The SF Tech Worker Whose Unhinged Order Broke In-N-Out Forever

SFGate ^ | May 11, 2026 | Farley Elliott

[nickcarraway]

Now, he's back to rethink fast food entirely

Will Young wasn’t even sure his order was possible. He’d heard rumors, of course, but as a kid who’d grown up on the internet of the 1990s, he knew that website whispers didn’t always translate to the real world. He and his buddies, out for a meandering night in Las Vegas, would just have to ask.

So, around dinner time on Halloween night in 2004, Young’s laid-back group, including the late Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, stepped up to the counter of a Nevada In-N-Out to test their fate. Would it be possible, they wondered, to make a classic double-double, but with 98 extra patties and 98 extra slices of cheese?

Sure, the workers said after some thought and a chuckle. Why not?

In-N-Out’s famous 100-by-100 burger was born.

“It was no grand plan,” Young recalled, nearly 22 years later, when reached by phone at his home in Walnut Creek. “We just asked. We thought they’d say no.”

Sure enough, the famously affable workers said they’d give the burger a shot. The order took a while, and it must have been hell on the grill cooks, but in the end, the gang got their wish. The evening shift even fashioned an improvised caddy for the behemoth, sliding together cardboard boxes to fit the whole thing. One bun at the top, one at the bottom, and a century of meat and cheese in between.

“That was the end of our night, of course,” Young said with a laugh, “because we ate it, felt terrible and didn’t go out after.”

Today, Young is a family man. Once a longtime San Francisco resident, he’s got a couple of kids and is happy to have traded the Mission for an East Bay backyard, though he does miss

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TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Food; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: burgers; fastfood; innout

[Fledermaus]

They just moved to TN. Building a new headquarters in Franklin.

[kosciusko51]

I’m hoping they open one in the Huntsville, AL region. We’re not that far from Franklin, TN.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Who is going to top that ordering a Thousand/Thousand? lol

[Larry Lucido]

So In n Out has been “broken” ever since? Kind of a silly headline.

That said, I worked at Wendy’s in 1982, and it was normal to have a couple dozen hamburger patties staged on the grill at a time throughout lunch and dinner. You would typically sell several hundred hamburger patties as singles, doubles and triples during a rush. One bus load might be 100 patties and you loaded up the grill soon as it pulled onto the lot. If they all ordered Frosties, well, you ended up with plenty of meat to make chili.

[cyclotic]

There’s one in Frederick, MD too

[webheart]

Over the top headline for sure. I don’t go to in n out much but I know that there are 4 them within a short driving distance of my house. They are all still there. Today. That doesn’t look like broken forever. I never heard of this event ever until now and in n out doesn’t seem broken to me.

[ratzoe]

There’s one in Frederick, MD too

One in Solomons, MD, too, and always busy. Double R Bar burger has been my go to for years.

[Dr. Sivana]

I worked at Wendy’s in 1982, and it was normal to have a couple dozen hamburger patties staged on the grill at a time throughout lunch and dinner.

Wendy's was a bit busier in those days. I loved the scratch-off cards to win a Porsche 911. (You had to spell "Hot and juicy", but the "y" was hard to get). The menu went from super simple: single, double, triple, chili, fries, frosty, drinks to cutting edge pushing the envelope: baked potatoes, Salad Bar, Super Bar, multi-grain bun.

A typical In'n'Out can handle an order of 100x100 easily enough. Here in Phoenix, the drive through lane can run thirty cars deep easily, and they are moved through quickly. They pay a premium to get superior kids to work the grill and register, easily on par with Chick-Fil-A and Culver's. Miles ahead of Popeye's, McDonald's (Kroc is spinning) and Wendy's.

[Svartalfiar]

The SF Tech Worker Whose Unhinged Order Broke In-N-Out Forever

I'm confused.. How is the restaurant broken if they easily completed is order..?

[Larry Lucido]

The salad bar was a good thing back then. I kept that thing stocked and iced all shift. Got a lot of compliments.

Wish In n Out was in the Detroit area.

[Notthereyet]

“Roy Rogers’’
_________________________

Oh, my.

You just brought back memories from decades ago!