Why You Should Think Twice Before Making This Order Request At In-N-Out

Is the customer always right? Maybe. But that doesn't mean the customer can't sometimes be annoying as well. We've all heard the stories and seen the videos of a fast food order gone wrong. Some of these accounts are extreme cases (have you seen those videos of fights at Waffle House?). Others, though, are much more subtle, like this In-N-Out order request you should think twice about.

In-N-Out has a very simple menu, but it also has many ways you can customize your order, like those famous Animal Style fries. However, some customization requests can be irksome. In-N-Out employees on Reddit say it's particularly annoying when customers ask for a burger to be cut into halves or quarters. A user on Reddit asked the chain's employees to share orders that are bad enough to make them quit their job. Another Redditor pretty much summed it up in answer: "Protein burgers cut in half, animal style burgers cut in half, Flying Dutchmans with a bunch of stuff on them cut in half, anything that's not a plain cheeseburger or hamburger cut in half." 

For context, In-N-Out has some pretty loaded burger options, like 4x4 which is four beef patties, four slices of cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, spread, and optional onions inside a bun. When a customer asks for this giant to be cut in half — or even worse, cut in fourths — you can imagine the result. "If you order a 4x4 animal style protein style cut in half don't come crying to me when it looks like a mess of SLOP," another person wrote on the same post. While we can't confirm whether these Reddit users really are In-N-Out employees, this is a request that plenty of people have advised avoiding.

It appears the cut-in-half burger seems to really rile up In-N-Out employees. One more employee on Reddit expressed similar displeasure: "I can tolerate almost everything except you guys wanting multiple burgers cut in half especially when they are anything but plain ... Cut in half is for plain burgers that little kids are sharing." If you would still like your burgers to be cut in half or quarters for any reason, a potential easy solution to this fix is to simply order the huge burger whole, then cut it yourself. At least then you can better control the resulting mess as well.

If you're wondering why In-N-Out employees might not be thrilled to cater to such a seemingly simple request (besides it ruining the burger itself), know that such customizations are a common issue with many fast food chains and restaurants. For many employees, it's simply about disrupting the flow of their process and slowing down the kitchen, especially during a busy service. There are plenty of other requests that can throw them off too; In-N-Out workers complain about customers asking for unsalted fries, chopped chilies (which don't come pre-chopped so they have to slice 'em themselves), and multiple orders of whole grilled onions. Chains might still deliver what you ask for, but it's worth thinking it over before making such a request.