In-N-Out- San Francisco

I feel like I'm going to get shot for saying this but In-N-Out is seriously NOT that good. After all the rave and hype surrounding this burger joint, I finally got my chance to stuff my face with one of these long-awaited burgers and to my disappointment, I was extremely underwhelmed. Strangely, I was impressed with the hospitality of the staff which is absolutely unheard of when it comes to fast food places. The workers at this particular In-N-Out were extremely friendly and smiley (don't know if it's like this at all of the stores or just this one but either way, my compliments to them). The restaurant space is tidy and clean and the menu is extremely simple. As some of you may know, there are several "hidden" menu items, one of them being the animal-style fries pictured below. I guess half the fun and charm of eating here is discovering and trying out all these secret combinations.

Classic Cheeseburger with a side of Animal-Style Fries
My biggest complaint about the burger is that it wasn't juicy or greasy enough (sad to say, but I rarely eat burgers because they're so unhealthy so when I do eat one, it better be darn moist and greasy). I did enjoy the buns which were soft and toasty.

The heaping of toppings sitting atop the fries consists of cheese, sauteed onions, and some sort of relish-infused thousand island sauce. Although the toppings were delicious, the fries themselves, fell a little flat. They tasted baked rather than fried and in my book, that's not necessarily a good thing because we all know that fried tastes much better than baked.

Umami Burger
On a slightly different but relevant note, when I went to LA for the second half of my trip, I had a chance to dine at Umami Burger (unfortunately I didn't take a picture and therefore I'm not writing a post). But the umami burger there is money! It's savory, fresh, juicy, and plenty flavorful (as it should be, given that umami is the fifth taste of savoriness).