A popular U.S. burger chain’s one-off shop near campus on Thursday — which operated for just four hours — saw snaking lines with hours of wait time.
And for those who could not brave the lineup — no burgers for you.
In-N-Out Burger opened its temporary store at Italian restaurant Ganzi Osteria on Jarvis Street at 11 a.m. — but anyone who arrived after that time was out of luck.
Foodies began arriving since 6:45 a.m., and even though the chain did not start handing out wristbands — which allow customers to buy burgers — until after 9 a.m., the bands had already run out by opening time.
“The line wrapped around all the way to the end of the street,” said Deb Lewis, CEO of City Events, a firm involved in setting up the shop.
Lewis did not have an exact number of wristbands sold, but estimates it was in the hundreds.
For many Ryerson students, classes or work got in the way of lining up for wristbands.
“I saw on Twitter that the line-ups were too big and I had class from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m,” said Cameron Lasovich, a Ryerson film student. “If I didn’t have class, I probably would have gone to check it out.”
Anyone who did brave the long line could choose to order their burger “Animal Style” (lettuce, tomato and a mustard cooked beef patty), or “Protein Style” (wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun).
Virginie Corneau waited four hours in line to snag a wristband. Why? While on exchange in Germany, she said she met a friend from California who insisted that, if she ever got the chance, she had to try In-N-Out Burger.
The event was advertised in Wednesday’s Metro with a simple black-and-white photo. News of the event blew up on Twitter as fans of the burger joint speculated if the pop-up shop was real, or just a mean hoax.
While the pop-up store is no indicator that In-N-Out Burger will be expanding to Canada, Lewis said she hopes the shop’s success will encourage the burger chain to return in the future.
Laura Calabrese was a reporter and the Arts & Life editor at The Ryersonian. She has previously worked at McClung's Magazine, Ryerson Folio and ANDPOP.
Laura graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 2015.