Animal Style Burgers from Southern California’s Own Burger Joint
You could smell their burgers almost a mile away – literally. In-N-Out, a Southern California institution, has been around for over 60 years. If you haven’t heard of or had a double double from In-N-Out, then you haven’t been to LA. But perhaps most of you have heard of their Animal Style Burgers from their secret menu and Animal Style fries.
An Animal Style Burger at In-N-Out are patties are grilled with mustard or “mustard fried”, add pickles, add grilled onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and extra spread (directly from Wikipedia). Not everyone likes Animal Style but it is quite popular with locals. It is rumored that the surfer crowd, back in the 50′s, were the ones who coined the term. The surfer crowd was “animal” crowded that preferred this type of burger.
Just recently, I had a double double animal style with animal style french fries. Its something that I don’t usually have – both fries and burger in that manner, but something i was craving. The burger did not disappoint, as expected. The lettuce, the cheese, tomato, with the patty all come together to form a perfect union. I can’t imagine having an In-N-Out burger without the lettuce and tomato, or even pickles. This combination of savoriness, crispness, and juiciness makes it one of the better burgers, fast food or gourmet. I also believe the freshness and simpleness of the ingredients helps the flavor of the burger. Sometimes gourmet burgers try to do too much.
The animal style fries were another story. I was indifferent with them. I like the melted cheese. (I just found out that they have a cheese fries menu item – I would ask for with well-done fries with melted cheese, next time). The sauce with everything else on the fries, was something I wasn’t used to or expected. I kinda liked it. But then I kinda didn’t. The sauce was tangy, something I didn’t think went well with the salty taste of the fries.
At the end of the day, I like animal style, but wouldn’t order every time. I like the fries, but would try just cheese next time. My favorite style of In-N-Out burger is the simple one with grilled onions – either double double or regular cheese burger. I think you need cheese on burgers.
You can find out more about the In-N-Out secret menu here
