Fresno, California
View From Your Table
37 Responses to View From Your Table
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DS says:
And I,
in New Orleans,
half a block from the best bowl of gumbo in the world,
am file’-green
with envy. -
MattW says:
I heard In-n-Out burger was supposed to be so delicious, then I went there and it was ok. Just a fast food joint.
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Calidali says:
Ah! As a SoCal native, the In-N-Out Burger is a sight to behold! Truly a slice of home!!
I live in Dallas now and, thank heavens, In-N-Out recently arrived here, but the arrival of said junk food beauty has made me wonder about how such rabid followings come to be. Philly people love their Tasty Cakes and WaWa convenience stores, Texans love Whataburger and Shiner Bock, some friends of mine from Ohio swear by White Castle. In-N-Out is one more regional beauty the people swoon over – and with good reason I might add!!
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Rick in TX says:
I’ll probably be crucified for saying this but here goes:
They’ve recently started opening up In-n-Out Burgers in the Dallas area. I’ve tried them and just can’t see why everyone makes such a fuss over them. They’re mediocre at best.
I guess there must be some special gene that you SoCal folks have that makes y’all like In-n-Out so much.
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cecelia says:
LOL – but is there irony in the “leg vein” sign that is part of the view?
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G-diddy says:
I lived in SoCal for four years as an adult and still don’t understand In-n-Out’s cult following. It’s a good burger, sure, but also the most overrated restaurant in history. Seriously. I mean, I get their whole schtick. The limited menu, the made to order freshness. Again, a good burger, but I just don’t see why people go ape. The only thing I can figure is that most people grew up without good food or a multitude of great, local burger joints like I did, so they have no frame of reference.
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Sorry, this photo was taken in Fresno, but sent to me by a reader who lives in San Francisco.
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Mad Doc MacRae says:
Huh. A five guys burger would destroy that.
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Roland de Chanson says:
Je vous en prie les tous, qu’est-ce que c’est qu’un burger?
Un citoyen d’une ville d’Allemagne? Et pourquoi est-ce que l’on le mangerait? Je suis perplexe.
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One thing we’re missing with the In-N-Out’s in Texas is the In-N-Out truck. Back home they’ll come and cater your event. My rommate in college had his wedding catered by the In-N-Out truck. No kidding!
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BAM in RI says:
At 69 I am still getting out to work every day five days a week in Boston, getting up at 5:25 AM and getting home at night at 7:15 PM.
The drive to the train station plus the train is 2:15 hrs each way.
No complaints from me!
My supper consists of a Burger King Whopper Jr., stopping off on the way from the train station!
There is a Five Guys about 500 ft beyond the Burger King.
Should I try it?
I’m thinking, I will stick with Burger King!
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meh says:
Roger Ebert writing about his local favorite, Steak ‘n Shake:
Friends in Los Angeles took me to In-n-Out Burger, and I consumed a drippy, mushy mess on a soft bun, and shook my head sadly. If you are from one of the 19 Stake ‘n Shake states you will know what I mean. At this point I could tell a smutty joke about how the very names of the two chains describe the difference in styles of sexual intercourse between California and the Heartland, but I refrain.
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TWylite says:
Lebowski 53:27
“Those are good burgers, Walter.”
“Shut the (heck) up, Donny.” -
P.S. I’ll bet there is a relationship between fast food, liquor and leg veins, but I’m not a medical professional.
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WhollyRoamin says:
Localism be damned. That should be in Kansas City.
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Mitchell Young says:
I can’t resist.
Besides serving a really great burger — what with all that made-to-order freshness — In-n-Out has another distinction. They hire a local workforce. Unlike McD’s etc, which now a days are staff totally by Mexicans, In-n-Out’s workforce will reflect its neighborhood, and most will speak unaccented English. They pay decently, about $1.50 more per hour than other fast food jobs, I understand. And those who work up to manage a restaurant (not franchised, btw), can earn a low six figures.
They are also a Christian company, and used to feature scripture readings on the bottoms of drink cups. (Maybe they still do).
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John Haas says:
This makes me hungry.
Please.
Stop.
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Dave D says:
We just had a five guys open here, too. It’s ironic because it’s going to be the sixth burger place within 3 miles of each other, and would have been a seventh if the local friendly’s didn’t burn down. It’s like how many burger shops do we need here?
In and Out sounds a lot like Chik Fil-A. When I lived in NC, people were crazy for it, but the food was kind of meh. Never got the southern focus of putting pickles on chicken.
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Never been to In-N-Out, but boy, I don’t understand why Five Guys is such a big deal. Their burgers are okay. My wife and children love love love it. I think: Meh.
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Johan says:
I live in the heart of Inn-N-Out country in San Gabriel Valley. Besides being unimpressed by their burger, what I really don’t like about them is that they have little or no parking (at least the ones in my area); so customers line up in their cars to the drive-thru window, and cars snake out onto the street, creating a traffic hazard and blocking the entrance to the neighboring business. I.e. they use the public streets as their parking lot, so they don’t have to build their own. I don’t see why the police allows this.
