5 Menu Items You Should Never Order At In-N-Out

It's far from a controversial statement to say that In-N-Out has good food that's generally worth trying if you're in one of the eight states that actually have In-N-Out locations. However, that isn't to say everything you can possibly order from the California-based burger chain is worth the (typically very low) price. In fact, there are a handful of items you'd be better off avoiding entirely, either due to an underwhelming flavor or having a much better alternative readily available.

And we're not just talking about the base menu at In-N-Out, either. While some of the items on In-N-Out's "Not So Secret Menu" have completely revolutionized how consumers interact with the beloved fast food chain, others just aren't that good and likely should've never been spoken into existence in the first place. Whether you're a long-time fan of the chain who has never strayed from the trusty Double Double or someone new to it who's worried about making the wrong choice, recognizing the restaurant's low points before exploring the menu can save you from an inadequate meal at this otherwise remarkable fast food chain.

Starting things off is actually one of the most frequently purchased items at the restaurant, as the regular french fries come with any combo you order from In-N-Out. However, this doesn't mean they're actually worth ordering. Despite frequent praise of the chain's other ingredients and items, even folks on fan forums like the In-N-Out subreddit consider the fries to be subpar. In-N-Out ranked poorly on our list of the best and worst fast food fries due to its bland fry recipe which simply can't compete with legitimately high-end fries.

However, hope is not lost if you're a french fry lover visiting In-N-Out, as there are two upgrades to potentially improve the side dish's taste and texture. For starters, asking for your fries to be made well-done at In-N-Out will give them the crunchiness that many fry fans know and love rather than the soggy, limp texture they too often possess. Asking for your fries to be made animal-style also provides a lot of flavor to the dish and makes it more worth ordering with your burger.

Switching gears and looking toward a secret menu item, the Onion-Wrapped Flying Dutchman is a lesser-known choice at In-N-Out as it isn't even included on the "Not So Secret Menu" portion of the chain's website. Nevertheless, it's as real as any secret menu burger is — and we honestly wish it wasn't. The Flying Dutchman burger consists of two beef patties and two pieces of cheese with two grilled onion slabs replacing the typical bun. This obviously works for massive fans of onions, but it is a generally flawed design otherwise.

For starters, the burger's lack of other toppings leads to an unbalanced burger with an overwhelming taste of onions. Plus, because grilled onions aren't intended to be a stabilizing force for meat and cheese like a bun or even lettuce can be, the burger falls apart incredibly easily and can become a total mess if you aren't careful. Plus, the amount of grease the secret menu item possesses and the potential inconsistencies of how much onion you're given on the burger makes the Onion-Wrapped Flying Dutchman from In-N-Out even more prone to failure.

Speaking of inconsistencies, the milkshakes at In-N-Out are often criticized for being unpredictable in taste, with chocolate shakes sometimes tasting far too mild while the strawberry shake often tastes overly sweet and, at times, synthetic. The vanilla shake is likely the most consistent of the three, but that comes with the mundanity of the most popular ice cream flavor in America and isn't a standout whatsoever.

Despite the inconsistencies of these shakes, at their best they can be enjoyable treats. The real reason why you should never order any one of the three standard shakes is that you should instead be trying all three at once. The Neapolitan shake at In-N-Out is an incredible secret menu hack that allows you to enjoy all three flavors of the chain's milkshake in one cup. This gives you a varied and complex flavor when you drink the shake, preventing flavor fatigue in the process. All in all, the experience that the Neapolitan provides is a massive step up from what any one milkshake flavor is capable of.

Another secret menu item that you should steer clear of is the 4x4, which is a burger that features four beef patties, four slices of cheese, and all the works you'd find on most cheeseburgers sold at In-N-Out. This is currently the largest possible burger you can purchase from In-N-Out, and is frankly too much meat for one burger. The burger's uniqueness comes from In-N-Out's decision to outlaw burgers with more than four patties in the wake of a 2004 incident where customers ordered a 100x100 after a night out. This turned out to be both a logistical nightmare and a health concern.

However, while the 4x4 is not as disastrous as the massive burgers the restaurant offered back in the day, it's still enough meat and cheese to be generally unappetizing for even those with large appetites. The sandwich is a mess and, as Anthony Bourdain once opined when talking about the perfect cheeseburger, "You should be able to eat a burger with one hand." The 4x4, unsurprisingly, does not pass this test. For the heavy eaters among us, it would probably be better to either get two Double Doubles or even a 3x3, both of which are more appetizing and physically manageable than the 4x4.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the item with the least amount of meat, which also lands on this list. The grilled cheese sandwich that resides on In-N-Out's Not So Secret Menu is just not worth giving a try. While it's a wonderful option for those who don't eat meat but are dragged to In-N-Out anyway, the grilled cheese — which features two slices of melted American cheese, lettuce, a tomato slice, house spread, and grilled onions — lacks the best thing that the restaurant has to offer in the form of the fast food chain's remarkably high-quality beef patties.

This is even more true if you choose the protein-style grilled cheese, a rarely-ordered sandwich that replaces the toasted bun (arguably the second-best aspect of an In-N-Out burger) with lettuce. While either of these options can be propped up by ordering them animal-style or asking for extra vegetables on the sandwich, the meatless options at In-N-Out simply aren't worth purchasing unless it's absolutely necessary.