Why You'll Probably Never See In-N-Out On Delivery Apps (And If You Do, It's Not Official)

In-N-Out has a reputation for a lot of things, from its cult-like following of loyal fans, to its not-so-secret secret menu. The reputation it's most proud of? Dedication to fresh ingredients and the highest possible quality. So dedicated, in fact, that when the delivery app DoorDash took it upon themselves to start delivering In-N-Out burgers and fries, the California-based burger chain filed a lawsuit against the food delivery app.

In the 2015 lawsuit, In-N-Out accused DoorDash of trademark infringement and unfair competition. The complaint stated that In-N-Out never gave DoorDash permission to deliver its food, noting concerns about delivery time, temperature of the food during delivery, and food safety practices of delivery drivers. It's this point that remains a non-negotiable for In-N-Out — the restaurant wants to control all aspects of its food, from the supply chain to the moment the customer eats the food. When a third party delivery app takes over any part of that, that control is lost.

According to commenters on an In-N-Out Reddit thread, the decision to stay off delivery apps like DoorDash comes down to maintaining that quality over everything. One In-N-Out employee put it simply: "Can't ensure quality, once it leaves our hands we don't know what happens." Another Reddit user laid out a few different reasons why In-N-Out avoids the apps entirely, saying, "If you're in n out and you care about the quality of your food you want it to be as fresh as possible plus these apps are gouging these restaurants. I can't see in n out allowing their product to sit for 45 minutes until it gets to the customer soggy and cold."

When it comes to quality, In-N-Out isn't messing around. The insistence on fresh ingredients that are never frozen or microwaved is at the core of its mission, and it's the main reason the California-based chain doesn't franchise its restaurants. Although, while there are no In-N-Out restaurants on the east coast, the chain has made moves east of the Golden State, while still keeping quality and freshness of ingredients top of mind. In 2011, a distribution center opened in Dallas, Texas, meaning that more locations could open in the southern and southeast region, as long as they were close enough to the new facility. In 2025, In-N-Out opened its first locations in Tennessee, the furthest eastern expansion so far, marking the 10th state (the others, apart from California, are Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, and Washington) that can claim In-N-Out as a local favorite. Today, In-N-Out has over 400 locations in the United States, with more planned openings to come.

Some enterprising individuals tried to set up small-scale delivery systems for In-N-Out lovers who don't want to visit the chain in person, but there remains no official way of ordering your favorite burger for delivery. One group, naming themselves Only Outs listed its services on Reddit, but commenters quickly suggested that the chain wouldn't be happy. One said, "in n out does not even support it also he is about to get in some serious trouble in n out does not go lightly on people using there trademark or offering services without there permission." It seems they were correct, as the Only Outs website no longer exists. 

A visit to the In-N-Out website lays out its commitment to quality and freshness in the simplest of terms. "Our iceberg lettuce is hand-leafed. Our American cheese is the real thing. And we use the best available onions and the plumpest, juiciest tomatoes we can find." In-N-Out also uses old-fashioned, slow-rising sponge dough for its burger buns, farm-fresh potatoes for its fries which are hand-cut in every restaurant, and each burger is made one at a time, fresh to order.