18 In-N-Out Employees Expose What It’s REALLY Like Working There

For a chain restaurant that only has locations in one part of the country, In-N-Out is remarkably popular. The fast food spot is known for so many things: their Instagram-worthy spreads of food, their “Animal Style” burgers and fries, their curated menu (they really only have simple burgers, fries, and shakes!), their impeccable customer service, and, of course, how genuinely delicious everything is. If you’ve ever gone to one of the stores, you’ve probably noticed that the employees seem like they’re actually happy to be there, and the place seems legitimately clean.

It kind of makes you wonder what it’s ACTUALLY like to work at In-N-Out.

If you’ve ever been curious about that, then good news: many employees have taken to the internet to write about their experience working for the chain, and the responses are pretty fascinating. There have also been reports on how great the job is: in 2017, Glassdoor named In-N-Out as one of the best places to work in the United States. In 2018, the California Sun reported that In-N-Out restaurant managers make more than an average of $160,000 a year. Not bad for a fast food restaurant!

So how do employees feel about their job at In-N-Out?

Below are a few accounts on what it’s really like to have a job there:

1. The best way to get hired is to know someone.

Like so many other companies, the best way to snag a job at In-N-Out is to know the right person. A former In-N-Out manager going by the name of “Kathy” told Thrillist, “They have a program called Multiplying Winners. If you refer someone who gets hired, you get paid.”

2. Employees have their own top secret “secret menu.”

In-N-Out’s most notable “secret menu” is the Animal Style option, although that’s so popular now that it can barely be called a secret.

But there’s also top secret items only employees get to enjoy.

Kathy states, “Every store has their own secret item that only the associates know how to make. Some stores will cut potatoes long-ways and will make [fancy French fries] called mojos.” She added that some make their own salsa and even tacos, explaining, “I worked the early shift with some co-workers who made bomb-ass tacos. They’d bring their own taco shells in. We had lettuce, tomatoes, and beef in the store. They’d create a pico de gallo with the onions, chilies, and tomatoes, too.”

3. Many employees think the Animal Style burger is overrated.

When asked which menu item was the most overrated, Kathy said:

“The Animal Style burger. There’s a lot of different flavor combinations that people don’t necessarily try on their burgers.”

Other employees explained that you can add basically anything to a burger for no extra charge, and there are tons of fun combos out there.

4. The sauce really is kept a secret.

You can try asking an employee how to make the famous spread, but there’s a good chance they don’t even know themselves. Verrill said:

 “It is so secret, in fact, that I am still unaware of the recipe. It’s made ready-to-eat for every store, so no In-N-Out restaurant actually prepares the spread in-house. It’s a mystery to everyone.”

5. The food is very fresh and all made in-house.

One of the things that stands out about In-N-Out is how fresh their food is, and employees can back that up.

Former employee Courtney Verrill told Business Insider, “The potatoes are peeled and sliced right in the kitchen, the tomatoes are sliced by the hour, lettuce is prepared constantly, and the meat is never frozen. I can tell you from personal experience that if the lettuce is slightly darker, it’s thrown out. If a tomato is bruised, they toss it. These ingredients get delivered every other day, so nothing is ever old. You can definitely taste it in the quality.”

6. Employees get a ton of great perks.

Aside from getting paid well, employees also enjoy some pretty amazing perks from working at In-N-Out.

In a post on Delishably, former employee Brittany Brown wrote that associates gets one free meal during each shift they work (or two if they work more than four hours), free trips and “plenty of parties.”

She added, “If stores perform well, [employees are] rewarded with trips to amusement parks, and store managers who hit all their targets are rewarded to lavish vacations. Last year, my friends and former managers were treated to a paid 12-day vacation to Munich; this year, they were treated to Scotland.” On top of that, they get holiday pay even when they have the days off. Brown said, “Because the company is owned by a Christian family, employees get holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter off with pay.”

7. They also get gifts during Christmas.

In-N-Out really goes the extra mile for their employees, even offering them gifts during the holidays.

Brown said, “Every year, In-N-Out gives a gift to all of its associates for Christmas. Some gifts I’ve been give over the years: fleece blanket, In-N-Out Monopoly game, a MP3 player, a duffel bag, a thermos, a cookie jar designed to look like an In-N-Out store.”

8. They just aren’t allowed to share these perks.

Employees enjoy most of these perks while they’re working.

Brown says that, “There are no employee discounts if you’re not on the clock and no one is allowed to give out free food to friends or family.”

Still, all the other perks are so good that this detail doesn’t even seem to matter!

9. They throw out a lot of fries.

Unfortunately, In-N-Out goes through a ton of sad, uneaten fries.

