In-N-Out Just Made a Big Announcement About East Coast Expansion

Bad news for Double-Double fans. It looks like In-N-Out Burger won't be coming to the East Coast any time soon.

The California-based burger company recently outlined their expansion plans and the latest news is sure to disappoint burger lovers on the East Coast. In a recent interview with NBC’s “Today," owner Lynsi Snyder reiterated that there are no plans for In-N-Out Burger to expand further east.

Snyder, who is the granddaughter of the burger chain's founders, took over as the president in 2010, and the size of the burger empire has nearly doubled since then.  

The first In-N-Out location was founded in 1948 as a simple burger stand in Los Angeles, California. It slowly expanded across six more states—Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado, and Idaho—with 400 restaurants in total. Most recently, the burger restaurant's map added New Mexico and Washington State to round out its regional coverage.

Tennessee is set to get its first In-N-Out in Nashville in 2026. That'll be the furthest east the chain has gone.

Why In-N-Out Hasn't Opened on the East Coast

What’s the reason behind the burger company not expanding all the way to the East Coast? In-N-Out has remained a private, family-owned company for nearly eight decades. They still use many of the same wholesalers Snyder’s grandfather used in the 1940s and ’50s, The burger business has grown carefully and held off on an East Coast expansion because they'd need to build new distribution centers.

In-N-Out is known for having a strict policy of not using freezers or microwaves at any point of distribution to deliver products to customers. Because of this, the restaurants must be a certain distance from the company’s distribution facilities to maintain the freshest ingredients possible for customers. 

Big name fast-food rivals are franchised, which allows individual store operators to set their own prices. This can often mean varying prices for similarly menu items.

Snyder says that as long as she is in charge In-N-Out would “absolutely” stay a private company.  She is cautious about over-expanding and remains focused on keeping prices lower than competitors’ because she “felt such an obligation to look out for our customer. When everyone else was taking these jumps, we weren’t.”

And as far as the East Coast being a part of In-N-Out Burger expansion plans? Snyder says, “As long as I’m around, I’m probably saying never.”