How to Walk to In-N-Out Burger from the Las Vegas Strip

I talk about food on this blog. I talk about it a lot. This post is no exception. Actually, this post is all about food. Food in the context of a small personal victory. This post was two and a half years in the making.

In May 2006, when we were out at Lake Tahoe for Jennifer's brother Jonas's college graduation, we ate at In-N-Out Burger for the first time. Jonas has spoken of the restaurant in glowing terms, and their brother Jordan seconded the endorsement of Jonas. So when we ate at the In-N-Out in Reno, we quickly agreed with Jordan and Jonas.

In-N-Out is a privately-owned burger chain that exists only in the American West. It has always been owned and run by the same family since its founding in 1948. It has never been a public company, and never franchised. They've also never installed a freezer in their restaurants. Everything comes in the door fresh, the meat, the buns, and the fries come in the restaurant as potatoes. The restaurants are spotless, the employees loyal, cheerful, and well-compensated. So as you can guess, the food's pretty good. The menu consists of four items: hamburger, cheeseburger, double-double, and french fries. You'd think that's simple, but it's not. There is a whole list of customizations to your food, and that's known as "the secret menu." The secret menu items are already laid out on the cashier's terminals, so it's not much of a secret, but you need to know what you want before you come in, as those special upgrades aren't advertised in the store.

There also isn't an In-N-Out burger within 2000+ miles of my house, so the only time I get to return is when I'm traveling to the west. My first chance to return to In-N-Out was September 2007 when I was in Las Vegas for work. Despite my best efforts, I failed to make it to the restaurant. I knew where it was, scoped out the route on Google Earth, figured out the schedule of The Deuce, and headed off on foot on a 100 degree day. Despite my best efforts, I never discovered the Northwest Passage over I-15. I should've taken a taxi, I guess, but it seemed excessive to spend $20 for a $6 meal. I determined that I would take a taxi the next time, if it came to that.

But I was hoping it didn't come to that this year. I'm back in Las Vegas for work again, and I did my homework. I found three In-N-Out restaurants within reasonable walking distance, and definitely within taxi distance. One on the UNLV campus didn't require an Interstate crossing, though it was a three mile trek from the hotel, or a little under two from the Deuce stop. The one I attempted last year was about 0.6 miles from the bus. . .provided I could get over the interstate. I opened Google Earth and Google Maps with street view, and researched the route to see if there was anything I had missed.

And it turns out there was! One thing I saw on the map, and one thing I didn't see until I was on foot today.

First, in the green circle, what are those stripes? A crosswalk! Since there was a crosswalk, there must be a sidewalk. That's a good start.

So with a break at lunchtime, I made my second attempt at the summit. Here's how to do it.

Take The Deuce to the Excalibur

Near the main drawbridge entrance to the casino is an escalator up to the overpass. Take the sidewalk around the escalator,

heading West parallel to W Tropicana Ave.

Once the sidewalk takes you under the on-ramp, you have a choice to make. This is where I screwed up last year. The sidewalk bifurcates, with one path headed West toward the restaurant, and the other heading East.

Take the eastbound (right) sidewalk. That sounds counterintuitive, since it's heading away from the restaurant. It snakes around, up onto the bridge, heading West... the way you want to go. (see the green path in the Google Earth capture above.)

Here's that crosswalk that was visible from space.

From there, it's a piece of cake. Cross I-15 on the bridge, then via lighted crosswalks, cross the on-ramp, Tropicana Ave (headed north), and the on-ramp again (headed East), and you're there!

And now back to the food.

It was noon, and the place was packed. They had a ton of friendly people working, so the line moved quickly.

I ordered a double-double, animal-style, extra toast, with french fries, well-done, and a chocolate shake. You'll need to do your own research on the secret menu to see what that means. $6.39 including tax

Here's what it looks like though.

How did it taste? You'll just have to visit In-N-Out for yourself. I don't know if it was that burger I was in love with, or the idea of that burger, but this was a cheeseburger I could be happy with for the rest of my life. And rolling-back the failures of last year's quest made lunch taste all that much better. Now the only question is, do I go again for lunch tomorrow, or wait 'til next year. I think you know the answer ;-)

Viva! Day Four

9/10 Tuesday morning. I skipped the rah-rah opening session and breakfast. Did my two morning sessions, ate a very light lunch, did the two afternoon sessions, and then headed out on an In-N-Out burger quest.

I got on the Deuce Bus right outside the Venetian for $5 for a 24-hour pass, and took that down to the Excalibur. Made my way through the casino and along Tropicana Avenue. I could see the restaurant getting closer, but I-15 was in the way. I found some underpasses, but still no way across the Interstate, short of playing Frogger on an eight-lane superhighway. I was within baseball-throwing distance of the restaurant. Headed back north to look for another way across, but never found it. I was pretty dejected by this point. I was really looking forward to a 3-by-3, animal-style, extra toast, with a side of fries, well-done, animal-style. Some have suggested I take a taxi. I just couldn’t bring myself to pay $20 for a $5 burger. Maybe I’ll regret that decision later, but if I come back next year, it’ll be worth the $20.

It was only 100F (and 12% RH), so I walked around a bit, getting pictures of New York,
New York,

and a really good one of a building covered in green dots.

I stopped at an indoor mall, and wandered around a bit, buying some personalized Las Vegas license plates and actually found “Tristan” and “Zoe,” so I had to get them. I got JR a fancy “JR” rubber stamp, and a really tacky Las Vegas bathing suit dude bottle opener for her to take to happy hour. I also got two dice lollipops in yellow and purple for the kids. I stopped at a restaurant called “Aroma d’Italia” for a(nother) prosciutto panini and more gelato: green apple and pina colada.

I went back outside and got some more shots outside “Paris,”

and then took the Deuce Bus (so named because it's a double-decker) back to the Venetian.

Uploaded pictures, dealt with e-mail, and went down to the Blues Brothers concert that was part of our conference. Despite the 6000 people in the room, mostly at tables, I made my way right up to the stage before the concert started. At the last moment I saw that photography was not permitted. Just damn! I was close enough to get some really good shots. When the “brothers” came out, I was within five feet of both Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd at one point. I had a great view of the Hammond player, who was great. The volume was a really comfortable level up there behind the speakers. But the Blues Brothers aren’t really my cup of tea, so after a few songs, I bailed, stopping by one of the many free beer tables for some refreshment for the eight minute walk back up to my suite, and picking up two pairs of cheap knockoff Ray Ban Wayfarers for the kids.

Back upstairs to start packing, more e-mail, and a few more pictures out my window. Getting back onto Eastern time is going to be rough.