Most In-N-Out Customers Don't Know There Are 6 Ways To Order Onions

There are two questions In-N-Out employees ask that separate the chain from nearly any other burger joint. The first, if you'll be eating in your car, is asked in the drive-thru, and can confound the uninitiated. The other is a simple "with onion?" when you order any burger, despite onion being prominently present on every burger pictured on the menu. Answering "yes" when the question is asked tells the cook to place a slice of onion on a burger patty while it's still on the grill so that slice can sweat just a little and its flavor can seep into the patty.

However, there are actually six ways to order your onions at In-N-Out: onion, chopped onion, raw onion, raw chopped onion, grilled onion, and whole grilled onion. Asking for raw onion means the onion slice is placed cold over the bottom bun of the burger, instead of steamed on or between the beef patties on the grill as with regular onion. Raw chopped onion and chopped onion are the same as those first two requests, but with a handful of chopped onions instead of onion slices. Here's when things get fun: grilled onion cooks chopped onions till browned and caramelized before being placed on the patty. Whole grilled onion does the same with a slice of onion. Now you're ready for the In-N-Out secret menu.

If you can't get enough onions, you can order them every way on a single burger. Picture an In-N-Out cheeseburger with raw sliced and chopped onions, sliced and chopped onion cooked a bit with the patty, and topped with grilled chopped and sliced onions. You can also dial it back a bit (on the onions at least) and go Animal Style, which means a mustard-grilled patty, extra spread, pickles, and grilled chopped onions. Animal Style fries get melted cheese, spread, and chopped onions for a blissful experience. Go deeper into the secret menu's onion options by requesting whole grilled onions on your fries instead.

You can also ditch the burger buns and order a Flying Dutchman, which uses grilled onion slices for "buns." Make sure to grab extra napkins if you do. The more you visit In-N-Out, the more familiar you get with the modifications that work for your taste, and that's when an In-N-Out order becomes your In-N-Out order.