In-N-Out Burger (South Salt Lake)
28 E. 2100 SouthI didn’t have much time in Utah.
I was in Salt Lake City for the US Figure Skating National Solo Dance finals at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex.
I was only going to be in town for about 20 hours. I flew in Wednesday night, my daughter competed Thursday morning, and I was back on a plane Thursday evening heading towards Grand Rapids.
When J picked me up from the airport Wednesday night, she already had an In-N-Out Burger in her GPS. I asked if we could hold off on that until Thursday because I wanted to hit a Crown Burgers in downtown on our way back to the hotel.
Thursday, L competed at 8:00 AM and 10 AM. Her event was over around 11:00 and she got her medal for second in the nation around 11:30.
I didn’t have to be back to the airport until later in the afternoon so at that point, I asked J if I could go to In-N-Out Burger. She wanted to get L something to eat anyway so the two of us left the rink for a while to go pick up lunch.
We headed towards the In-N-Out Burger on 2100 South east of Main Street in South Salt Lake. This location is fairly new having been built in the last couple of years. This whole area has actually been rebuilt and commercialized in the last ten years. The area is anchored by a WinCo Foods store. After that was built, several national chains moved in to the spaces surrounding it. This In-N-Out Burger is on the northside of the building on a parcel of land that used to be a two story office building.
I picked this In-N-Out Burger because it was close to a Chipotle which is what L wanted for lunch. The Chipotle is right around the corner and if I had paid closer attention to my maps, I could have cut through the parking lots to get to In-N-Out Burger but instead, I chose to follow the GPS which took me the wrong way to do a U-Turn on State Street to get to 2100 South. It took like 10 minutes for a trip that could have been made in 2 but that is 100% my fault for not paying attention.
I have only been inside an In-N-Out Burger a few times. The first was actually in nearby Midvale, UT ten years ago when J and I were in the area for a wedding. The most recent was almost two years ago when I was in Anaheim. We don’t get out West very often.
In-N-Out Burger is a fast food joint with a very limited menu. It’s pretty much burgers and fries. The appeal for east coasters like us is that you can’t get it here. It’s strictly a west coast chain.
The order set up is like any fast food joint. There’s a counter right inside the door with the very small menu hanging over head. I knew what I wanted when I walked in since, again, the menu is very small. J needed a second so we hung back until she was ready.
We put in an order for a Double Double combo meal and a cheeseburger meal for J. The cost was right around $20.
It was a pretty busy lunch rush so J and I filled up our drinks that tried to stay out of the way in the dining room.
The In-N-Out dining room is pretty distinct. They kind of have a 50’s diner to them with white and red subway tile dominating the aesthetic. There are a combination of booths and tables spread throughout the pretty large area.
The seats aren’t really comfortable. The booths are pretty small with plastic seats and the tables have chairs that are attached to the floors like it’s McDonalds in the 1980’s. We weren’t dining in though as we needed to get L’s meal back to the rink.
I kept things simple and ordered the Double Double combo. This signature sandwich is two burger patties, two slices of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and “spread.” The burgers are really pretty non-exciting fast food patties. What people really go nuts over is the spread. It’s mostly a fry sauce made with mayo, ketchup, and relish with some sugar, vinegar, and other spices. I’m not a huge sauce guy so while I don’t mind the spread on the sandwich, it’s not something I go crazy about. The burger is but, really, it’s just a fast food burger. I really should go a little bigger with a 3×3 or a 4×4 (the max they allow now) and see if that changes my mind. As it is, the Double Double flavor is dominated by the sauce and bead and not the meat.
There were a lot of fries in our bag which was really nice. The fries aren’t anything super special either. They’re tasty fast food skin on fries with a bit of salt and pepper. You can get them “Animal Style” with spread and onions on them or with cheese but we were not eating in so I kept it simple and just kept them plain. They were tasty and plentiful. About all I could ask for with fast food fries.
In-N-Out Burger is what it is. I think people outside of the west coast crave it because it’s not here and west coasters elevate it as a product of their region. It’s fine. It’s a treat whenever I’m out west that I will always go for but it’s a fast food burger.
SW Michigan Dining 
In a nutshell, its the West coast version of White Castle…not food wise, just because you cant have WC all the time out West