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In-N-Out Burger has managed to develop an almost unrivaled cult following, and the chain’s hesitancy to expand means many people will go to great lengths to try it for the first time. That includes plenty of customers who headed to its first location in the state of Washington, including some who slept overnight in their cars while contributing to the massive line that formed.
The fast food restaurant that’s officially known as In-N-Out Burger opened its first location in California in 1948, and The Golden State is still home to the lion’s share of the more than 420 restaurants the company currently operates after setting up shop more than 75 years ago.
It took more than 40 years for In-N-Out to expand its horizons beyond those borders, but it eventually opened up its first outpost in Nevada when it arrived in Las Vegas in 1992. The brand has long prided itself on the freshness of its ingredients and has subsequently been hesitant to set up shop in areas located a lengthy distance away from its suppliers, but it has slowly but surely expanded its footprint over the past couple of decades.
Prior to this week, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Texas rounded out the octet of states that boast at least one In-N-Out. However, that number grew to nine when Washington State officially got in on the action while attracting a mob of people who flocked there to get the chance to try it.
Some people waited overnight to get the chance to eat at the first In-N-Out in Washington State
Many people who have become accustomed to being able to visit an In-N-Out whenever they please have become desensitized to the point where some of them would go as far as to pull out the “overrated” label to describe it. However, there’s a reason it’s surrounded by so much hype.
The burgers are fresh, tasty, and reasonably priced, and while the fries are very underwhelming thanks to the chain’s insistence on making them fresh-to-order (an inherently and objectively terrible approach to cooking them), it’s easy to cover up those shortcomings by ordering them “Animal Style,” which is just one of the many variations on In-N-Out’s not-so-secret “secret menu.”
On Wednesday, Ridgefield, Washington became the first town in the state to officially welcome the eatery, and according to KGW, Kevin Kehn was the first person in line after pulling up at 8:15 on Tuesday night to earn the right to place the inagural order and receive the sought-after coin given to the first person to patronize a new location when it opened the following morning.
He may have been the first, but he certainly wasn’t the last, as the parking lot ended up filled with cars courtesy of the thousands of people who flocked there and waited multiple hours to see what all the fuss is about.
First In-N-Out opens in Washington State! Would you wait 2 hours for a burger? 🍔 🍟🥤🤔 pic.twitter.com/cUg9kLzlld
— Crystal Hope (@CrystalHope1979) August 22, 2025
It also appears In-N-Out is on the verge of a new expansion push in the eastern half of the United States, as the current owner has decided to move from California to Tennessee and plans to open 35 locations in her new home.