How In-N-Out became one of America's most beloved fast-food dynasties as it marks 75 years under the ownership of the Snyder family
Tech Insider
In-N-Out serves a simple menu mostly comprised of burgers, fries, and shakes.
Nancy Luna/Insider
In-N-Out Burger is one of the most beloved burger brands in the US.
The Snyders grew one tiny burger stand in California into a billion-dollar family dynasty.
Rivals envy In-N-Out Burger, which has locations in seven states, for its cultlike fan base.
In-N-Out is considered the gold standard for fast-food brands, with rivals envying it for its cultlike fan base that include countless Hollywood celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and food legends including Anthony Bourdain.
In-N-Out has remained a privately run family business since it was founded in Southern California by Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948.
Snyder's rise to the top of the chain at such a young age was largely the result of the deaths of her family members and internal legal drama at the company. At age 23, she became the primary beneficiary of the burger dynasty. Around the same time, she was accused by another executive of plotting to take over the company and expand it nationally.
Snyder became one of the youngest billionaires in the US when she inherited complete control of In-N-Out in 2017. She has expanded the chain to Texas, Oregon, and Colorado since becoming In-N-Out's president in 2010. Two more states are on the books for expansion: Idaho and Tennessee.
As the chain grows, so does her net worth — which reached $4.2 billion as of February 2023, according to Forbes.
Harry Snyder leaned into Southern California car culture and built restaurants with twin drive-thru lanes and no indoor dining.
Most In-N-Out locations now have both a drive-thru and indoor dining.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
The menu was simple and has been kept pretty much the same. The chain serves hamburgers, cheeseburgers, Double-Doubles, french fries, shakes, and beverages.
Nancy Luna/Insider
In 1961, the first Animal Style burger was created in response to customer requests. The mustard-cooked beef patty is served with pickles, lettuce, grilled onions, and extra spread. It was originally a custom creation by early In-N-Out workers. Rowdy late-night customers, referred to as "animals" by some In-N-Out workers, discovered the burger and kept ordering it. "That's how Animal Style burgers got their name," Snyder wrote in her book. "Even though our menu has stayed the same for decades, secret menu items are often requested."
Patties, buns, potatoes, vegetables, and everything else you can order from the restaurant are delivered to each location via trucks from In-N-Out distribution centers such as this one. The company says nothing is ever frozen or microwaved.
In-N-Out has long maintained that the company's offerings are never frozen or microwaved.
At the chain's beef-processing plant, butchers "bone" cow and steer chucks from local suppliers. The proprietary blend of meats is then put through a two-grind system. Fresh meat is sent to stores daily.
In-N-Out's local bun supplier is Puritan Bakery, a Southern California company known for its hearty, old-fashioned sponge and dough buns.
Nancy Luna/Insider
According to Lynsi Snyder's new book, her grandfather, Harry, "experimented with at least six bakeries before going with one that met his standards." Harry Snyder liked the sponge and dough process because it makes for a "properly toasted bun," Snyder wrote.
While Southern California rivals such as McDonald's were franchising and growing quickly, Harry Snyder kept the chain private and grew slowly. In 1973, when In-N-Out turned 25, it had 13 locations.
A new leadership era began in 1976 after the death of Harry Snyder. His youngest son, Rich, took over the company as president. His older brother, Guy, became vice president.
Rich Snyder became president of the chain after his father died, and his brother, Guy, became vice president.
In 1972, at the behest of Harry Snyder, In-N-Out planted its first "crossed palm trees" at a restaurant.
Nancy Luna/Insider
Snyder got the idea from a movie, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," where characters chase treasure buried under four palm trees planted to resemble the letter W. Now most In-N-Out locations have crossed palm trees.
In 1974, In-N-Out launched its Cookout Department with an event using a grill and a pickup truck.
In-N-Out's new catering vehicle, The Esther Snyder Cookout Truck, serves mini-versions of burgers and fries. It even sells a mini-Double-Double. Fries are not on the regular Cookout Truck's menu.
