In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out has ignored almost every rule of fast food for more than seventy years. Harry and Esther Snyder opened a tiny drive-thru stand in Baldwin Park, California, in 1948, and the family still owns every location. No franchising, no freezers, no microwaves, and a menu that has barely grown: three burgers, fries, shakes and drinks.

The real menu, of course, is longer than the board. Order a 4x4, a Flying Dutchman or anything Animal Style and the cashier rings it up without blinking, because the company publishes its “Not So Secret Menu” itself. Californians who move away talk about In-N-Out the way other people talk about their mother’s cooking, which says more than any ranking could.

Family-owned and never franchised. Spread across the western and southwestern US, slowly moving east.