In a Reddit thread, user rbodnicki said, “We throw away a ton of fries. When making fries, you’re essentially estimating how many you need to feed the burgers on the grill. It’s much better to overestimate than to underestimate, but this also leads to extra fries.”

We’ll take them!

10. It can be a really stressful place to work.

Like any other popular restaurant, In-N-Out can be extremely stressful for employees.

In a Quora thread, one employee wrote, “it is a very fast paced place to work. During the “rushes” (lunch and dinner) things rarely slow down.

If you can’t keep up and get ‘snowed’ you will have a hard time getting out of it.” Oh, and “snowed” is apparently their term for when you’re really bogged down with work.

11. The prep tables are heated.

In-N-Out is so serious about the quality of their food that they try to avoid it getting cold at all costs. In a Reddit thread, user rbodnicki said:

“Our tables where the burgers are dressed are heated (above 100 degrees F), as is the table where the fries are portioned. I used to think this was a little hypocritical since we pride ourselves in being fresh, but after some consideration I figured that the stainless steel would become cold if it wasn’t heated.”

12. Employees go through levels to move up.

There’s a very specific way to move up when you work at In-N-Out — you can’t just get hired as a manager.

In a Quora thread, one user explained, “All associates are hired as a Level 1 which is basically someone in the dining room who greets customers and wipes down tables. Level 2 – counter order taker, someone who takes done in customer orders. Level 3 – drive through order taker. Level 4 – ‘fry guy’ or girl. Level 5 – board person, the person who dresses each burger bottom (applies spread, tomatoes, lettuce etc). Level 6 – cook. Level 7 – pre-management. All managers start as a Level 1 and work their way up into management. Nobody is hired from the outside for management positions.”

13. Even the butcher warehouse is clean.

The food they sell is super fresh and made in-house, but are you also wondering about the meat? In a Reddit thread, user znarlz says, “Worked at In-N-Out for 5 years Let me just say this is a GREAT starter job, the founders created a place where people can learn to do well then go on and do well elsewhere. That place can whoop the lazy right out of a person. Five years leaves you with a lot of stories but here is a small one: I am a squeamish person so I thought doing a tour of the butcher warehouse would make me so sick. But I have never seen a cleaner place than that. Insane.”

14. They really want employees to love their job…and it’s kinda cultish 

Having their employees feel happy with their positions seems to be very important to the founders.

In a Reddit thread, user ihatephilosophy explained, “If In-N-Out seems a little cultish, it really is. Employees were rewarded with things like trips to the headquarters and In-N-Out swag. One employee was offered a tour of headquarters and came back talking about it as though they saw Dear Leader’s Palace. Other employees had all sorts of questions about the place. They really do seem to want employees that worship the company.”

15. The uniforms can be uncomfortable.

In-N-Out is also known for their uniforms and funny little hats… but they aren’t exactly the best part of the job. In a Reddit thread, user booshley said:

“The pants are HOT. When it’s hot outside and we’re on handheld, the pants kill you. And the hats for girls are really annoying. We have to tuck our ponytails in and bobby pin the hat to our hair otherwise it will fall off. It’s just a much bigger hassle than the hats the boys get to wear.”

16. They really do take customer service seriously.

You’re not imagining it: the In-N-Out employee helping you really is exceptionally nice.

There’s a reason for that.

Reddit user rbodnicki explains, “‘Customers are the most important asset’ is taken pretty seriously by everyone —  especially the managers. If you ever have an issue with the food, or the service or anything, simply bring it up to a manager and they’ll be sure to take care of it; be it replacing a spilled drink, or changing the temperature of the store if it’s too cold. They are there to make you happy and the last thing they want is a complaint on their shift they could have prevented by giving away a free cup.”

17. It’s not a franchise.

Most fast food restaurants are franchises, meaning that each store can have a different owner — that’s why you might notice a drastic difference in the way one store is run versus another one.

But that’s not the case with In-N-Out.

Brown explained, “all 304 stores are still owned today by the Snyder family (more specifically, Harry’s granddaughter, Lynsi). As a result, the stores have a very family-oriented attitude towards both customers and their employees (or ‘associates’), and all the stores have been able to maintain Harry Snyder’s original attitude towards maintaining quality, freshness, and high customer-service standards.”

18. Working there feels like working with friends and family.

In-N-Out has a notoriously great reputation for being a nice work environment. In a Quora thread, one employee backs that up, saying:

“Working at In-N-Out is super fun most of the time. The people you work with are like your family. Even though the work might not be fun, you’re surrounded by your friends and that’s what makes it cool. The company is extremely giving to their associates. They throw parties for your store if you hit yearly goals etc. It’s a fast paced job and definitely isn’t for your average fast food worker.”