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Why In-N-Out Burger Won't Be Coming To Downtown
In-N-Out Burger in Hollywood (Photo by M.V. Jantzen via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
Don't expect to munch on an animal-style cheeseburger any time soon in downtown. In-N-Out Burger has some serious requirements for opening a spot.
The beloved, family-run burger joint would rather avoid urban areas like downtown because they require a stand-alone restaurant on an acre of land, with up to 45 surface parking spots, and a drive-thru lane with space for up to 15 cars, according to blogger Brigham Yen. Hot damn!
Yen had asked the real estate department of the burger chain for the reasoning behind their goal to stick to what they called suburban areas, which downtown definitely wouldn't fit the bill. (We could just imagine how a line of cars waiting in the drive-thru would jam up the already busy streets.) He heard that either Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa or Mayor Eric Garcetti had tried to get In-N-Out to come out to downtown and LAX, but those hopes were squashed.
However, In-N-Out's requirements don't seem to match up with their other locations. Hollywood doesn't seem that suburban, and as Curbed LA points out from checking out the city's zoning website, the Hollywood and Westwood locations don't quite fill up an acre.
Yen also mentions that the Glendale restaurant and the one up in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf don't have any drive-thru lanes. So, what gives? Although In-N-Out could benefit from such a pedestrian-heavy area like downtown, it seems like they'd rather keep their old-school image of a line of people in cars waiting to grub on some well-done fries and milkshakes.
Sigh, we can only dream for now.
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