The quaint silence of a typical Thursday morning in Longmont was suddenly broken by the whoops and hollers of the opening day crowd for In & Out. The opening day was one much anticipated by many Coloradans living in Boulder valley. When the doors to In & Out opened at 9AM to the crowd gathered outside, they oversaw a relentless flow of excited customers ready to see what the new location had to offer that didn’t stop until the doors closed at 1AM the following day.
With how well-perceived In & Out is, especially along the West coast, does its new inland location hold up to the same measure? To answer that question, I ordered at In & Out twice – once on the opening day and once at a later date.
The opening day was November 20th, and I arrived at the “drive-thru” line at around 5PM. The excitement for the day had not waned as the line reached all the way out to the Cosco parking lot. This wasn’t as noticeable as the line for the opening day in Aurora, which reached all the way to the nearby highway, yet was still impressive.
Getting to the drive-thru was in itself a challenge because In & Out has employed traffic cops used to direct traffic through the round-a-bout before forcing traffic to circle all the way around to reach the drive-thru. Along the way, there was a section of Cosco’s parking lot cornered off with traffic cones implying that the line likely filled up that area earlier in the day when it was more busy.
When ordering, the service was courteous given the amount of customers for the day. We ordered our food and were given it in a matter of minutes. When trying the food, it wasn’t as good as what I remember from my time in California, yet it still didn’t disappoint. The burger was decent, but those famous fries were not as great as I remember. They were a little burnt and crispy, much to my dismay.
In order to get a more representative review and go on a day less busy, I also returned two weeks later on December 4th. This time, I entered the building to sit down to eat. I was first impressed by the amount of workers at In&Out. There were at least 20 I could see from behind the counter with another 10 serving the tables, a surprisingly large number of workers given how small the building is.
Once again, the time span from ordering to receiving the food was minimal, however, what played out differently from last time was the quality of the food. I was very impressed by how much the food had improved from the opening day. I ordered the same burger, but this time the burger was near perfect for my taste. Even as someone who, honestly, isn’t a fan of fast food, I did taste the quality that In & Out provides. The fries were delicious too – they had the same all-to-famous taste In & Out is known for in regards to their fries. I concluded my outing with a hot chocolate, a warm way to end the day.
Even if the quality of food isn’t as good as it was in California, In & Out’s new location still serves as a viable and easy option for those seeking an In & Out meal. Its position here in Boulder County is one I will certainly be taking advantage of in the future, and I recommend you to do as well.
