Editor’s note: This article has been updated with details from In-N-Out.
Dive Brief:
- In-N-Out plans to open its first restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico by 2027, the company announced in a press release emailed to Restaurant Dive. The chain also shared the news on Instagram.
- The company has been expanding into new states and is currently building its first Idaho unit, but the opening date of that restaurant is unknown at this time.
- The chain will also soon extend its reach to the East Coast with the goal to open in Nashville, Tennessee, by 2026. It also will be setting up a 100,000-square-foot office in Franklin, Tennessee.
Dive Insight:
In-N-Out has locations in Arizona, Utah and Colorado, and Albequerque, New Mexico will allow it to be “fully in the Four Corners,” per its Instagram post. The company also said it has plans for additional locations in New Mexico, but didn’t indicate where or how many.
“Growth into New Mexico is an important milestone for us,” In-N-Out CEO Lynsi Snyder said in a statement. “We’ve heard from many loyal In-N-Out Customers there through the years, wondering if we would ever open restaurants in their communities, especially after opening locations further to the east. It was only a matter of when, once we had the infrastructure and support in place.”
New Mexico restaurants will be serviced by a distribution facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that will deliver fresh ingredients.
The chain, which doesn’t franchise, has been relatively slow in expanding outside of its core markets. It opened outside of California in 1992 with its first Nevada restaurant, 44 years after the chain was born. It wasn’t until 2000 that it opened its first Arizona restaurant and 2008 when it entered Utah. It went further east with its expansion into Texas in 2011, and went north into Oregon in 2015. In 2020, it opened its first Colorado restaurant.
“We have always been thoughtful at In-N-Out about expansion into new markets, in order to maintain the high standards for quality, friendliness, and cleanliness that were established by our founders, Harry and Esther Snyder, over 75 years ago,” the company said in a statement.
