In-N-Out’s Secret Menu is the Holy Grail of off-menu fast food eating. Thanks to its variety and ease of access — In-N-Out refers to it officially as the “not so secret menu” — ordering these dishes is common practice among In-N-Out regulars. Meaning that the staff doesn’t look at you crazy for asking for a “Flying Dutchman,” a “Tomato Wrap” or “Animal Style Fries.” It also helps to beef up one of the simpler base menus in fast food, with In-N-Out only having three different types of burgers (hamburger, cheeseburger, and double cheeseburger), fries, and shakes.
Simply put, without the secret menu, In-N-Out’s offerings are straight-up boring. Yawn-fest.
I wish every fast food restaurant had an official secret menu, it would make ordering complicated menu hacks a lot easier for the customers and staff. Let’s face it, people aren’t going to stop being interested in menu hacks, so you might as well just give them a list of the most popular ones. To offer you exactly that, we’ve set out to rank the whole In-n-Out secret menu from least to the most essential orders, creating the definitive guide to dining at the restaurant.
9. Root Beer Float
What Is It?
1/2 vanilla shake + 1/2 root beer
Tasting Notes:
I get it, the idea of a root beer float sounds like a real winner — root beer floats are delicious, after all. But this isn’t really a root beer float, it’s a milkshake with some soda poured on top of it. I could see this working if In-N-Out had a specific ratio for this order that they then mixed back of house to combine the ingredients into some sort of creamy delight, but in my experience, they don’t.
This drink is wildly inconsistent and the two components never really join one another harmoniously. The root beer sits on top of a thick layer of milkshake, which forces you to reposition your straw from high to low in order to get both components in your mouth.
Given how thick In-N-Out shakes are, you’ll have to hold the root beer in your mouth while simultaneously trying to bring the shake up through the straw. It’s disastrous.
The Bottom Line:
It’s a good idea but it just doesn’t work.
8. Grilled Cheese
View this post on Instagram
What Is It?
A typical In-N-Out burger build (bread + sauce + onions + lettuce + tomato + cheese) without the meat.
Tasting Notes:
I know a million vegetarians will be mad at me for this one but I think In-N-Out’s Grilled Cheese is wack. My vegetarian friends swear by this one, but having had it, I’m convinced they order it because they don’t want to feel left out.
The Grilled Cheese is a vegetarian’s compromise “Oh I really want In-N-Out but you’re vegetarian? Let’s meet up after lunch!” “No no, it’s fine, I’ll get a grilled cheese!”
My issue with this menu item is that In-N-Out doesn’t put any effort into it, they don’t flip the bun inside out and grill the ends in butter Five Guys style, they don’t assume you probably don’t want lettuce and present you with a different default build, nothing! They just take out the meat from a regular burger and knock off about a dollar for the subtotal.
Admittedly, In-N-Out’s bread and cheese is great, and adding grilled onions and chili peppers will do a lot to elevate the flavors (this should be part of the default build), but I can’t help feeling like In-N-Out could do a little more to make this vegetarian-friendly menu item at least a little bit special.
The Bottom Line:
You have to take things into your own hands to make it edible — ditch the lettuce, ask for grilled onions and chili peppers, and ask for it “extra toasted.” As it comes, it tastes like a menu item that nobody put any thought or care into.
7. Protein Style Burger
What Is It?
A typical In-N-Out burger build without the bun.
Tasting Notes:
Here is the thing about the Protein Style Burger — you have to get a Double Double for it to be any good. In-N-Out’s burger patties are incredibly small and skimpy, so if you order a single cheeseburger Protein Style it’s hard to taste any of the meat and cheese as all of the savory salty flavors get drowned out by the crisp-yet-watery lettuce.
A Protein Style cheeseburger feels like a real compromise, but a Protein Style Double Double works incredibly well. Without the distraction of the bun, it intensifies the flavor of the other ingredients and becomes much easier to focus in on the incredible quality of the meat patties and cheese.
The only bad part of this burger is how messy it is. It will fall apart as you eat it, make you second guess certain ingredients (mainly the sauce), and will often feel like the best way to enjoy it is with a knife and fork, which is no way to eat a burger.
The Bottom Line:
Order a Double Double Protein Style and you’ll actually be surprised at how little bread adds to the flavor experience. That said, the mess of eating it may be enough to turn you away from this burger forever.
6. 3×3, 4×4…100×100
View this post on Instagram
What Is It?
A typical In-N-Out Burger build with an additional layer(s) of meat and cheese.
Tasting Notes:
I get the temptation to order this, In-N-Out burgers are relatively small, but I think everything in the build is portioned perfectly for a Double Double. This makes the 3×3, 4×4 or however high you want to go, taste slightly off-balance.
