Monday, November 23, 2009

Battle of the Burgers

(So I wrote this whole blog post like an hour ago, and then blogger wigged out. This one isn't nearly as interesting as the first one because I was annoyed...haha)

In and Out

For weeks, I've heard people counting down the days until In and Out Burgers opened. My whole life, people have raved about it to me, and I've always wanted to try it.A few summers ago when my family and I were in LA, I was disappointed when we never found one to try (though we did find a high amount of El Pollo Loco. Which, fortunately, we didn't try either). So when I heard that there was an In and Out being built in Orem, I was excited to try it. I had heard rumors that the lines would be hours long for the first few months it was opened, so I figured I would avoid going until the thrill had died down and all the Californians had gotten their fix.

Well on Friday night, Cortney texted me and said that Eric (FHE brother/awesome friend who smells really good) wanted to go to In and Out. Well, despite my hesitations of waiting in line for 2 hours for food (and fast food at that. Bleh), being the ever-so impressionable person I am, agreed. After getting off work, we drove to Orem and the parking lot was crazy. There were people directing traffic, and the drive thru was ridiculous. We decided it might be best to just wait in line. So we stood around in line for only 45 minutes (remind me, what part of this is fast), which was a pleasnt surprise, considering the rumors that had been flying around. There was like a million employees there, all of which seemed to be from California (I'm pretty sure they only hire Californians. Rude? Yes. Not that I would ever work there anyways). Since Utah is rather cold at night this time of year, they had these sweet heaters outside for us to huddle under as we waited. Finally, we got inside, and we ordered. Eric is a California native, so he told us some of the "secret" menu. I got a single burger "animal style" and a neopolitan shake and french fries. And this place was surprisingly cheap. I was happy with that.

After we got our food, we decided it'd be best to go home and eat it rather than stay at the restaurant, which was overflowing with high school cheerleaders and football players (we had fun poking fun at them). We drove back to our apartment, excited to eat our food. I feel that Eric was the most excited, as this is his favorite fast food place. He even mentioned how he was excited his car was gonna smell like in and out. Why anyone would want their car to smell like that is beyond me.

We got home, and it was finally the moment of truth. I tried the burgers, my shake, and fries. And the final verdict? I sure hope that this was just a fluke in their food, because I was NOT a fan of the burgers. I felt like I was eating a veggie burger with a slight hint of meat right in the middle, with a watery sauce strewn throughout it. Oh wait, I was. It was overflowing with tons of pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes. There was a small patty in the middle. And the "famous" sauce that I'd heard so much about? Tasted like water. It probably was. The french fries weren't too bad. Not too much flavor though. Eric informed me that I would be "pleased to hear that my french fries were potatoes two hours earlier", which was a comforting though. I have to admit that the milk shake was absolutely delicious, so that wasn't a fail. I've been assured that this was just a bad trip to In and Out, and that it normally isn't so lame. I mentioned a couple times that I didn't enjoy the food all that much, and I'm pretty sure Eric acted as if I had mortally wounded him, his family, and his future posterity. haha. I'm hoping next time will be much better.

Driving to In and Out



Waiting in line...Almost inside!
Haha...Eric.
Cortney
Not sure who that random guy was...

Moment of truth

Not so impressed (I look kind of scared, yes?)



5 Guys Burgers and Fries
Okay, so on Saturday, Cort, Eric, and I went to the BYU v AFA game. It was FREEZING. At about half time, Cort and I decided to call it quits. And Eric, being the awesome guy he is, agreed to leave with us. While we were at the game, we had been contemplating what we wanted to eat afterwards, and we were pretty firm in our decision to get some soup from Zupas, but right as we were leaving, Cortney and I both spotted a delicious looking hamburger and couldn't stop thinking about it. So, in attempts to make up for the food the night before, we decided to try out Five Guys, which we both had heard good things about.

Was I impressed? Oh, you'd better believe it.

This place is SO good. The hamburgers are full of flavor, and all the toppings are free! At first I just ordered a regular bacon hamburger, and the guy taking my order was like "Um..Are you sure you don't just the mini one?" And I'm thinking the mini one was like the same size as the mini hamburgers they have at applebees, and I was not about to fork out four bucks for that. I asked him big it was, and when he told me it was 1/4 pounder, I quickly changed my mind. I don't even want to see how big the regular size was! So after ordering our food, we drove back to our apartment to try it out.

SO GOOD. I got my hamburger with green peppers, grilled onions, bacon, and barbque sauce. The french fries are probably the best I've ever had. They gave us sooooooo many though. Our house smelled kind of nasty for a few hours afterwards, because the smell was so strong, but it was so worth it. Probably one of the best burgers I've had in a long time!

These pictures aren't from 5 guys....because I didn't take any. But they are from the football game that preceded the burgers, So I thought it was allowed. I look really weird in this picture...But I still like it.




So which place do a prefer?

Hands down, In and Out.


Just kidding. Sorry my Californian friends...In and Out just doesn't compare to 5 guys.



In other news...Yesterday Stephanie and I made an awesome Turkey. We have a 30 minute video documenting it. It's awesome. The Turkey was Soo good. We had a real fun dinner with a bunch of our friends...but this is deserving of it's own post, so I'll leave this story at a cliff hanger.

I finally got my schedule completely figured out for next year. There was one class I didn't expect to get into, but two nights ago at one in the morning, I just randomly decided to check the website, and someone had dropped it. Yay! Cross your fingers that I actually enjoy my classes this next semester

Oh, on Friday, Cortney, Eric, and I crashed a bonfire. And by crashing, I mean, standing around awkwardly because we didn't know anyone, while Eric played music on his phone and people wondered who we were and why we were there. It was awesome. The best part was getting lost on the way there...And Eric getting super defensive when a guy was like "Do you guys want to get in our truck to go down that road? I don't know if your pretty little car could take it." (Eric's car is awesome, by the way). I learned that you don't insult a guys pride and joy....

Then we got a pomegranate.

6 comments:

Kristina P. said...

You know your stuff, my friend. My coworkers and I were just talking about this. We work down the street from the Draper In N Out. Their fries are disgusting, and their burgers are not great.

But Five Guys is heaven. I could eat there everyday.

Mars said...

I have never tried 5 guys but now I want to...I wonder if they have one here in Arizona. I love your face in the picture at the moment of truth tasting your burger from In-N-Out. Pretty much sums up what you thought about it huh? Mmm I LOVE Zupas, turkey and pomegranate. Now I'm hungry. I went to a bonfire on Fri too! Well we had our own-usually we do go to those awkward ones though. In fact that is where I met Chase last Spring haha. Sounds like you had a fun weekend!

Jules AF said...

I really dislike in n outs fries. bleech

Unknown said...

I have to agree, I'm not a big fan of In n Out either. I'll have to check out 5 guys sometime.

Anonymous said...

I've never been to five guys, but I do like In n Out. I honestly think that the first week it just sucked for them because people have had similar complaints, my roommate among them, then when she went back this week she said it was A LOT better. like the fries didn't taste like crap in her opinion. i don't want to say anything about my opinion because, having lived in california, i think in n out rocks hahaha

Hilary said...

5 Guys is delicious, it is true.

But what I really wanted to say is THANK YOU for talking about randomly checking for a class you needed... it inspired me to do the same, and I caught the one seat left in the class I needed. yay!!! haha. so, thanks for helping me remember to check for the class!!! =) hehe