Balance of Food

The flags outside In-N-Out Burger are flying at half-mast for Esther L. Snyder, who with her husband founded the chain In-N-Out Burger, who died Friday at 86. Esther and Harry Snyder opened the first In-N-Out drive-through stand in 1948. In-N-Out now has just over 200 restaurants in California, Arizona and Nevada. I have few goals remaining in my life -- going to an In-N-Out Burger is one of them. The legend of the freshly made food raised fast food to an art form. Traditionally, quality at places goes down after the death of the founders. Think about McDonald's quality when Ray Kroc was alive versus now. Esther had outlived her husband and two sons. Esther had been in poor health, according to a January lawsuit that accused Snyder's granddaughter of attempting to engineer a coup. According to the AP, In-N-Out attorney Arnold Wensinger said the suit contained inaccuracies. The suit was settled in May. Hopefully, for all fast-food connoisseurs everywhere, In-N-Out Burger keeps the spirit and quality that Esther and Harry Snyder started.