12 In-N-Out Menu Tricks Only Real Californians Know to Order

For many Californians, In-N-Out is the first stop coming home from the airport and the last meal they’d ever give up.

Since the chain opened in Baldwin Park back in 1948, fans have built up a playbook of ways to order that the tourists never figure out.

Here are the In-N-Out tricks born-and-raised Californians use without even thinking about it.

Order It Animal Style

This is the one that separates the locals from the lost.

“Animal Style” turns a regular burger into the version Californians grew up craving.

The patty gets cooked with a layer of mustard pressed right into it, then piled with extra spread, pickles, and a heap of caramelized grilled onions.

It’s messy, it’s tangy, and it’s the trick everybody orders.

Every employee from San Diego to Sacramento knows exactly what you mean.

Say those two words, and you’re ordering like a local.

Fix the Fries Animal Style

Let’s be honest about In-N-Out fries. Fresh-cut and cooked once, they can come out a little soft and sleepy.

The locals have the cure.

Order them Animal Style, and they pile your fries with melted cheese, that tangy spread, and grilled onions until the whole thing needs a fork.

It’s the upgrade that turns the weakest item on the menu into something people crave on the drive home.

Nobody who knows better orders plain fries when this exists.

Get Your Fries Well-Done

If a fork-and-knife pile of cheese fries isn’t your speed, there’s a simpler fix the regulars swear by.

Ask for your fries well-done, and they’ll leave them in the oil longer, so they come out golden, crisp, and sturdy instead of soft.

It costs nothing and takes no extra time, and it solves the number one complaint anybody has about In-N-Out.

Some folks go the other way and order them light, barely cooked and pale.

Californians know to pick a side.

Add the Chopped Chilis

Here’s a free little secret sitting right at the counter.

In-N-Out keeps a supply of yellow sport chili peppers, and they’ll chop them up and load them onto your burger or your fries at no charge.

They bring a sharp, vinegary heat that cuts right through all that rich beef and cheese.

Regulars who like a kick ask for chopped chilis every time, and plenty of them grab a few whole ones on the side too.

It’s the easiest way to wake up your whole order.

Know Your Patty Count

The Double-Double, two patties and two slices of cheese, is the California classic and the burger that built the legend.

But the regulars know the number is yours to choose.

Order a 3×3 for three patties and three slices of cheese, or a 4×4 for four of each, when you’ve worked up a real appetite.

That’s as high as they’ll go these days, so don’t bother asking for the old stack-it-to-the-sky orders.

For plenty of folks, the Double-Double is still the perfect ratio, just the way it was drawn up.

Go Protein Style

California practically invented eating light, and In-N-Out has a trick for that.

Order any burger Protein Style, and they’ll wrap the whole thing in a crisp shell of lettuce instead of a bun.

You keep the patty, the cheese, the spread, and all the fixings, and you skip the carbs entirely.

It’s been the go-to order for the low-carb and gluten-free crowd up and down the state for years, long before that was trendy.

Bring napkins, because it’s a juicy one.

Try the Flying Dutchman

This one’s for the serious carnivores, and it’s about as stripped-down as a burger gets.

The Flying Dutchman is two patties with two slices of melted cheese in the middle, and that’s the whole thing.

No bun, no lettuce, no spread.

Just meat and cheese, folded together and handed over in a little tray.

It’s one of the cheapest ways to eat at In-N-Out, and it has a devoted following among the regulars who want protein and nothing else.

Order the Grilled Cheese

Not everybody in the car wants a burger, and In-N-Out takes care of them too.

Ask for a Grilled Cheese, and you’ll get two slices of melted American cheese with lettuce, tomato, the spread, and onions if you want them, all on that toasted bun.

There’s no meat, which makes it the move for vegetarians.

It’s been on the unofficial menu for decades, and the kids love it too.

Same fresh ingredients, none of the beef.

Swirl Up a Neapolitan Shake

In-N-Out makes three shake flavors, and the regulars know you don’t have to pick just one.

Ask for a Neapolitan, and they’ll swirl chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry together into one cup.

You get all three classic flavors in every sip, the same trio that’s been in California freezers since forever.

The shakes are made with real ice cream, so it’s a thick one that’ll have you working that straw.

It’s a small thing, but it’s the kind of move that marks you as a regular.

Make It a Root Beer Float

Here’s a throwback the soda-fountain generation will appreciate.

In-N-Out pours root beer and spins real-ice-cream shakes, which means all the makings of a proper float are right there.

Ask them to drop a swirl of vanilla shake into a cup of root beer, and you’ve got the same treat you’d have gotten at a drive-in back in the day.

It’s not printed on any menu, but the folks behind the counter have made plenty of them.

Sometimes the oldest trick is still the best one.

Tweak the Onions and the Toast

The little adjustments are where the real regulars live.

You can have your onions four ways. Raw and crisp, chopped fine, grilled and sweet, or a thick whole grilled slice draped over the patty.

Want more of that griddled flavor?

Ask for your bun Extra Toast, and they’ll leave it on the grill until it’s deep golden and crunchy at the edges.

A little extra spread never hurt either.

None of it costs a dime, and it’s how Californians dial the burger in exactly the way they like it.

Grab a Pup Patty for the Dog

California loves its dogs, and In-N-Out is in on it.

Pull through the drive-thru with a pup in the back seat, and you can ask for a Pup Patty, also called a Scooby Snack. It’s a plain cooked beef patty, handed over for your dog to enjoy.

It’s often free, or just about a dollar, and the four-legged regulars go wild for it.