Show me someone who is not excited about the In-n-Out restaurant chain coming to Clark County and I will show you someone who has likely never been to one. As a Southern California transplant one of the top things I miss here in Washington (other than being warm, dry or ever seeing the sun) is In-n-Out. The first thing I did when I read the announcement that the chain was planning to build their first Washington location in Ridgefield was to text my son. He moved here 3 years ago when he came off active duty and hasn’t had one of these delicious burgers in some time.
For anyone who has never been to one, I’m sorry. You’re missing out. Many people, myself included, consider it to be the ultimate burger joint! Their displayed menu is simple; Burgers, Fries, Milkshakes and Soft Drinks. That’s it. While there are variations available, both on the menu and off, it’s really not more complicated than that. No tacos, hot dogs, onion rings (sad face), chicken nuggets, or anything else. Their prices are reasonable, the food is always fresh, and their stores are usually well kempt.
In April came another announcement, a second store planned for the city of Vancouver. And whispers of a third. This stands to reason. The business model is to create a local supply chain and then build stores within driving distance. This keeps their product fresh, nothing is ever frozen, except the shakes. They even have a french-fry press and you can watch the kitchen staff put potatoes into the press and cut your fries right in front of you. It’s all part of their atmosphere. Everything is simple, clean, fresh. Like their crisp white uniforms and bright red cloth aprons.
In reading the announcements, however, what concerned me was the size. Take for example the proposed site on 3rd Way off Millplain at the old Rite Aid property. With 84 indoor seats plus outdoor seating, it will have 74 parking stalls and a 30 car drive-thru. The planned store in Ridgefield is even larger and is envisioned to have 76 parking stalls and a 46 car drive-thru, twice the drive-thru capacity of the nearby Chick-fil-A location in Cascade Park. To most people this would sound as though the plans are more than adequate to accommodate the expected volume of customers without impacting neighboring businesses, residential areas, or causing traffic issues on the adjacent streets. But anyone who thinks that has never been to In-n-Out.
Being a chain that originated in Southern California, birthplace of car culture, the drive-thru is a huge part of their business. They literally invented the drive-thru restaurant. Despite this, to date they have yet to build a location with a drive-thru sufficient to meet their needs. Now you would think that having been in business as long as they have that they would have the data to be able to plan for adequate size locations to handle the volume of business they know they are going to attract. You’d be wrong. This is a restaurant chain so popular that when a new location opened in Colorado, customers waited over 12 hours in a miles long line to get one.
Take for example one of their newest locations in Keizer, Oregon. After 6 months trekking across the southwest, we were on our way home to Vancouver. On Wednesday, May 1st, we stopped at the In-N-Out at Keizer Station. It had been nearly 3 months since our last visit to the chain when we were in Phoenix and decided to pick up an early dinner for ourselves and our son and his family waiting for us in Vancouver. I’d never been to this store but I found this to be typical of an In-N-Out store. With its stucco exterior and employees in their crisp white uniforms.
Also typical for the Keizer In-N-Out was their drive thru. Not just the one they built with the permit from the city, but the make-shift drive thru extension made up of orange stanchions and yellow chain. Every In-n-Out I’ve ever been, except for one store that didn’t have a drive thru, has these make-shift que lines snaking through their parking lots. The permitted drive-thru lane could hold about 18 cars. But the make-shift lane extended all the way through the parking lot out to Keizer Station Blvd. This make-shift extension adds space for up to another 40 cars. So long are the wait times here that a local resident actually created a Facebook page to ‘crowd source’ real time information on wait times. It turns out that it is not unusual for residents to create social media pages specifically to track wait times at their local In-N-Out.
The parking lot was packed at 12:39 when I visited. And true to form, several parking spots were blocked off due to their make-shift drive-thru lane. I had to park next door at Target and walk over. There were some 35 cars in the drive thru. The walk-up line inside was to the door and I waited 8 minutes to place my order and another 23 to get my food. As of the time of my leaving a half hour after I started the line had not diminished. I got on the I-5 and drove the final hour of our journey home and shared our delicious prize with my son, his wife and our granddaughter.
When In-N-Out comes to Vancouver I’ll wait a few months and avoid the 3, 8 or 12 hour lines of the initial weeks. But to be honest, I will eventually patron the store and will wait another half hour each time. Yet I wonder if all parties here are being equally honest. With its decades of experience, is In-N-Out being honest when they submit plans for an 84 seat restaurant with a 30-car drive-thru? Is the city being honest when they approved this development given the potential impact to neighboring businesses, as well as traffic concerns? Have they done their due-diligence and investigated the true impact of this chain?
Now there will be a widely shared benefit. In-N-Out opens new restaurants to make money. Municipalities approve new development because it creates tax revenue and decreases blight from abandoned properties. Local elected officials on city councils and planning boards get a feather in their cap with voters for improving the community and creating jobs. Local residents who love these burgers will also be happy. And since the chain is known for paying above-average wages their employees will be happy. But what will the cost be?
The proposed Vancouver location will have 74 parking spaces, with about 15-20 of those taken up by employees at any given time. If history is any lesson their orange stanchion and yellow chain extension for the drive thru will block off several rows of parking and will be left up permanently. This will cause overflow parking issues for other businesses in the center like the Subway and Papa Johns. It could further impact neighboring medical offices. If neighboring businesses don’t have enough parking for their customers it could cause those businesses to close leading to more blight.
In-N-Out is not a normal fast-food restaurant, East coast folks would compare it to White Castle, only on steroids. It has almost a cult-following and is not like anything Vancouver has experienced. So typical building codes here for parking and size don’t apply. You’re dealing with an anomaly. If In-N-Out were forced to build a store with an appropriately sized drive-thru lane, with a 60 plus car capacity, they’d have to take away seating, or buy a larger parcel of land. Either option would increase costs for the development or reduce potential profits which could kill the deal. In no way do I want to quash the opening of new In-N-Out stores here in Vancouver, but I would like some honesty.