Popping by for a bite
> US-based burger chain In-N-Out surprised local burger fans with a one-day pop-up event in Petaling Jaya
HUNDREDS of burger fans queued up at Strangers at 47, a cafe in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, on Tuesday morning just for a chance to taste a burger from legendary American fast-food chain In-N-Out, which opened a one-day pop-up store at the location.
Sofia Rashidi, 24, was first in line, queueing up from 7.30am. She said she first had an In-NOut burger in the US city of San Diego, where she studied.
“The last time I had an In-NOut burger was three years ago,” said Sofia, who waited in line for over three hours, until the doors opened at 11am.
When asked if the burger was worth the wait, she gave an resounding: “Yes!”, and added that it tasted better than she remembered.
In-N-Out Burger was founded in California in 1948. Currently, it serves 329 locations in six out of the 50 states in the US.
Three signature In-N-Out Burgers were on the menu: the Double Double, the Cheese Burger, and the Hamburger.
Prices started at RM5 for the Hamburger. The highest priced item on the menu was the Double Double with potato chips and a medium soft drink, for RM18.
In-N-Out is the only fast-food restaurant chain that American chef, author and television personality Anthony Bourdain has declared he likes, and its burgers are simple, but delicious.
The pop-up event was overseen by Eric Billings, manager of special foreign events at In-N-Out Burger.
According to him, the main burger ingredients, namely the buns, the sauce, and the cheese, were specially flown in from the US.
The halal beef patties were flown in fresh, not frozen, from Australia, while fresh vegetables were sourced locally.
“Our goal today is to provide our customers with the best In-NOut Burger experience we can offer,” said Billings, who has been in town since last week, after opening a similar one-day pop-up store in Australia. He added that quality and freshness is the key to In-N-Out Burger’s reputation. In the kitchen, cooks from the US prepared every order with the help of local staff from the cafe. “People are made to think that freshness and quality equals a bigger price tag,” said Billings. “The prices you see here today are in line with the prices we offer in the States.” In the US, a hamburger at In-N-Out Burger costs only US$2.10, or RM8.25. Billings added that they had prepared 300 burgers, more than they have done anywhere else before. “The reception here in Malaysia is amazing,” said Billings. “The last time I saw a crowd this big was when we opened up a pop-up store in London.”
Wrist tags were used to determine who could purchase the burgers. They were given out to the first 300 customers in line, entitling them to purchase one burger or a set.
The tags were all gone within the first half hour, but people continued to queue up, if only to purchase the RM15 In-N-Out Burger T-shirt that was on sale.
When asked what it would take for In-N-Out Burger to open an outlet in Malaysia, Billings refused to comment.
“We will take the data that we gathered here today to make future decisions, and see how we can improve further,” said Billings. “I cannot say anything more than that.”
Incidentally, this is not the first time In-N-Out Burger has visited Malaysia to open a oneday pop-up store.
The burger chain was last here in 2015, but it was done with little fanfare, unlike this time round when it put an advertisement in theSun paper one day before the event.