The higher you tower this burger the less flavor you get out of the onions, sauce, lettuce, and tomato, diluting the experience and replacing it with salt and beef. It’s dry and I think overall it weakens everything that makes a Double Double one of the best cheeseburgers in all of fast food. Admittedly, it looks insanely delicious, but it messes with the delicate balancing act that the OG nails.
The Bottom Line:
I recognize the temptation, but the more meat and cheese you pile onto a burger, the more it just starts to taste like salt and ground beef. A great burger is more than that.
5. Neapolitan Milkshake
What Is It?
Vanilla + Chocolate + Strawberry milkshake.
Tasting Notes:
While In-N-Out has the thickness of its shake down, the flavors have always come across as a bit too muted. The chocolate taste like echoes of chocolate, not rich and indulgent like a chocolate milkshake should taste. The strawberry is refreshing but a bit too intense and sweet, and the vanilla is almost flavorless. But mix them all together, and you have hands down In-N-Out’s best beverage.
The strawberry really dominates the overall flavor, but its intense sweetness is tamped down with creamy and chocolatey elements that make it come across as complex and interesting. The different flavors bloom across your palate offering something a bit different with every sip.
The Bottom Line:
In-N-Out’s best milkshake and in the running for one of the best milkshakes in all of fast food.
4. Flying Dutchman
View this post on Instagram
What Is It?
Two hamburger patties housing two pieces of American cheese.
Tasting Notes:
Like the Protein Style, the keto-friendly Flying Dutchman puts extra focus on the flavors of the meat and cheese. It’s beefy, savory, and incredibly salty and will melt in your mouth before you’re even done chewing it.
The best way to elevate this burger is by adding grilled onions into the mix. I’ve heard some people swear by ordering this “animal style” (mustard grilled patties, pickles, and extra sauce) but I’ve never personally ordered it because it sounds like a mess.
The Bottom Line:
Keto-friendly and incredibly beefy and savory. It’s similar to the protein style but with more intense flavors courtesy of the lack of watery lettuce.
3. Tomato Wrap
What Is It?
A typical In-N-Out burger build with the bun swapped out for four tomatoes.
Tasting Notes:
Clearly, In-N-Out regulars can’t get enough of swapping out the bun for something else. I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone order an onion burger yet (a whole grilled onion serving as the bun might make that work!). What I like about the Tomato Wrap over the Protein Style and Flying Dutchman is the enhanced sense of umami this much tomato infuses into each bite.
In-N-Out has some of the best tomatoes in all of fast food, they’re always juicy and ripe — so much so that you don’t even need the sauce to make this an enjoyable meal. Each bite is bursting with a mix of salty and savory flavors, with the umami elevating and intensifying the flavor of the beef.
The Bottom Line:
The way the mix of flavors coat your tongue is something everyone should experience. This is a keeper!
2. Animal Style Fries
What Is It?
Fries + melted cheese + grilled onions + sauce
Tasting Notes:
In-N-Out fries get a lot of sh*t, which has always puzzled me because if you have a problem with fresh potatoes that are peeled and cut in-house and cooked to order, the problem isn’t the food, it’s you!
Are they the best French fries in fast food? Absolutely not, but they’re delicious so long as you add salt and pepper. But the best way to enjoy In-N-Out’s fries is without a doubt ordering them Animal Style.
Piling Thousand-Island style secret sauce, caramelized onions, and melted American cheese on top of a bed of fries creates forkful after forkful of bliss for the tastebuds. It’s tangy, slightly sweet, deep and savory, buttery and fragrant, and salty. Add chopped chilies to the dish and you get a bit of mild heat to pull it all together.
The Bottom Line:
If you’ve somehow convinced yourself that In-N-Out fries are bad give them a second chance and order them Animal Style. You’ll be treated to a medley of flavors that are downright addictive.
1. Animal Style Double Cheeseburger
What Is It?
Two mustard grilled meat patties + two slices of American cheese + lettuce + pickles + tomato + grilled onions + extra sauce
Tasting Notes:
Each bite is a mix of rich beefy flavors, salt, and tang courtesy of the mustard grilled patties. The initial tang is followed by a touch of sweetness from the caramelized onions and a bit of earthy / brine-y complexity from the juicy pickles. It is quite literally the In-N-Out burger experience, elevated.
My personal hack for this burger is adding chilis, which adds a very mild almost sweet spice to the mix, helping to deepen the flavors and making the aftertaste a little more pleasant and addicting. But vinegar-soaked chilies aren’t for everyone, so I decided to rank this burger as it comes — which is still very delicious.
The Bottom Line:
If this is your first time at In-N-Out, you have to order your burger Animal Style, especially if you’re visiting from out of state. There is a reason this chain has achieved legendary status and unfortunately, those reasons aren’t always apparent to outsiders who don’t know about the secret menu.
