“When I sat down,” she said, “I realized there was a big giant hole, and I also realized the bag was a lot lighter, and the burger was gone.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, that story lacks the intrigue of the internet speculation, much of which revolved around wormholes. But the intense interest in the Queens burger underscores the cult status of In-N-Out, a family-owned company with locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas and Oregon.
The chain played a starring role in a famous scene from “The Big Lebowski” (“those are good burgers, Walter”), and In-N-Out superfans are known to pay good money to ship frozen patties east. The chain’s appeal is not limited to the United States: In 2014, In-N-Out opened a temporary location in Taipei; the burgers sold out in two hours.
To some skeptics, the enduring popularity of In-N-Out is as mysterious as the provenance of the Queens cheeseburger.
“I’ve been to In-N-Out, just like millions of other people, and I don’t get it,” said John Hamburger, who runs Franchise Times, an industry publication. “I think it’s just because there’s a little bit of scarcity to it. There’s something special to that.”
But in a burger-saturated market, In-N-Out’s simple menu and commitment to serving fresh food have helped it stand out from the competition, said Larry Reinstein, a restaurant consultant. “Do I think they’d be successful in New York?” Mr. Reinstein said. “I think they’d be incredibly successful, as long as they execute the same way they execute now.”
For the moment, however, In-N-Out has no plans to open a New York location, a company representative said. That will come as a disappointment to Mr. Boehm and Ms. Vivas, loyal fans who are still reeling from their moment of viral fame.
“I’m only 16,” Ms. Vivas said. “I never expected to get so much attention over a burger I dropped in the street.”
