by Lee Benson Deseret News , Deseret Morning News

It's been 60 years since Harry and Esther Snyder started selling burgers in Baldwin Park, Calif., just east of downtown Los Angeles, and instead of having carhops bring your food to your car, they hooked up a two-way speaker to a pole and let you order and pick up your own burger, shake and fries. The drive-through was born. All you had to do was find a car to go in and out.

This was a just a few years, incidentally, after another California hamburger stand was opened not far away in San Bernardino by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald.

McDonald's has since evolved into more than 31,000 restaurants located in 119 countries.

In-N-Out, on the other hand, has expanded to 224 locations, all but about 40 of them in California. It's only been in the past decade that it has spread out to Arizona, Nevada and, as of last March, the southern tip of Utah.

But if In-N-Out hasn't multiplied quite like McDonald's, it isn't for lack of positive, shall we say, feedback. The typical In-N-Out has more people in it than the Detroit Lions' backfield. It is busier than a California freeway. You'd think they were giving them away.

The St. George In-N-Out is no exception. The drive-through lane circled the block when we pulled up. The line to order at the counter stretched out the door, headed toward the trademark palm trees. Every table was full. That included one filled with college students who thought it would be fun to pop in for a late lunch -- from BYU.

Nothing like a 500-mile jaunt for a burger.

I called the In-N-Out offices in California to see just how many burgers the average In-N-Out sells in a day and how that might compare to, say, the average McDonald's. But Carl Van Fleet, vice president of planning and development, said those figures aren't public.

"I'm sorry I can't give you the comparisons you asked about, but we just don't share that information," he said. "I hope you understand our position. We are a private and family-owned company, and we don't discuss our sales. We own and operate all our restaurants ourselves."

Unlike McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Carl's Jr. and dozens of others, In-N-Out doesn't franchise. It clones. Every restaurant is corporate. Ingredients come from the same headquarters.

The burger you get in Sacramento is theoretically exactly the same as the one you get in St. George.

And nothing is frozen. Back in the day, the Snyders hated freezers. Everything had to be fresh. This limited their menu somewhat. They kept it to hamburgers, french fries, drinks and shakes. No tacos, breakfast burritos or onion rings, not even a chicken sandwich.

Sixty years later, same thing.

None of this is lost on the St. George In-N-Out (it's actually next door to St. George in Washington city) even if it is 400 miles away from the original In-N-Out.

"We are very busy," said a smiling Jack Vozzola as he manned the front counter Saturday afternoon. Vozzola is the store manager. He moved from Las Vegas last spring to get the St. George location up and running. He seems to have succeeded.

"I think we'll be in the top 15 percent this weekend of all our restaurants," he said.

That prompted another question to Van Fleet back at headquarters.

Any plans for more Utah locations?

"We are currently investigating some opportunities to the north but haven't yet acquired any property or signed any leases," he said. "Geographically, we don't plan to expand beyond the four states in the near future."

Good news for those Brigham Young University students. Looks like the state of Utah is now part of the cult, and an In-N-Out could be heading your way. Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.

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