At the In-and-Out Burger near LAX, I’d expect nothing less than a long line of cars for the drive-thru. About ten cars wound around the building, windows up and exhaust puffing out of the exhaust pipe. It seems like Los Angelenos would rather wait ten extra minutes in their cars than go inside and order from the counter. And such is the case with most things L.A. Even if something is “just around the corner” (which, by the way, in L.A. lingo means a 5-minute drive), they’d opt for the drive.

Nevertheless, the burgers were good - beefy patties garnished with crunchy iceberg lettuce, tomato, unidentifiable cheese and “sauce.” We asked the cashier for barbecue sauce, honey mustard, or something to dip the fries in, but all they had was a packet of SAUCE with no indication of ingredients except mayonnaise. Turns out the secret sauce is a variation of thousand island dressing, but it’s still an In-and-Out novelty.

While searching the internet for the secret sauce recipe. I came across an entirely secret menu. Something known to Californians, or someone who watches the Travel Channel religiously, but for an East coast eater like me, it’s a little nugget of insider info. It’s basically the same eight ingredients (fries, burger, buns, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, sauce) assembled in different ways with different cooking times. So next time I crave an In-and-Out burger, I’ll do it the L.A. way: the Flying Dutchman with Light fries eaten in the comfort of my car.