A tray of In-N-Out burgers, Mill Valley, Calif.
12/27/2008
IN-N-OUT BURGER
After foregoing breakfast and lunch then watching six consecutive hours of Top Chef on a transcontinental flight Wednesday, I was primed for a visit to La Taqueria in San Francisco’s mission district.
“CERRADO HASTA EL ONCE DE ENERO,” read the hand-written sign on the front door of the well-known taco destination. Closed. This is not good.
Advice via SMS came too late for Pancho Villa on 16th St and a half-hearted attempt to find a Yucatecan restaurant that had been recommended the night before died when – counter to GPS directions – I wouldn’t be able to make a left on 18th.
Plus, I really wanted tacos.
PLAN B: I’m on Mission so I figure we should drive downtown and hit up Blue Bottle Coffee for an espresso and we can take a minute to consider our options. I need beans anyway.
I run in for a quick ristretto and a cappuccino; it’s too late in the day for a $7 cup from the totally insane $20,000 Japanese vacuum brewer, (they shut it down after lunch because producing a pot is incredibly labor intensive). They are out of beans for sale by the pound.
At this point, I haven’t eaten since the night before and I’ve just consumed two shots of espresso. The situation is dire.
My trips back home to California are too infrequent and too short to waste even one meal on a sub-par sandwich. Compromising is completely out of the question.
I guess there is the Chinese place I like on Columbus, but my sister wants to get across the Golden Gate bridge before the Christmas Eve exodus traffic piles up.
Fortunately, there is an In-N-Out in Mill Valley, just on the other side of the bridge. It takes us all of three-seconds to decide this is something we must do.
The parking lot is packed, but we manage to get a space near a Chevy Suburban with California personal plates that read “A STONER.”
I am finally at peace after we order our burgers and one basket of animal-style fries, off of the “secret menu.”
In-N-Out is debatably the pinnacle of American fast food.
The family-owned chain has garnered a fanatical cult following for good reason: the burgers and fries are without parallel. All of the food ingredients are fresh, never frozen, the fries are hand cut right before they meet their fate in the deep fryer and the shakes are thick and creamy.
While only available in the Western states, In-N-Out has even made it’s mark on New York, influencing places like the Shake Shack and an In-N-Out knock-off, Blue Nine Burger, which is known to California ex-pats across Manhattan (it is is twice as expensive and half as good as In-N-Out).
The tacos will have to wait, but for now, In-N-Out is a saviour.
–CP
UPDATE: I managed to stop by the Tacos Jaliscos truck in my hometown, Vallejo, Calif., for a mess of $1.25 al pastor tacos. They are not as good as the al pastor tacos at Casa Villa in Stamford, but they certainly hit the spot.
BELOW: A Tacos Jaliscos feast for $12.75
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