In-N-Out fans lined up overnight for the first Washington state location’s opening in Ridgefield, embracing long waits for the iconic burgers.

RIDGEFIELD, Wash. — Washington’s first In-N-Out Burger opened Thursday morning in Ridgefield, and fans lined up for hours — some overnight — to be among the first to grab a burger.

The restaurant opened with a ribbon-cutting, drawing a crowd that quickly filled a queue in the back of the parking lot. The drive-thru saw steady traffic, filling up a nearby gravel lot with several lines, some customers waiting a couple hours to place their order.

Kevin Kehn of Milton, Wash., near Seattle was the first in the drive-thru line, arriving around 8:15 p.m. the night before. 

“I was actually technically the second person, but the person in front of me had to leave, so I got first spot,” Kehn said. 

His order included three Double-Doubles, three fries and even an unsalted “puppy patty” for his dog. For being first, Kehn received a T-shirt, a burger coin and a wristband. 

“I’m just going to frame everything,” he said.

Others weren’t far behind. Steve Mathis showed up just after midnight and waited to place his order from within. 

“I didn’t want to be second in line,” he said. 

Mathis called the Double-Double the most popular order: “The cool thing about it is you can customize it. You can have extra everything; you can have extra onion. Whatever you want — you can have the onions fried, you can have it chopped, you can have it whole.”

Customers of all ages packed into the new location. One 16-year-old told KGW, “It’s honestly just the best burger I’ve ever had. I’ve been waiting for this day all my life.” 

His friend added simply: “I came here just for these fries — man, amazing!”

For families, the opening became an event of its own. 

“My husband and my kids came by about 9 o’clock to do a little recon mission, and he saw that it was open, so we ended up being fourth in line,” one parent said. “Core memories, the things you do for kids.” 

A young child summed up his order plainly: “A cheeseburger and soda.”

Denny Warnick, In-N-Out’s chief operating officer, said the chain expects to continue hiring. 

“We’ll continue to hire after the store opens; the starting wage is $18.75 an hour, and the good news is associates get raises pretty quickly from there,” Warnick said.

He added that the company worked closely with the city and transportation officials to prepare for the rush. 

“We’ve put a lot of thought into making the best plan that we can because the last thing we’d like to do is interrupt everybody else’s day,” Warnick said.

Even with the long waits, fans said the payoff was worth it. 

“I feel great. I think I was No. 3 in ticket order to get food,” one customer said. “Yeah, it feels amazing to finally have In-N-Out closer to home.”

There are four In-N-Out locations in Oregon and another location planned for Vancouver.