After more than a year of hype, the first two In-N-Out burgers opened in Texas today. It seems like the people of Texas certainly know how to make a restaurant chain feel welcome. The restaurants opened at 9 a.m. Wednesday, but people had been camping out for days and drivers waited hours just for a burger.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Pedro “Gspook” Gonzalez got the first burger when the store opened. The article added that, "he had been camped out since 9 p.m. Monday. His wife, who is pregnant with their fourth child, thinks he's crazy." Shortly after plunging into his first burger he said "thank you, Lord Jesus." Another man said, "praise God." It was clearly a very emotional moment for many of the people gathered.
Lines wrapped around the buildings twice and one Twitter eyewitness estimated that more than 150 cars were already parked by one of the stores 15 minutes before the opening. Take a look at his report:
It only gets weirder from there. Members of the media got reactions from people as they sank their teeth into the burgers. One woman spoke to her burger, saying "Wow, I've missed you. It's so worth it." She later said that just having a five-minute drive to the burger chain was "overwhelming" as she shed tears of joy. Take a look at the video.
All joking aside, the reaction shows how connected food can be to a sense of place. Many of these reactions came from people from Southern California (where the chain originated) who had childhood memories flood back as they bit into their first In-N-Out burger in Texas. Food can be awfully powerful.
Photo by: screenshot
