First In-N-Out Burger to come to the state of Washington

Famed West Coast restaurant chain In-N-Out Burger announced plans to open its first location in the state of Washington Thursday, according to a statement from the company provided to MyNorthwest.

The chain will open a restaurant in the city of Ridgefield, which is north of Vancouver in Clark County.

“We recently filed a development application with the city of Ridgefield for a site,” In-N-Out Vice President of Store Development Mike Abbate said in the statement. “However, it is still very early in the development process, so we are hopeful for a positive outcome, as we work with the city in pursuit of our permits and approvals.”

Abbate’s statement added that once construction begins, it usually takes us eight to nine months to build the restaurant and open for business. Given that information, he did not want to provide a timeline for an opening date or even when the application approval would occur as he didn’t want to mislead any members of the community.

“We look forward to the possibility of being a part of the Ridgefield community, and having this great location to serve our customers,” the statement concluded.

The area where the In-N-Out Burger will live

Ridgefield City Manager Steve Stuart provided a statement to MyNorthwest Thursday night confirming the city has received a building permit application from In-N-Out Burger for a location in the Ridgefield Union Ridge Town Center development. He went on to explain that the city has worked with In-N-Out to provide a structure that will avoid street issues for residents that also compliments the city.

“Our permitting and engineering team has worked closely with In-N-Out to ensure they are not only creating enough queuing spaces to avoid backups onto roads, but also that the design of the building will be unique, high-quality and complimentary to Ridgefield,” Stuart said in the statement.

The Ridgefield Union Ridge Town Center is on Pioneer Street, west of Interstate 5 (I-5).

Stuart also referred MyNorthwest to a section titled, “I5 to Royle Road Transportation Improvements,” on the Ridgefield Roundtable, a website designed to assist Ridgefield residents get involved in community topics. That website provided a map of “labeled improvements” and the In-N-Out logo is present, indicating the restaurant will appear in the same development as a Costco.

According to The Columbian, Stuart said the opening of In-N-Out wouldn’t be dependent on Costco opening. The Vancouver news outlet also noted road construction around the shopping center is already underway and expected to be completed this fall.

The restaurant chain envisions a 4,354-square-foot building with a covered patio and 76 parking stalls, The Columbian reported. The eatery will also include a drive-thru that can accommodate 46 cars, according to planning documents acquired by the news outlet.

Previous burger coverage: Dick’s Drive-In brings back big deal to celebrate turning 70

The acquired documents show the new Ridgefield In-N-Out expects to be open 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday-Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

More on the In-N-Out Burger locations

Once Ridgefield’s In-N-Out Burger location is built and opens, it will have the honor of being the closest location to the cities of Seattle and Tacoma. According to Google Maps, Ridgefield is 152 miles away from Seattle (about 2 hours and 20 minutes away by car without traffic) and 122 miles from Tacoma (1 hour, 54 minutes in the car).

The closest In-N-Out to Seattle and Tacoma now is located in Keizer, Oregon, near Salem. Google Maps lists Keizer as 217 miles away from Seattle (3 hours, 30 minutes in the car).

In-N-Out first opened in Oregon in 2015 with a location in Medford, The Columbian notes. There are also locations in Roseburg and Grants Pass.

Founded by Harry Snyder, the first In-N-Out opened in Baldwin Park, California, in 1948. Baldwin Park is about 19 miles east of Los Angeles.

In-N-Out’s first location outside of California opened in Las Vegas in 1992.

Late in 2023, the chain opened its 400th location in its eighth state, this time in Meridian, Idaho. In-N-Out now serves customers in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho.

More on In-N-Out Burger: Company is expanding east of Texas; first stop is Tennessee

It appears Washington will become yet another state to get their hands on those burgers, regular or animal style, and milkshakes.

Editors’ note: This story originally was published on Feb. 29, 2024. It has been updated and republished multiple times since then.

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.