In-N-Out restaurant fans are feeling warm all over, thanks to a new addition to the menu: hot cocoa!
On Monday, the wildly popular West Coast-based fast food chain unveiled Ghirardelli hot chocolate, with a little packet of tiny marshmallows, for $1.60. And it's a big deal for the brand because it's the first new item they've introduced in over a decade.
For that price, customers get an 8-ounce cup of steaming delight. But for those of you who enjoy thick and creamy hot chocolate, take note: it's made with water, not milk.
In-N-Out, which started in Southern California in 1948, is known for its relatively sparse menu: they only sell burgers, fries, sodas and shakes. Fifteen years ago, the "last significant menu change" came when restaurants added lemonade, according to The Orange County Register.
The chain has 328 restaurants in California, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Nevada and Oregon and the new menu item will be available at all of them. Locations in Colorado are expected to open in a few years.
Needless to say, fans (even in warmer climes) are just delighted with the addition:
And one seems to have gotten his (or her!) cocoa for free:
There's a reason behind that: on rainy days, hot cocoa is free for kids under 12!
But as it turns out, everything new is old again ... or something like that. Hot cocoa appeared on the In-N-Out menu in the early days of the restaurant's founding.
"This is actually the return of hot cocoa," president Lynsi Snyder, the granddaughter of the founders, told The Orange County Register in a statement. "My grandparents, Harry and Esther Snyder, served it for many years beginning in the '50s. I’m not sure how it fell off the menu but it's part of our culture and something special for kids, and I'm happy that we’re bringing it back."
We couldn't agree more. But the whole thing makes us a gooey as marshmallows!
Of course, if you're stuck on the East Coast in subzero temperatures, you can always make your own hot cocoa at home.
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