For the first time ever, on Friday Nathan Lopez and Lauren Oliver didn’t have to travel to Turlock or Modesto to grab a burger and fries from the In-N-Out Burger chain. Months of waiting for the new eatery to open at the corner of Service and Mitchell roads came to an end with Thursday’s opening.
It only took 75 years for Ceres to snag the popular chain since its 1948 debut in Southern California. In-N-Out has approximately 286 restaurants in the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Texas.
Lopez noticed the number of employees nearly tripping over themselves inside and outside the store to make sure the opening week goes as smoothly as possible.
“They are getting everybody in and out, that’s for sure,” quipped Lopez. “Right now there are more employees than customers.”
Ceres In-N-Out Burger manager Adam House said that the chain has a tradition of bringing in what’s called the “All Star Team” during the first week of an opening as a way of making customers feel welcome and valued and help model how the store is to operate. Team members were thick inside the store wiping down tables, offering help to customers by fetching food and condiments and asking how the food tasted while outside a small army was assisting a steady line of car through the drive-thru lane. Thrown in the mix were some of House’s 90 green new hires.
“And I might be hiring more, it all depends,” said House, a great-nephew of the late state Assemblyman George House of Hughson, was introduced to a career with In-N-Out Burger through his brother who began working for the chain while in high school.
House said plans were to open in December but the chain owner, Lynsi Snyder “really cares for our associates and their families so she didn’t want to open too close to the Christmas time to allow them time to be with their families.”
Lynsi Snyder is the granddaughter of In-N-Out founders Harry and Esther Snyder.
The new restaurant features a longer drive-thru lane than normal for In-N-Out Burgers.
“This is probably the biggest drive lane I have seen in this area,” said House, adding that the lanes at stores in nearby Turlock and Modesto are undersized in retrospect.
The restaurant has another unique feature – an outdoor patio with a pergola with nine concrete tables for shaded dining.
House said he expects that his restaurant drive-thru to attract travelers on Highway 99, Central Valley High students who can leave campus for lunch and folks going home from the work day.
In-N-Out began looking at Ceres over three years ago but didn’t have an opportunity to build along the freeway. That all changed when the Ceres Gateway Center was approved south of the Walmart Supercenter, giving In-N-Out a chance to be seen from Highway 99 with its bright red neon building accents. That visibility might be hampered with the development of a four-story Woodspring Inn & Suites hotel expected this year.
“That’s the unfortunate thing, it might block the view,” said House. “We hope not but they’ll know we are here so it’ll be okay.”
Also open so far in the center are Starbucks and Chipotle. Finishing touches are being placed on the Ono Hawaiian BBQ and construction is taking place on a Quick Quack Car Wash.
In-N-Out Burger made headlines this week when it announced it will be expanding east of the Mississippi River for the first time, opening restaurants in Tennessee.
