I think what most people miss when comparing In-N-Out to other burgers is the price point, their premium burger is a Double Double and a combo including fries and a drink is under $7.00. That's all fresh, never frozen (except for shakes) meat and vegetables or other ingredients. It's not comparable to Five Guys, Whataburger, The Habit or Shake Shack. It is comparable to Hardee's/Carl's Jr, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's or Jack in the Box but it's a higher quality meal.
There are also a lot of people that appreciate the fact that regardless how large they've become they're still family owned to try and maintain control of the quality of the product. The reason why they aren't nationwide is because they won't open a store more than a certain distance from there wholly owned distribution centers because they want to make sure their wholly owned transportation can reliably ensure each store gets fresh ingredients every day, there are no freezers (other than for shakes) at In-N-Out. They pay their employees more than average for any comparable job and the service you receive shows it, in 40 years of going there I've never had a bad experience regarding the employees or the product. If bible verses bother you I suspect that's why they're on the inside of the rim of the bottom of the cup, just set it down and it's not hard to ignore. I am a die hard In-N-Out fan, I have at least a dozen of the T-shirts from over the decades. I'm also a fan of the Lakers and the Dodgers but I have zero gear for either team. I'll send T-shirts to people on the east coast and it seems as if they consider them some sort of treasure. I understand that it seems as if the food doesn't live up to the hype these days and people that try it for the first time might be underwhelmed, but I'll say it again, In-N-Out wasn't, isn't and will never try to pander to hipsters or foodies. It's just a very basic burger concieved in the '40s that hasn't changed much. For many people who grew up in Southern California it's always been "The Little Train That Could", regardless of whatever nonsense any other fast food place was attempting you knew In-N-Out would always be the same. I think In-N-Outs popularity inspired a bunch of people to open the rash of retro '50s diner style restaurants we saw in the '90s, remember Johnny Rockets? They're all gone and In-N-Out is still plugging along serving fresh food with a smile at a reasonable price while slowly expanding. The food is not the only reason why a lot of old farts like me defend them so vehemently.
Sorry for the long post.
