What's the "In-n-Out" secret burger menu?

You're taking me back to my childhood talking about the delicious In-N-Out Burger that has become quite a fixture of the Southern Californian fast food eatery world. The east coast has White Castle, which is kind of equivalent, but nowhere near as good (let the arguments ensue!)

Ya wouldn't think it's that hard to cook up some chopped meat, add sauce, cheese, lettuce, perhaps a tomato and some grilled onions onto a halfway edible bun, but it's the scale of cooking, the thousands of burgers these places make daily, that makes it hard to have something consistently delicious. Somehow, In-N-Out has succeeded, but there's no question it's a bit disconcerting the first time you go in and see that their menu is basically "double burger", "hamburger", "cheeseburger" and fries. Nothing else. No complexity, no dozens of menu items from which to pick. Simple, straightforward and good!

Over the years, however, customers have come up with a bunch of curious variations on the burgers that now have their own names, notably including:

2x4

Two patties, four slices of cheese. Cheesy, but tasty. Variations include a 3x3 (three patties, three slices) and a 4x4 (you can figure it out). Used to be they'd apocryphally make up to a 20x20 or larger, but now I think they just look at you funny.

grilled cheese

Easy: a cheeseburger minus the meat. Not really a veggie alternative, but if you're stuck at an In-N-Out and just don't want to eat a cow, this is the easy way to order.

protein style

Gluten-free or just not a fan of buns? Protein style is your favorite burger wrapped in lettuce leaves rather than slapped onto a bun.

animal style

My favorite: a mustard-cooked beef patty with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, extra spread and grilled onions. You can also get the mustard-cooked patty without the extras if you ask for it, of course.

shake, Neapolitan style

In-N-Out has thick shakes in the usual three flavors, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Can't decide? A Neapolitan-style shake has all three flavors and it's thick enough that they don't mix.

Oh, and in terms of this whole "secret menu" thing? You can read about these options on the In-N-Out Burger web site, listed as it's Not-So-Secret Menu. :-)

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