Burger lovers in Singapore queued up for hours today to get a chance at a burger from the cult-favorite In-N-Out, a California-base chain that is testing out foreign markets with one-day “pop-up” restaurants.
In-N-Out, which has a few hundred outlets in a handful of US states, has also held pop-ups in numerous international cities including London, Sydney, Toronto, New Zealand and Shanghai, where a bootleg burger chain called CaliBurger was copying much of its menu. But burger fans outside the western United States and Texas shouldn’t get too excited: The family-owned chain told the Straits Times that it has no immediate plans to expand internationally, but that ”these special events will help us make future decisions.”
After a successful pop-up in Singapore two years ago—burgers sold out in five minutes, and scalpers were offering up to S$50 (US$40) for the chance to buy one—In-N-Out decided to return with a high-security queue management system. Concert-style wristbands were handed out to the dozens of people who had been waiting in line since 7:30am, three and a half hours before food was actually available.
Three In-N-Out burgers were available: the double-double (two patties), animal style (pickles, extra sauce, grilled onions, and mustard) and protein-style (lettuce instead of a bun).
Food-crazed Singapore, with a large number of well-traveled local and expat residents who might already be familiar with In-N-Out’s reputation for burger deliciousness, probably isn’t a bad place for the chain to branch out—especially given the fervor that Singaporeans displayed for its one-day-only event.
“I had an interview candidate show up 15 minutes late, citing the long In-n-Out lines like it was a legitimate excuse,” Mrigaa Sethi, managing editor of Singapore’s I-S Magazine, told Quartz. “Clearly, this is important the way the moon landing was important.”