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· collected 2026-09-05 · by Teresa Mull
In-N-Out Burger's chief operating officer Denny Warnick credits a customer request in the early 1960s with starting the chain's popular "Animal Style" burger, which features a mustard-cooked beef patty and is listed on the company's "Not-So-Secret Menu". According to Warnick, customers often created their own customized orders, with some names sticking over time. In-N-Out now offers several off-menu options, including Double-Meat, 3x3, and Protein Style, which are available through customer requests. The chain has grown from its first location in Los Angeles in 1948 to over 400 locations in 10 states today.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In-N-Out Burger, a fast-food chain known for its simple menu, has a long history of accommodating special orders from customers, which have become popular off-menu items. One such example is the Animal Style burger, which was introduced in the early 1960s after a customer asked for his burger to be made like one of the associates' customized burgers. The name "Animal Style" was created on the spot by an In-N-Out employee, and over time, other variations of menu items have been given names based on customer requests. These off-menu items include the 3x3, which features three beef patties and three slices of American cheese, as well as Double-Meat, 4x4, Grilled Cheese, and Protein Style. According to In-N-Out's chief operating officer, Denny Warnick, the company accommodates special orders because it is "all about making our customers happy." The not-so-secret menu is even listed on In-N-Out's website, including instructions for making an Animal Style burger, which features a mustard-cooked beef patty with hand-leafed lettuce, tomato, and extra spread.
Written for “In-N-Out Burger Origins” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 4938 · logged 2026-09-05
In-N-Out Burger is known for its simple menu, with basic burgers, fries and shakes.
asserted
Burger → know → burgers
Yet by 2005, the fast-food chain was listing some of its most popular off-menu orders on a "Not-So-Secret Menu" online.
asserted
chain → list → Menu
Among the most famous off-menu offerings is the Animal Style burger, which the company website says is a "burger of your choice with hand-leafed lettuce, tomato, a mustard-cooked beef patty; add pickle, extra spread, with grilled onions."
In-N-Out’s website says the restaurants accommodate special orders because they’re "all about making our customers happy" — and that’s just how the Animal Style burger got its start.
asserted
burger → say → start
"We began serving the Animal Style burger in the early 1960s when a customer watched one of our associates make his own customized burger and asked for one made the same way," In-N-Out Burger chief operating officer Denny Warnick told Fox News Digital.
"
asserted
Warnick → begin → Digital
The name was created there on the spot.
asserted
name → create → spot
Over the years, many of the variations in preparation for our basic menu items were given names, usually by the customers who frequently ordered their burgers that way.
asserted
who → give → burgers
The terms were merely used to describe a way of preparing an order or a menu item exactly the way a customer wanted it.
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customer → use → it
"
Warnick said some of those names stuck, and today many customers order from the "secret" menu.
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customers → say → menu
"Whether a ‘secret menu’ order or not, we still cook every burger fresh-to-order, exactly how the customer wants it," he said.
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he → cook → it
In addition to Animal Style, In-N-Out includes on its off-menu list Double-Meat, with two beef patties; the 3x3, with three beef patties and three slices of American cheese; the 4x4, which is the same as the 3x3 but with an added patty and cheese slice; the Grilled Cheese, which replaces a burger patty with two slices of American cheese; and Protein Style, which is "your favorite burger wrapped in hand-leafed lettuce instead of a bun."
asserted
which → include → lettuce
Founders Harry and Esther Snyder opened the first In-N-Out in a suburb of Los Angeles, Calif., in 1948.
asserted
Snyder → open → 1948
According to the company’s website, it was California’s first drive-thru hamburger stand.
uncertain
it → accord → website
Today, the company is still privately owned by the Snyder family, and there are more than 400 locations in 10 states.
asserted
company → own → states
The Los Angeles Times reported in 2004 that In-N-Out customers had known about ordering their burgers Animal Style "for years.
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customers → report → years
"
"Relish the not-so-secret menu," the Times advised in 2005, noting that customers could find the secret menu on In-N-Out’s website and suggesting they try their burgers Animal Style and fries well done.
"Then try to find the little Bible verse references hidden in the wrappers and stamped under the cups – a fun game if you’re trying to sober up from an evening out," the Times added.
uncertain
Times → relish → evening
Though Animal Style is quite well known by now, the special burger is still attracting new converts.
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burger → know → converts
"Got my burger Animal Style for the first time," a Redditor wrote on a subreddit two years ago.
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Redditor → get → subreddit
I don’t think I will ever go back.
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I → think → ?
My parents have been going to [In-N-Out] long before I was born, and they just learned about Animal Style a month ago," another user responded.
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user → go → Style
"I couldn’t believe my frickin ears."
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I → believe → ears
Another off-menu order not listed on In-N-Out’s online menu is the Flying Dutchman — two patties and two cheese slices without buns or condiments — which the company says on its history page was created by former CEO Guy Snyder before he died in 1999.
asserted
he → list → 1999
