Regional identity

[Buckeye Native 001]

I'm dreading the day In-N-Out opens in Flagstaff. Whoever thought it was a good idea to build it on the busiest thoroughfare in town, right where Interstate 17 ends and near the main entrance to NAU ought to be tarred and feathered. The burgers aren't worth the traffic headaches.

And unfortunately plinko's right. The Habit used to be good, but their quality has gone downhill.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

What I like about living in Arizona: We get In-N-Out, Culvers, and Whataburger so I can judge yall's burgers for myself. In other news, I'm fat.

I like them but it depends on what I want at the time. They're all definitely huge steps above McDonalds, Burger King, and even Wendy's. I might view burgers the same way Steely views pizza.

We have all those and Whataburger used to be incredibly good. In the last few years, Whataburger has really gone downhill. It's probably franchises, but something has happened and their food is awful. I'm just not a fan of cold and dry burgers. When I was in college I routinely would eat double and tripple burgers there.

[FromSD]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

In-N-Out and Whataburger are both overrated but they are regionally loved (California and Texas) much like, say, Kewpee's or Swensons is regionally loved in Ohio or Blake's Lotaburger is loved in New Mexico. I will say Culver's is better than In-N-Out and Whataburger...but if I'm on a budget, no one is touching Cook Out.

And honestly, California should ditch the praise of In-N-Out and start showcasing The Habit for a fast-casual burger.

In-N-Out is definitely over-hyped, but the burgers are good; the fries are fine when they're still hot; and the shakes are decent. Part of the hype results from the fact that the chain is family owned and the family has been very slow to expand the number of stores, especially beyond Southern California. So when the rare new location opens up out of state (as in Colorado last year), there are always news stories about mile long lines of people waiting to purchase entry-level cheeseburgers. This stokes the In-N-Out hype. It doesn't hurt that the chain's food is good value for money, and it has a reputation for paying its workers relatively well. In-N-Out employees at least put up the appearance of being happy to serve you, which isn't always the case at fast food franchises.

The Habit is very good, but it's in a different league than In-N-Out in terms of pricing. The burgers are more substantial, but you pay a fair bit more for them.

In-N-Out really is a beloved Southern California institution. It's sort of like Trader Joe's that way. This may change as the chain grows and becomes less uniquely Southern Californian, but for now it's popularity is really quite high.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by homebucket

^ Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen those up here. They're usually like your typical fast food place with an indoor dining area, a drive thru, and a handful of tables for outdoor dining. There's usually a super long line for drive thru, so eating inside is usually faster, although sometimes that can have a fairly long line as well.

When I was a kid, I always associated In-N-Outs as being the open-air kind, like a real "burger stand." Kind of like the old Wienerschnitzels and Pup 'N' Tacos (now a defunct chain, that I think was never outside of southern California). Only the newer In-N-Outs are enclosed.

Going by the website, as of 1973, there were only 13 In-N-Out locations, all in Los Angeles County, and all of them open-air. The first "dining room" In-N-Out didn't open until 1979 in the Inland Empire, in Ontario. After this, only 13 more restaurants were built without a dining room. The first In-N-Out without a drive-thru opened in 1984, in Placentia (Orange County). As of 2012, five In-N-Out restaurants, all in California, are in this style: Laguna Hills, Mill Valley, Glendale and San Francisco - Fisherman's Wharf, as well as the original Placentia location.

Per Wikipedia, In-N-Out didn't open outside of Greater Los Angeles until 1990, when it opened one in San Diego County. Its first non-SoCal location was in Vegas, which opened in 1992, and its first northern California location opened in Modesto in 1993, and soon after, they started opening in the Bay Area.

So yeah homebucket, all the In-N-Outs in your area are all enclosed/have dining rooms.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by FromSD

In-N-Out is definitely over-hyped, but the burgers are good; the fries are fine when they're still hot; and the shakes are decent. Part of the hype results from the fact that the chain is family owned and the family has been very slow to expand the number of stores, especially beyond Southern California. So when the rare new location opens up out of state (as in Colorado last year), there are always news stories about mile long lines of people waiting to purchase entry-level cheeseburgers. This stokes the In-N-Out hype. It doesn't hurt that the chain's food is good value for money, and it has a reputation for paying its workers relatively well. In-N-Out employees at least put up the appearance of being happy to serve you, which isn't always the case at fast food franchises.

The Habit is very good, but it's in a different league than In-N-Out in terms of pricing. The burgers are more substantial, but you pay a fair bit more for them.

In-N-Out really is a beloved Southern California institution. It's sort of like Trader Joe's that way. This may change as the chain grows and becomes less uniquely Southern Californian, but for now it's popularity is really quite high.

I like In-N-Out's shakes. I will admit though, that the size of the cups they put them in have shrunk over the years.

And I will reiterate along with you, that In-N-Out's fries are best when eaten hot and fresh. Basically once they get lukewarm, they start tasting stale.

I've liked The Habit's burgers better than In-N-Out's. Though I don't eat burgers anymore, I still go to The Habit on occasion to get their ahi tuna sandwiches and their tempura green beans. Yum...

And like others have said, In-N-Out has the best value. Not the "end-all" of burgers, but definitely worth the price.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by homebucket

^ Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen those up here. They're usually like your typical fast food place with an indoor dining area, a drive thru, and a handful of tables for outdoor dining. There's usually a super long line for drive thru, so eating inside is usually faster, although sometimes that can have a fairly long line as well.

