i forgot about the burger joint behind the curtain at the parker meridian.
great burger and there are usually celebrities there tasting the fare.
There are a lot of great, individual Hamburger joints out there. It's not that tough to make a good burger. The trick is to be able to consistently produce the same quality, taste, presentation for every burger at a large number of restaurants, over a long period of time. My loyalty to In-n-Out comes from knowing I can walk into any of their 280+ restaurants, order an "animal double double and fries", and get that same quality, taste and presentation. And I've been getting that same quality, taste and presentation from placing that same order for over 60 years. Harry Snyder and his wife Esther opened the first In-n-Out in 1948 on Francisquito Avenue in Baldwin Park right at the off-ramp of the San Bernardino Freeway (now known as the 10) - about 5 blocks from my house. It was a sensation from the start - it was the FIRST drive-THRU restaurant in California - literally (as opposed to the Drive-IN). Until the 1970s there were no seats at any In and Out - there was a drive thru lane (two, actually!) and a walk up window for foot traffic.
Keeping the same food quality and control for over 60 years is pretty much unheard of. A "Big Boy" burger (be it Bob's or Frisch's or any of the other franchisees around the country) is similar to the Bob Wian original - but not the same. A McDonalds Big Mac still has "two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun" - but its really a far cry from what the McDonald Brothers sold at the original San Bernardino California location, or what Ray Krock, as the first franchisee sold at his first McDonalds in Illinois in 1955. Heck these two chains no longer "diaper" a Big Boy, and serve a Big Mac in Styrafoam, for crying out loud.
In n Out has been able to maintain by being a strictly family-owned business (there are no franchisees), and adhering to Harry's original credo for expansion - no restaurant located more than a 12 hour drive from an In-n-Out distribution center - of which there are now 5 in the western US.