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Tuesday, 16 October 2012

[Pop-Up] The Day In-N-Out Burger Came to London...well, Hendon.

It must be a joke, right? I mean, it MUST be.
In-N-Out in Hendon
In-N-Out, cult burger joint from the West coast of America with the iconic red and yellow arrow logo, who haven't even made it to the East coast, wouldn't do a pop-up in London, right?

 And definitely not for just 4 hours, right?

 And if they did, it certainly wouldn't be in a greasy spoon called Florence Cafe, on Vivian Avenue, in Hendon, right?

 WRONG. They did. I went. And it was glorious.


Last year I wrote to In-N-Out to find out if they were going to send us a London franchise (read my crowdsource an In-N-Out for London post here), this year, they sent us a 4 hour pop-up. So we're getting closer!

 And it's not the first time they've popped up in different cities around the world - take a recent post on A Hamburger Today about the In-N-Out Singapore pop-up - same MO, different city.

 I rocked up and met half the team from Burger Anarchy at 10am, as well as TV pundit Simon Thompson (who gave me a heads up on Sunday), in the cold outside Florence Italian Cafe, part-way up Vivian Avenue, just outside Hendon Central Tube Station. Set up was taking place, and we were first in the queue with our wristbands:
In-N-Out in Hendon - Wristband
We had a chance to spend some time talking to the chefs and staff. Here are the answers to some of the questions you may have:
  • Yes, they flew their chefs over from the U.S.
  • Yes, it was advertised in The Finchley Times
In-N-Out in Hendon - Finchley Times Ad
Photo courtesy of @Ibzo

  • Yes, it was confirmed by In-N-Out.
In-N-Out in Hendon - Proof they were coming
Email courtesy of Dan Peters
  • Yes, Hendon is in the middle of bloody NOWHERE but it did help manage the potential crowd situation.
At 11 on the dot, In-N-Out opened up shop, and yours truly was first in line for burger-y goodness. 

 Time for some Double-Double Animal Style action:
In-N-Out in Hendon - receipt
Double-Double > Animal Style. In London.
In-N-Out in Hendon - cups
Imported In-N-Out cups.
In-N-Out in Hendon - double double animal style
Mmm...Double-Double Animal Style
In-N-Out in Hendon - double double baby!
Check out the layer of grilled onions...mmm
In-N-Out in London - double double baby!
I'm an animal, baby.
And the burger was spot on the money, transporting me back to my visit to California, and a lot of time spent troughing In-N-Out burgers around San Francisco.

 So, all in all a bit surreal, but I'm bloody glad I made it - here's hoping In-N-Out realise how popular their products are and send us a franchise sometime soon, it'll be a great addition to the London Burger scene.

Visited and written by Nick Andrews, author of Burger Me!