. In an attempt to shorten wait times, In-N-Out employees took to the pavement, walking from car to car and taking orders car-side. While still long, some reports claimed the line to order inside of the restaurant moved significantly faster.
The wait time for food at the new In-N-Out location in Meridian was anticipated to be so long that on December 11 -- the evening before the grand opening -- a Facebook page called "In-N-Out Meridian Ohio Wait Time Tracker" was formed. The group, which has accumulated nearly 8,000 members at the time of writing, continues to be used for customers to share their estimated wait times.
A post from December 21 wrote, "Walk in at 9:25 am, ordered at 9:30, food arrived at 9:45." This suggests wait times have significantly dropped since the opening last week -- but some customers who were there on opening day insist the food was worth the excruciatingly long wait.
"Standing in line was the right choice," satisfied In-N-Out customer Jenna Geiger told the Idaho State Journal on opening day. "My daughter grew up on In-N-Out and she just had a little boy, number three, so I thought what better gift, mom came to help her and to get her a burger."
Read the original article on Mashed.
