In-N-Out Burgers , [ 4 ] [ 5 ] doing business as In-N-Out Burger , is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants with locations primarily in California and to a lesser extent the Southwest from Oregon to Texas.
As the chain has expanded, it has opened several distribution centers in addition to its original Baldwin Park location. The new facilities, located in Lathrop, California ; Phoenix, Arizona ; Draper, Utah ; Dallas, Texas ; and Colorado Springs, Colorado will provide for potential future expansion into other parts of the country. In-N-Out Burger has chosen not to franchise its operations or go public ; one reason is the prospect of food quality or customer consistency being compromised by excessively rapid business growth.
In-N-Out Burger's first location was opened in the Los Angeles suburb of Baldwin Park, California , in by the Snyders [ 12 ] at the southwest corner of what is now the intersection of Interstate 10 and Francisquito Avenue. The restaurant was the first drive-thru hamburger stand in California, allowing drivers to place orders via a two-way speaker system.
The Snyders managed their first restaurants closely to ensure quality was maintained. In , year-old Rich Snyder became the company president after his father's death.
Over the next 20 years, the chain experienced a period of rapid growth under Rich's leadership, expanding to 93 [ 23 ] restaurants. The first location outside of the Los Angeles metropolitan area opened in San Diego County in , the 57th location in the chain. Its first Northern California location opened the following year in Modesto. The charter aircraft they were on had been following a Boeing in for landing, became caught in its wake turbulence , and crashed. The ensuing crash investigation led to the Federal Aviation Administration requirement for an adequate distance between heavy aircraft and following light aircraft to allow wake turbulence to diminish.