BTV/In-N-Out
Today, the chain has more than 10 cookout trucks that cater special events such as weddings, birthdays, and concerts.
The first 20 restaurants didn't have dining rooms. In 1979, the chain built its first restaurant with a dining room at its 21st store in Ontario, California. After this, the company only built 13 more restaurants without dining rooms.
Rich Snyder and another In-N-Out executive died in a plane crash in 1993 while traveling back from the chain's 93rd restaurant opening. When he took over the company, In-N-Out had 18 restaurants.
Lynsi Snyder began working as an associate at In-N-Out in 1999.
Fox 11 Los Angeles/YouTube
In her new book, Lynsi Snyder said that after her father died, "a team of executives" continued to run the chain's day-to-day operations. Executives such as Mark Taylor, who retired as chief operating officer in 2020, "kept things running smoothly," she wrote.
Source: I Am Second and "The Ins-N-Outs of In-N-Out Burger"
Lynsi Snyder soon became known as the "burger queen" or "burger heiress."
CBS This Morning
"I was the only direct blood relative still living. But I was only 17 when my dad died. For the next several years, there was no way I could run the company," Snyder wrote.
In 2006, In-N-Out executive Richard Boyd made headlines after he filed a suit against the leadership.
I Am Second
Specifically, Boyd accused then-23-year-old Lynsi Martinez, Lynsi Snyder's married name at the time, of leading a coup to oust her grandmother as president so she could take the chain national.
In-N-Out and Lynsi Snyder denied the allegations. The chain countersued Boyd, accusing him of embezzling company funds.
Lynsi Snyder became In-N-Out's president in 2010. She was 27.
BTV/In-N-Out
She became the chain's new leader. "My intention was to lead the company with the same values that had been passed on to me," she wrote in her book.
Source: Insider and "The Ins-N-Outs of In-N-Out Burger"
Under her leadership, In-N-Out unveiled a replica burger stand in 2014 near the original location. "This is a really special spot for me," Snyder said at the time.
Snyder, a devout Christian like her uncle, has added three more Bible verses to different restaurant products. She added Proverbs 24:16 to french fry containers.
Nancy Luna
She also added Luke 6:35 to the coffee cups and Isaiah 9:6 to the holiday cups.
Nancy Luna
Lynsi Snyder has expanded In-N-Out's footprint to three new states: Texas, Oregon, and Colorado.
Cars line up for the Colorado opening of In-N-Out in February 2021.
Getty Images
In 2018, Snyder was the face of the Forbes 400 Wealthiest Americans list. She was also the youngest woman in the group.
Snyder has changed almost nothing about the brand, which prides itself on its simple menu of burgers, shakes, fries, and drinks. But she did make one nostalgic menu tweak in 2018 when she added…
Nancy Luna
…hot cocoa. It was previously on the menu in the 1950s.
Nancy Luna
"I'm not sure how it fell off the menu, but it's part of our culture and something special for kids, and I'm happy that we're bringing it back," Snyder told the Orange County Register.
When the first restaurants in Nashville open in 2026, they will be In-N-Out's closest locations to the East Coast.
Lynsi Snyder with Tennessee officials.
BTV/In-N-Out
In-N-Out's Tennessee locations will be the closest the brand has ever gotten to the East Coast, where Double-Double fans have long yearned for locations closer to home.
In-N-Out has said it will build an Eastern territory office in Franklin, Tennessee. Lynsi Snyder noted the significance of the expansion in a press statement, saying it is farther "east than we've ever been."
Today, Lynsi Snyder is the face of the brand. She is active on Instagram, where she has more than 53,000 followers.
Screenshots of Snyder's Instagram
She posts updates about her charities, her In-N-Out family, her friends, her favorite foods, and brand swag.
Some say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's the case, In-N-Out feels that love constantly. The chain has sued countless restaurant copycats in locations around the world, from Utah to Australia, that have built menus and store designs that look remarkably similar to In-N-Out's.
