It’s official: In-N-Out Burger plans to open its first Idaho restaurant — in Meridian

It. Is. Really. Happening.

In-N-Out Burger, Idaho’s most wished-for, begged-for, sought-after restaurant chain, is planning to open a Treasure Valley restaurant.

In-N-Out Burger has applied for a permit to build and open its first Gem State location at 3520 E. Fairview Ave. — at The Village at Meridian.

Based on Meridian’s similarities to parts of In-N-Out’s home state of California, this makes sense, right? (A Golden State restaurateur described Meridian as “little California” to me last year.)

The Irvine-based chain is seeking approval “to construct a 3,879-square-foot In-N-Out Burger with drive-thru located on 0.642 acres of land,” according to Meridian city records.

For burger junkies, this would be epic.

Back in 2017, I conducted a poll of Idaho Statesman readers asking which chain restaurant should come to Boise. It was a landslide. A decisive 44% of the 4,588 votes were cast for In-N-Out Burger. The next closest restaurant was White Castle — at a mere 8%.

With so many Californians moving to Idaho, In-N-Out’s popularity is no shock. It’s a West Coast icon. If not legend.

Now it’s up to the city of Meridian to get this project plowing forward.

Normally, In-N-Out Burger restaurants take four or five months to build after construction begins. But it seems likely to take longer in the current climate of slowed supply chains. Not to mention in construction-crazy Meridian.

When might it open? We’ll have to wait to find out, according to In-N-Out’s Mike Abbate, assistant vice president, real estate and development.

“We know the city of Meridian is a wonderful community,” he said in an emailed response, “and we do hope to open a restaurant there in the future but, at this time, it would be too early to comment on a timeline.

“We are still in the very early stages of our development plans in Idaho, but we remain committed to the goal we set in 2020 to be serving Double-Doubles to our Boise area customers within five years. We are very much looking forward to that day, and we appreciate our customers in Idaho who have shared their anticipation with us as well.”

On that note, will Boiseans get to stuff their faces with In-N-Out’s food inside city limits someday? The Meridian restaurant probably won’t exactly ease traffic congestion in that part of town. It will be in the empty lot to the west of The Village at Meridian entry along Fairview Avenue in front of Axiom Fitness.

Boise’s eventual In-N-Out fate remains to be seen.

In 2020, Denny Warnick, In-N-Out’s vice-president of operations, told me that, “While we are still in the earliest planning stages, we do anticipate serving Double-Doubles in Boise in the not-too-distant future.”

Cross your fingers, fast-food fiends. And in the meantime, prepare for a long line in Meridian — eventually.

BoiseDev was first to report on the building permit.

This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 11:24 AM.