On June 7, Californian burgers briefly interrupted the Tokyo workday. The culty American chain In-N-Out landed in Ebisu for a pop-up that lasted four hours. A reported 1,000 people turned up for the limited menu of just three items. And as quickly as it came, it went, leaving a wake of people on social media distraught that they hadn’t gotten the memo in time.
Irvine, California-based In-N-Out is famous for its trademarked “animal style” fries and for not freezing, prepackaging or microwaving any of its food. It’s also notorious for being in no particular rush to expand, with its locations concentrated in its home state, with a number across the southwest U.S. Earlier this year, the 75-year-old burger joint caused a stir when it announced an “eastern” expansion, which turned out to mean new stores only as far as Tennessee.
The company has, however, looked beyond its borders for short spurts. Its Ebisu pop-up was its fifth in Japan since 2012, but these overseas tours have also brought burgers to Bangkok, Seoul and Sydney, among other cities.