The passing of an American hero

Esther Snyder, co-founder of In-N-Out Burger (aka, the best fast-food burger in America), died last week.

4 Replies to “The passing of an American hero”

  1. how sad that she outlived her spouse and her two children, and was then sued by her granddaughter! (or maybe “used” by her granddaughter).

  2. You should keep an eye out on this one, Gil. I read somewhere that the dispute between Snyder and the grandchildren was over whether to keep In-n-Out the same or whether to expand the menu (not just the unofficial stuff you can order if you know what to say) and try and take the chain nationwide. As I undertand it, Snyder was the traditionalist.

  3. I have mixed feelings about that. While I’d love to get In-N-Out here on the east coast, I have a feeling that scaling up to national level will wreak have on the quality control that makes their burgers so darn good.

    It’s sorta nice that it’s a treat for when I head out west. Even if I did walk WAY too far and have to trek over a highway in Vegas to get it that one time.

  4. That’s the supposed conflict in a nutshell. I think the chain has a definite West Coast/LA identity that’s an underrated part of its appeal. It’s so LA in a way to a lot of people that if you mention the one in Vegas people react, “They have one here? In Las Vegas?”

    And formally expanding the menu would be a horrible idea, too.

    On the other hand. In-n-Out is probably good enough to go national. My hometown has a 10 to 12 location pizza chain that is only eaten by people in that town, and everybody at the college or that lives there from out of town finds HORRIBLE. So a lot of chains don’t have a national chance.

    I can’t think of a direct comparison to In-n-Out’s situation — maybe White Castle, once upon a time? Coors beer?

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