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Anglican Peggy says:
Five Guys is way overpriced. I spent about $12 the first and last time I went there. Its just not that good.
I also don’t understand the passionate feelings that some people have for In N Out. I first tried it in CA and my Cali native friend could not believe that I was unimpressed by them.
But when the chain came to Dallas, I decided to give it another try once the crowds died down to less insane levels no longer requiring police to direct traffic. After all the first time had been at the end of a long flight. It was a much better experience the second time. No, its nowhere near the best burger I have ever had but it was fresh & tasty. The service was excellent. The prices can’t be beat. I plan to make it a regular stop now just for the value.
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Zach says:
I have to agree with Rod, Five Guys is very meh. Overpriced, and other than the ridiculous amount of fries you get, not terribly different from any other chain. Never had In-N-Out, though.
Chick-fil-A, though, is a completely different story. The spicy chicken sandwich is the stuff of life, at least to this Southerner.
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Five Guys is good, but doesn’t blow me away. I like the variety of toppings for no extra charge though. There’s not a fast food burger out there that can compare with one you grilled yourself.
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Monterey says:
Love the photo!
My two cents: Five guys is nothing to write home about. Just okay.
Californians like In N Out because it’s cheap and pretty good. Not amazing. Just really good for the price. If we’d had one of these in my L.A. community back in the day as teenagers, we’d have gone there every week, because we could actually afford it.
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TJ says:
Cleveland’s own Michael Symon has one up’ed the Five Guys/In-and-Outs of the world: his “B-Spot” restaurants, which feature about a dozen different burgers, are a gigantic step up in quality with only a modest bump in price ($8-9 for a burger). Pair it with a milkshake mixed with Kahlua, and that’s a meal.
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Mr. Patrick says:
Chez Whitey all the way. It was depressing when all the White Castles around here switched from their sheet metal, trailer-type construction to block. And before any southerner gets all hopped up: Krystal is good too. The slider should come with mustard standard.
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Josh Brown says:
I’ll take an indie burger place over a chain any day of the week. Over in Cusseta, GA there is a place called Four Winds in the middle of nowhere. Best burger for miles. Only place that I know that could top it is The Vortex in Atlanta. Have a hankerin’ for a burger in Atlanta? The only option is Vortex.
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Kris D says:
Am a fan of In-N-Out in NV. Can’t beat the prices & the burgers are pretty decent. I think the limited menu is a plus, not a minus. Too many fast food joints try to do too many things.
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I had In-N-Out in LA and I thought it was pretty good … for a fast food burger. Was it better than McDonald’s or Burger King? Sure, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the best burgers I’ve had elsewhere, so I’ve never really understood its cult.
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The only redeeming thing about Five Guys is that they give you an imperial asswhack (somewhat larger than a metric asswhack) of fries.
Other than that, it’s fine but unremarkable.
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Sam M says:
“I’ll take an indie burger place over a chain any day of the week.”
I think you need to try it for more than a week.
People take whacks at chain restaurants all the time. “Olive Garden isn’t as good as that bistro I ate at in Manhattan!” Well, no crap. But it’s not meant to replace that bistro. In most cases, it offers some semblance of Italian cuisine to people and places who never had anything of the sort.
Same with burger joints. Let’s say a Five Guys opened in some ramshackle burg in the middle of nowehre, or in the sprawl by an airport. maybe it will squeeze out some beloved, local “indie” joint that made the bestest of everything. I guess that happens. But more often, it’s the only place selling burgers, or it’s replacing a really crappy local diner that sold frozen junk for years, and which customers abandon for a reason.
This is also true of craft beers. Budweiser didn’t crush a bunch of nascent Anchor Steams that couldn’t compete on marketing. Budweiser replaced a bunch of regional Budweiser-style beers like Schlitz and Olympia and Nattie Boh. In large part because, in many instances, Budweiser was just as good or better.
That is, prefering the “indie” burger joint is great if you live in an area that has lots of indie burger joints. But sometimes, the indie burger joint absolutely sucks.
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Eric K says:
Five Guys is much better than In-and-Out, in my opinion. The Five Guys fries beat the other chains’ hands down. In-and-Out is worth going to if there’s one nearby, but it’s not that good.
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Sean says:
In-N-Out is the king of all fast food, and how fun that the picture was taken at my “local” branch, just 45 minutes away!* Alas, Fresno is blighted by billboards for things like “Leg Vein Experts,” so I prefer to remain in my rural enclave, consuming local grass-fed beef purchased from the farmer himself.
*No, I don’t currently live in Jefferson, but it is still my home.
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Agreed with Sam M on chains. I like Olive Garden. There are a few rules to foodieism that you have to keep in mind.
1. Wherever you ate, there is always some place more obscure and better
2. Whatever you ate, there is always something more obscure and better
3. It’s all about status.
Speaking of Ross Douthat, In n Out burger in San Francisco is a heresy. In n Out should never open locations North of, say, the Grapevine. Let Norcal create its own burger.