The other hilarious thing is how massively in n out will fuck up traffic...

[JManc]

There's an In-N-Out by SFO (Millbrea) that's a total madhouse and traffic is constantly clogged up on that street.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by JManc

There's an In-N-Out by SFO (Millbrea) that's a total madhouse and traffic is constantly clogged up on that street.

Ironically that is one of two In-N-Outs I've been to before, and yea, it was a mess even on a sunday afternoon when I was there before my flight out from SFO. The other one I've visited in suburban Las Vegas was much more.. normal.

[hipster duck]

In n' Out seems to play the same role in California's identity that Tim Horton's does in Canada.

In n' Out is overrated, but at least it's still tasty. Tim Horton's is awful.

[veep]

In-N-Out is Shake Shack quality at Burger King prices.

[Crawford]

I'd say In-N-Out is cultural brethren to Chik-fil-A. Both produce epic traffic, devoted superfans, questionable hype and are part of regional identity.

Tim Hortons is more akin to Dunkin, at least in the Northeast U.S.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I'd say In-N-Out is cultural brethren to Chik-fil-A. Both produce epic traffic, devoted superfans, questionable hype and are part of regional identity.

Tim Hortons is more akin to Dunkin, at least in the Northeast U.S.

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[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

When I was a kid, I always associated In-N-Outs as being the open-air kind, like a real "burger stand." Kind of like the old Wienerschnitzels and Pup 'N' Tacos (now a defunct chain, that I think was never outside of southern California). Only the newer In-N-Outs are enclosed.

Going by the website, as of 1973, there were only 13 In-N-Out locations, all in Los Angeles County, and all of them open-air. The first "dining room" In-N-Out didn't open until 1979 in the Inland Empire, in Ontario. After this, only 13 more restaurants were built without a dining room. The first In-N-Out without a drive-thru opened in 1984, in Placentia (Orange County). As of 2012, five In-N-Out restaurants, all in California, are in this style: Laguna Hills, Mill Valley, Glendale and San Francisco - Fisherman's Wharf, as well as the original Placentia location.

Per Wikipedia, In-N-Out didn't open outside of Greater Los Angeles until 1990, when it opened one in San Diego County. Its first non-SoCal location was in Vegas, which opened in 1992, and its first northern California location opened in Modesto in 1993, and soon after, they started opening in the Bay Area.

So yeah homebucket, all the In-N-Outs in your area are all enclosed/have dining rooms.

very interesting, the only In N Out's I've been to in LA is the one near LAX and the one in Culver City...

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

In n' Out is overrated, but at least it's still tasty. Tim Horton's is awful.

Right on both counts.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Southerners are really the only ones that use their region as a cultural identifier, and even that will probably die out within 1 or 2 more generations. The opposite of "southern" has historically been a "yankee", which includes all of the northeast and the upper Midwest. But I think most of us reading this have never heard that used in everyday conversation. We're more likely to hear Brits calling us yankees as Americans.

Southern culture will not come close to dying out in the next 100 years.

Black culture carries a lot of Southern culture with it for obvious reasons, and I don't see that dying out.

Also, Atlanta and places like it aren't the only part of the South. Just because northerners are moving to places like that changes nothing for 95% of the rest of the state.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Southern culture will not come close to dying out in the next 100 years.

Black culture carries a lot of Southern culture with it for obvious reasons, and I don't see that dying out.

Also, Atlanta and places like it aren't the only part of the South. Just because northerners are moving to places like that changes nothing for 95% of the rest of the state.

I dunno... it seems to have become much more muted in just the two decades that I've been an adult. I know plenty of people around my age that grew up in the South but speak with standard northern accents. There will probably be micro-cultures for longer in the slower growing places (New Orleans, Alabama, Mississippi, etc.) but southern culture is pretty much already extinguished in the fast growing major cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, and Houston.

[L41A]

Or, if anything, Southern Culture is growing. By perspective maybe becoming more mainstream, influential, and embedded broadly in US culture with language (y'all, ain't, sayings like 'hit dog will holler', etc), food (shrimp/grits, Waffle House, Chick-fil-a, etc), and always the mainstay of music.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by L41A

Or, if anything, Southern Culture is growing. By perspective maybe becoming more mainstream, influential, and embedded broadly in US culture with language (y'all, ain't, etc), food (shrimp/grits, Waffle House, Chick-fil-a, etc), and always the mainstay of music.

True, I guess you can say that. There are elements of southern culture that are being mainstreamed and becoming part of the general culture. My point is more that the south won't have a strong distinct culture the way it has in the past. In another generation the distinction between north and south will be about as pronounced as the difference between the Northeast and the West Coast.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I dunno... it seems to have become much more muted in just the two decades that I've been an adult. I know plenty of people around my age that grew up in the South but speak with standard northern accents. There will probably be micro-cultures for longer in the slower growing places (New Orleans, Alabama, Mississippi, etc.) but southern culture is pretty much already extinguished in the fast growing major cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, and Houston.

I don't disagree. I have a lot of contemporaries that grew up in the Atlanta area and none of them have Southern Accents. But they do say y'all etc etc. Certainly, they're culturally more Southern than me in other ways (pace, temper, etc).

That being said, accents and class are intertwined. The Philadelphia accent is much more muted than it was even a generation ago, but you certainly hear it still consistently among working class whites.

[Acajack]

Y'all is now quite present in Canada, and I've even seen it show up in Australia recently.