In-N-Out Burger is planning on opening its first restaurant in Washington state, the Irvine-based burger chain confirmed Friday, March 1.
In-N-Out has filed a development application with the city of Ridgefield, vice president of store development Mike Abbate said in an email, and will be working with the city on permits and approvals.
Ridgefield, population around 12,000, is in the state’s southernmost county, Clark. It is 20 minutes north of Portland, Ore., but 2½ hours from Seattle.
“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 complementary to Ridgefield,” the city posted Thursday in a comment to a post about traffic projects on its Facebook page.
It can take months or years for building projects to get through permit and approvals in city governments to reach the construction stage, as happened in a yearslong project to bring In-N-Out to the Outlets at Orange.
When In-N-Out reaches the construction stage, it usually adds the location to the “Opening Soon” page on its website. That page currently lists six locations: the Orange restaurant, Redlands, Oxnard and Sylmar in California, plus Layton, Utah, and Flagstaff, Ariz.
In-N-Out has a presence in eight states, with two more on the way, so Washington will potentially be the chain’s 11th state.
Those eight states are California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho. Tennessee and New Mexico are in the works.
When In-N-Out’s first restaurant in Idaho opened in December, it created a sensation throughout the state.