Saigonese wait for hours to get In-N-Out burgers

Though the one-day event was only advertised on Facebook, people flocked to the place, willing to wait for hours to get a taste of the iconic California chain.

Since the pop-up was to run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., people began lining up at around 10:30 a.m. There were 300 burgers on offer on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The event attracted the attention of local food lovers and foreigners, too. Many locals said it was their first time trying to taste the famed burger. Some people who'd tried the brand in the U.S. said they were there, driven by nostalgia.

People line up at an In-N-Out Burger pop-up store in HCMC's District 1, October 12, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Tri

The menu included the standard hamburger, the cheeseburger and the double-double. Customers were allowed to customize their burgers by ordering Protein Style, which uses romaine lettuce to wrap the patty instead of buns, or the famous secret sauce Animal Style. The burgers were served with soft drinks and crisps.

To the disappointment of some customers, there were no fries.

Luis Hernandez, In-N-Out Burger’s manager for special foreign events, said: "This is part of our market-testing tour, we're just happy to be in Vietnam."

"Right now there is no immediate timeframe for when we will open a restaurant in Vietnam."

In-N-Out Burger was first opened in 1948 by Canadian-born businessman Harry Snyder and his wife Esther.

The burger chain is yet to establish an outlet outside of the U.S. but has opened pop-up locations across the world. In-N-Out's last appearance in Vietnam was in Saigon in 2017.