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The Street

Patricia Battle

In-N-Out owner shuts down viral 'secret menu item'

InNOut Starbucks Lynsi Snyder TikTok

For years, In-N-Out has gone viral on social media for a number of unofficial “secret menu hacks” such as its “Flying Dutchman burger,” which is essentially two cheese burgers sandwiched in between two grilled onions, and its “Neapolitan shake,” which is a milkshake that blends chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavors.

As In-N-Out customers have continued to share their customized orders on social media, often dubbing them as “hacks,” In-N-Out has opted to refrain from debunking these specialized orders. But recently, one “secret menu item” that went viral on Instagram has prompted a response from In-N-Out owner Lynsi Snyder, who seemingly shut down the hack.

In an Instagram video, which was posted on July 6 by an account named Hungry Hotline, a customer is seen holding a “Monkey Style” burger they ordered from In-N-Out, which is a cheeseburger topped with the restaurant’s animal style fries. The caption over the video claims that it is “the best secret menu item” at In-N-Out.

“Some locations will honor this order while others won’t. If they won’t serve it Monkey Style, you can make it yourself by just topping your burger with animal style fries,” wrote Hungry Hotline in the comment section under the video.

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The video has so far amassed over 4.7 million views on Instagram, and many users in the comment section under the video claimed that the secret menu item was “fake.

“Not a real thing coming from an in n out associate” read one comment.

“This isn’t a real item you can order. Please stop the fake info for credibility! All this does is make In-N-Out employees jobs’ more difficult,” wrote another user in the comment section.

Last week, Snyder caught wind of the video and appeared to debunk the “secret menu item” by adding a comment under the video that contained two emojis: a raised eyebrow face and a thumbs down emoji.

Fake In-N-Out secret menu hacks frustrate employees

For years, In-N-Out has had a “Not So Secret" menu, which contains food items that are not officially on the menu, but can still be ordered at its restaurants. Some of those items include the restaurant's Animal Style, Double Meat and Protein Style burgers.

“In reality, we don’t have any secrets at all,” reads In-N-Out’s webpage that displays the menu. “It’s just the way some of our customers like their burgers prepared, and we’re all about making our customers happy.”

Despite revealing its “Not So Secret” menu, some In-N-Out customers continue to order fake menu items that have gone viral on social media, prompting some employees to complain on Reddit.

View the original article to see embedded media.

In-N-Out isn’t the only victim of viral menu hacks circulating social media. In 2022, a Starbucks (SBUX) employee went viral on TikTok for shutting down a hack that supposedly allowed customers to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte for a cheaper price. Instead of ordering a Pumpkin Spice Latte off the menu, the hack instructed customers to order a customized drink containing pumpkin spice sauce, saving them about $2.

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The Starbucks employee in the TikTok video claimed that the hack forces workers to make drinks that are not part of the company’s recipes, which puts them at risk of getting in trouble with management for wasting product.

“Stop with the hacks,” said the Starbucks employee in the viral TikTok video. “Stop making minimum wage workers do circles for you.”